Optra lets you print remotely via the Web
The Optra Se 3455 network laser printer from Lexmark International Inc. prints at pretty good quality and decent velocity. But as the pages came flying out, I heard a grinding noise from the paper-feeding engine.
By Michael CheekGCN StaffThe Optra Se 3455 network laser printer from Lexmark International Inc. prints at pretty good quality and decent velocity. But as the pages came flying out, I heard a grinding noise from the paper-feeding engine.Searching for the source of the noise, I noticed that the plastic casing was loosely sealed along one side and rattled whenever the engine hummed.At 600 dots per inch, the Optra Se 3455 is rated to crank out 34 pages per minute; my tests showed about half that for large documents. A 27-page document took almost two minutes to print.In 1,200-dpi mode, the same job took about 30 seconds longer'not bad, because Lexmark rates the printer at 17 ppm at the higher resolution.The default 600-dpi setting with resolution enhancement gave generally good quality.Most users, however, would probably prefer the sharper 1,200-dpi output. Gradations from white to black were generally smooth. Photos had good overall contrast. Solid black areas showed shiny splotches that did not alter the 100 percent black appearance but did detract from uniformity.Network installation was fairly easy, although I did have to reboot the server when I installed Lexmark's MarkVision utility. The printer grabbed an available address from the server with ease, although the Lexmark port scanner took more than 20 minutes to scan for the one printer among 127 network addresses.The base Optra Se 3455 model comes with 8M of memory upgradeable to 136M. It has three drawers that accept up to 1,250 sheets in one 250-sheet integrated tray and two 500-sheet lower drawers.Adobe PostScript Level 2 and Hewlett-Packard Printer Control Language 5 emulation are included, as is remote Web management.Interestingly, if you know the printer's IP address, you can print text, PCL and PostScript files remotely over the Internet via a Java applet without any extra software.The Optra Se 3455 is a good value in its high-speed range, but it might be too noisy to place next to someone's desk.
Paper proof
 | The Lexmark Optra Se 3455 lets anyone with the proper address print documents remotely in text, Adobe PostScript or Hewlett-Packard Printer Control Language. |
Paper proof
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| 2Optra Se 3455 1,200-dpi monochrome network laser printer
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