Low Cost All-Purpose Machine
Pros:
Low cost. Design. Auto document feeder. Automatic print head alignment. Multifunction software. Ink level display.
Cons:
So-so printing quality. Reliability?
The Bottom Line:
A great machine to consider, but look elsewhere first before making a final decision. Purchase an extended warranty from the retailer as warranty is too short.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I purchased this machine about one year ago, primarily because of its design, partly because of its low price. It looks like a serious office machine with its sleek curves, metallic accents, and blue illumination.
I was quite impressed with its included software, which performs many functions such as converting scanned text to PDF files. The printer supports a variety of paper and prints borderless prints of various sizes.
As with all printers, there is a trade off between speed and quality. At the lowest quality setting, the X7170 prints like a printer on steroids. In fact, when I first printed with it, the machine startled me as it sucked up a sheet of paper from the paper tray. Print quality on the "Best" setting, however, shows that the X7170 could be better. In other words, I have seen many other printers out there that produce way better print quality.
Scans are detailed and easy to perform. With the PC on, simply place your document in the machine, press Color or Black, and a Save As screen appears on your PC, asking you to specify a file name. Scans are quick and the quality is impressive.
Copies... I always make copies, and if you make copies of multiple pages at once, then you know that an Auto Document Feeder is a must. That's the beauty of this machine. Just simply place your documents (up to 50 pages) into the auto feeder, press the copy button, and walk away. When you can't use the feeder (such as when copying a drivers license), then you can use the flatbed. Because of the great scanning qualities of this machine, copies come out great, in my opinion.
Sending faxes is similar to making copies, except that you don't print something. Again if you fax many pages at once, you will find the auto feeder to be very helpful. Fax send speed is average.
Features I like about this printer is its automatic print cartridge alignment. The printing carriage has a built-in scanner, so as the machine prints the alignment pattern, the scanner looks over what it just printed. Other features I liked include being able to check the ink level.
How about reliability? Unfortunately, just recently it seems now that my printer has problems. It prints bizarre patterns on my prints, and "ghosts" text. I've tried running alignments, head cleanings... even changed the cartridges, but am still having a problem. Too bad for me that the warranty expired just before the problem appeared. Fortunately it was inexpensive.
