The Genesis S816 comes with a very simplistic pictorial Getting Started Guide, as shown in Figure 5. Basic setup is easy. Just insert the CD and follow the instructions. A wizard walks you through all the necessary chores including loading the paper, extending the output tray, setting the date, time, language and country, installing the ink cartridges, printing an alignment page, and setting up the connectivity with your computer. This printer works with Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Mac OSX.

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Figure 5: The Getting Started Guide

We were able to easily insert the ink cartridges and found that, as shown in Figure 6, there was even an interior ledge for holding the cleaning cloth next to the ink cartridge area.

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Figure 6: The interior of the Genesis S816

Even putting the printer on our wireless networks was a simple task. After the 20-minute setup procedure, the printer was ready to print wirelessly and to scan. There is a 100-sheet paper feed tray on the back of the printer, as shown in Figure 7.

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Figure 7: The paper input tray

The paper has a straight–through feed and exits on a pull-out tray on the front of the printer, shown in Figure 8.

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Figure 8: The paper output tray

We spent another 15 minutes to setup the fax and enter our email information so that we could email directly from the printer. All went smoothly. It wasn’t until we tried to setup the Smart Solutions on our Windows 7 test computer that we ran into trouble. The first task is to go to the Smart Solutions website to set up a free account. We already had an account from reviewing a previous Lexmark printer, so all we had to do was to add the new printer to the account.

The next step was to sync the Smart Solutions to the printer. The Smart Solutions icons appeared on the computer screen, as shown in Figure 9, but did not appear on the printer screen as expected.

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Figure 9: The Smart Solutions computer screen

Following several attempts, we decided to call Lexmark tech support. After more than an hour on the phone with tech support, the call was escalated to a specialist. After 30 minutes more, no solution was evident, and the tech support person said he would call back the next day. There was no call the next day. In fact, the call didn’t come until a week later, at which time we spent another two hours performing the same procedures that we had previously executed. Again, we were told that they would call back. No call came, but two days later a new printer appeared on our doorstep.

That same day, while we were in the process of installing the new printer, we got an email from Lexmark (one that was obviously sent to all Lexmark Smart Solutions users) saying that the Smart Solutions website had been updated. When we took a look, we found some big changes, so we updated our account to use the new website. Lo and behold! That solved the problem. There was nothing wrong with the first printer; the problem was with the Lexmark website. Soon, we had two Genesis S816 machines working seamlessly.