Lexmark B2442DW Monochrome Laser Printer with Duplex Printing Wi-Fi Airprint (36SC220)

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In the year 2019, it would be nice to have a printer, where you print the document on your computer, and it reliably comes out of the printer. Unfortunately I have not had this experience with this printer. I find myself going through every single page to make sure that it has been printed correctly. Sometimes things just dont print. Sometimes the printer complains that the paper is the wrong size -- even though it is. Sometimes the printer just shows a firmware error. Obviously no sane company would release a printer that is this broken, which means that something has slipped through quality control. Either way, its a hassle. Gotta pack the damn thing up, and ship it back for a refund.

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Have used it for 2 months - LOVE IT! So quick for 1st print. Would definitely recommend and Id do it again.

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I have used a B&W laser printer for my daily work for about 15 years now. This is probably my fourth or fifth Ive used during that time. There are five issues that are paramount: Ease of setup, ease of use, cost of use, features, and reliability/longevity of the printer. For ease of setup this Lexmark was as good or better than any other printer Ive used. I had this up and running in minutes. Very easy. So far everything has seemed fairly intuitive. So five stars for setup. Ease of use was a different matter. Ive had two big issues with this printer. One, the printer requires you to go into the controls to switch between the feed tray and the manual feeder. In my business I print packing lists on a full sheet and postage labels on a half sheet. The former uses the regular tray, the latter the manual tray. On all other printers Ive used the printer has automatically switched between the two based on whether or not there was paper in the manual tray. If no paper was in the manual tray the printer goes to the regular tray. This printer doesnt do that. You have to switch back and forth using the controls and this is a major hassle. What were they thinking?! This printer also lacks a major feature. This model comes with a 250 sheet tray. I’m baffled and disgusted by this. Serious users buy reams of paper - a ream is 500 sheets. I see this flaw as a major detraction for anyone wanting to use this printer in a small office setting. I don’t want to have to keep filling the sheet tray. Making matters worse, it looks as if buying a 500 sheet tray costs over $100. Really not acceptable for a B&W laser printer that is clearly meant for daily use. Cost of use: I can’t really comment on this at this time other than to say the Lexmark branded toner cartridges seem to be on par with other brands. Don’t know yet about the price of off-brand toner. The one major positive in this category is the longevity of the drum/imager. Lexmark claims that it will last up to 60,000 pages which is a lot higher than the Brother laser printer I was using. Brother has a real scam going on with at least some of their current laser printers as their drums need replacing after perhaps 10,000 to 20,000 pages. Two drum replacements and you’ve basically spent the same amount as buying a new printer. Ridiculous. So if Lexmark’s claim is true this is a major positive. As for reliability, I obviously can’t really comment on that. I’ve found that modern printers are total junk in this category compared to just 10 years ago. Manufacturers are making printers to fail early. However, Lexmark’s claim of 60,000 pages for replacing the imaging unit gives me high hopes for this model. Crossing fingers. I’m giving this printer 5 stars for ease of use and the imaging unit replacement estimate. I’m giving it 2 stars for the horrible 250 sheet tray and the dumb user interface requiring the use to go into the to controls to switch between the feed trays. So 3 stars overall.

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Writing this is almost as complex as connecting this printer to my network. I followed the directions and used the printer’s menu to connect the printer to my wireless network. I was able to go through the entire setup successfully but when I completed the process the display showed it’s IP address as 0.0.0.0 “Not Connected”. The printer would not connect to my wireless network. I went through this setup five times, slightly more frustrated but also insecure, and each time it would find my network and allow me to input the password to connect. After an hour or so I decided to take it to my office where it’s less likely to become a nap spot for the cat and I hardwired it to my network. From there I was able to connect. At last. The first thing I did was to log into the Web Service and try again to set up the wireless. I noticed that all the information I had entered from the printer was already in Network settings. Seeing that it was all there and correct, I unplugged the network cable to connect via wireless. No connection. The display on the printer said “Not Connected” and the IP address was 0.0.0.0. I won’t tell you what I said. After an appropriate amount of cursing I plugged the wire back in and logged back into the printer to go through the wireless set up again. Even after setting the printer with a Static IP address, one that I chose myself, I was still unable to connect via wireless. So I shut it down and went to do something else. Like kick the cat through a fan. Or set fire to Alexa. The next morning, fortified by a night’s sleep, a shower and a cup of Sumatra coffee, I fired everything back up. I was hopeful. I felt optimism and strength. But still it wouldn’t connect via wireless. I connected the cable and logged back in to double check my settings. I only changed the IP address to the next number in line from the wired connection. I pulled the network cable and muttered an old limerick under my breath. That did it. it was able to connect via wireless. I’m still not sure what the issue was since the only thing different that morning was a new IP address, everything else remained the same. But I don’t question why when the good *or* bad happens. So now that I was connected via wireless I decided to run a few tests. My first print test was a single page and I was impressed with the speed of the print job. It was much faster than I expected for a printer this size. So I decided to do a 12 page document and time it. My first attempt errored out when the printer wouldn’t wake up to the print request. So I cancelled the job, rebooted, and tried again. As I waited I spilled coffee on my shirt and blamed the Lexmark, whom I have since begun to call Lex, suggesting various warm places it could go if it didn’t work. This time it accepted the job. After 1:40:74 minutes my twelve page, double sided print job was done. But I noticed that after printing a page front and back it would pause for ten to twelve seconds before kicking out the next double sided page. It repeated this behavior until all six pages were done. But they were done. It was nearly 11:00am. Another coffee. A clean shirt. I chose to connect with the cable and time the same print job. This time is printed 4 pages and then paused for 15-20 seconds before kicking out the last 2 pages. Still it was much faster at 54:89 seconds. This time the pause was long enough to give me concern that the print job had crashed. I was rather pessimistic by this time. But finally out it came. After that I thought to do another print test but this time I would use my five year old, Brother HL-2270DW laser printer to compare the speeds. I was able to print the twelve page, double sided document in 1:17:04 minutes via wireless connection with no pause between pages. I took some time away from all of it and wrote a song about Mesopotamian farmers. Over the course of many days I have been using this Lexmark for all of my print jobs. Yesterday alone I printed a total of 37 pages in 10 jobs. More than once the printer would pause between pages. Oddly it wasn’t consistent; sometimes it paused after one page print; sometimes it was after two or three pages. The first page always slides out quickly, like an ATM dispenser in a dark alley. But after an encouraging start it became a crap shoot. The pause was not the same every time either. On one print of just two pages the pause was close to a minute and I got up, crossed the room- this time with a rubber mallet and clenched jaw- thinking the printer had crashed. Just as I reached it it blipped, burped and resumed. My next test was to try everything on the wired connection. Feeling more confident, even thinking I could get used to the Lexmark, I plugged the cable in, switching it over to Wire Connection with a good IP address on the printer display. I hit “print”. Nothing. It. wouldn’t. print. I sincerely considered eating one of my wife’s Xanax and putting out a yoga mat with “Dark Side of the Moon.” Instead I did a breathing thing I use for singing warm-ups. The Lexmark print que listed the job but it was waiting for the printer to accept it. It never did. I had to power the printer down and reboot it for the wired connection to work properly. Once connected, I retried my print jobs and there was no connection issues or a pause between pages. A 25 page print job went through quickly and cleanly. I swear there were tears in my eyes. I even rubbed the cat and sang a little Sondheim. I waited a few weeks to write this, feeling that my initial relationship with Lex (a name I stumbled onto hoping for a more congenial relationship) might cause me to pepper this review with various words that would offend or, at the very least, tarnish my reputation here on Vine. So this review is written with a staid and honest attitude. And not because I took one of my wife’s pills. Dealing with the toner was very easy and I can see that when the time comes to replace it that will go smoothly. Over all it seems to be well made and sturdy; nothing flimsy. I also like the second paper feed that allows me to change paper type without emptying the drawer. My Brother Printer does not have this feature and it would have been nice to have a few times over the years. I suspect that there is a defect in this unit, most likely in the wireless card. That’s the only reasonable explanation for the issues I’ve had. I suggest asking questions about this issue to the manufacturer and to others who own this model. When it’s hardwired to my network I find it to be a nice printer that would work well for home or small business. Truthfully, if I had purchased this I would return it as defective and accepted another unit to replace it. If that one worked I would keep it and be a very satisfied customer. If it didn’t I think I’d self commit to a psychiatric hospital. With the cat.

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This is a nice little printer. I just work at home and am a writer, so I print out stories and whatnot from time to time (along with forms, concert tickets, etc.), and this works great for my purposes. Its easy to set up, and toner is the best. Im never going back to ink. This cartridge theoretically prints an insane number of pages, and I certainly havent run out yet. Ive always had small printers that have held less than a full ream of paper, so thats no big deal for me. I have a whole tech stand area with the printer and different chargers and whatnot, so I just keep a few reams of paper there to refill as necessary. For the price, Id say this is a very solid toner printer. If youre looking for a business printer, you might want to get fancier. But its definitely a way better deal than even a free ink printer, because this will last you far longer!

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The Lexmark B2442DW monochrome Laser printer is a good compact printer with lots of features. The setup is remarkably easy. The instructions are basically pictures, with minimal written instructions. Once you remove all the packing material – and there is some around the print drum – then the printer actually walks you through the setup, language, date/time and time zone. You can connect wireless, via network or USB cable. I’m using this printer on a stand-alone basis, so I choose to connect via USB cable. The computer recognized the printer and it was ready to print in less than a minute – no set up or driver installation required. The printer will print double sided – but I have never had the need to use this feature, so it is not that important to me. The tray will only hold 250 sheets of paper – again, this is not a real issue for me. Most of my print jobs are less than a dozen pages and even the large jobs are less than 150 pages. All printer companies use the “Gillette Model” – price the printer very low and then make their money on the print cartridges. This model comes with a starter print cartridge which should yield about 2,500 copies. After that, you can buy the standard cartridge which will yield 3,000 copies (current price around $90) or the high yield that gives 6,000 copies (current price around $150). The print quality is great – it is laser – much better than inkjet. The speed is fantastic – up to 42 pages per minute, depending on what you are printing. If you are looking for a quality laser printer and a very reasonable price, this should deserve a good look.

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The printing quality is very high and looks great, but to me the most important part of a printer is ease of use considering how much of a pain they often are. This printer was extremely easy to setup and to start printing (even over wifi), it comes with an app that you download on your phone to configure it and I had it up and printing within about 10 minutes of opening the box. It is a tad bulky but it looks quite nice and prints quickly. Definitely 5 stars based mostly on the ease of use alone.

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Fast, fast, fast. For someone who only used inkjet printers in the past, this was a life changer. The set up was easy (if you follow the instructions). It took me only few minutes to get it up and running. Connected to my wifi without hick ups. You can also connect it trough USB port, however I havent found any difference in speed between both options. Since I only use it for normal everyday printing and never really print more than 50 pages at once, I found the tray capacity (250 pages) adequate. I will recommend the higher capacity tray if you use it for business printing. The controls are very intuitive, and easy to use. Offers double sided printing (with reduced speeds) for all paper conscious. The print quality is on par with all other laser printers. Same goes with price of replacement cartridges. One thing that this printer has on the competitors is the longevity of the drum. At least the claim if longevity as per specifications provided. Highly recommended for a small home office.

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