From start to finish, Lexmark's X4975 has easy-to-use written all over it.

With animated graphics and instructions onscreen, it is hard to get the installation wrong.

Unlike other brands, setting up the wireless printing was hassle-free.

As a three-in-one or all-in-one (AIO), it can print, copy and scan.

Apart from wireless printing, highlights include double-sided printing.

So you will save costs and the environment.

While the X4975 sports a futuristic black and silver colour scheme, it follows a traditional workflow design: Feed the blank paper in a 100-sheet standing tray and printouts appear on a tray at the bottom.

Like most entry-level AIOs, the X4975 uses a black and a three-in-one colour cartridge.

Printouts are, at best, satisfactory.

It has only four colours at its disposal, so colour printouts look muted and pale.

On the bright side, printouts dry as soon as they hit the output tray. Equally important is the multi-memory card reader.

Combine this feature with the 2.5-inch LCD display and you can view, select and print images stored in memory cards like CompactFlash or SD.

A wired LAN port is usually absent in most entry level AIOs but you will find one in this machine.

Hence the tag "Professional": You can hook it up to a network and share it with other colleagues at the office.

The machine has a flatbed scanner and a 25-page auto document feeder (ADF).

With it, you can copy or scan multiple documents at one go.

Though the ADF is a good-to-have feature, it can be rather slow.

Print and copy speeds are comparable to other AIOs.

For example, it took 196 seconds to print a borderless A4 image at Photo quality - just six seconds slower than the HP Photosmart C6380.

Final say

Unlike most inkjet AIOs, you can connect this to a network and share the X4975 with your colleagues in the office

By Adli Yashir, a correspondent and Internet coordinator with Berita Harian.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.