kodak printer review
By Mark Knowles
Kodak all in one printers
When you think of photography, you have to think of Kodak. Kodak have been making and selling photographic consumables since the idea was invented. As an ex-professional photographer and photographic processing business owner, I would not consider any other product. This is what they do and they do it well.
One of the things I like about Kodak is they tend to offer a small range of well targeted printer products rather than trying to confuse you with an enormous range of unnecessary models that are not really very different from each other.
They sell just four different all-in-one printers. An expensive one, two medium priced and one cheap one – simple. They also go out of their way to make them as efficient as possible and are claiming it is possible to save up to 50% when you compare their consumer printers to other makers. I am not interested in writing about consumer electronics that will not last. When I was in the photo processing business, I was using Kodak printers that were as much as 25 years old and still going strong.
This is their current range.
Kodak ESP 3 all in one printer
This is a new model – it will allow you to print, scan and copy, using a 2 cartridge, 6 ink system. The usual Kodak quality prints are to be expected. They also recommend using their own paper and ink. And, I have to say, it’s advisable. I don’t care what anyone says, Kodak know this business.
The only bugbear I have is that it doesn’t come with a cable. The printer itself sells for $129.99 (or les from Amazon,) but the cable is a ridiculous $24.99. I hate it when manufacturers disguise the price in this way, but they all do it. Apart from that, as an entry level printer, it’s hard to beat. And the cartridges won’t break the bank - $9.99 for black, $14.99 for color. If you buy one, get some extra cartridges and save on the shipping – they don’t last long ☺
 | Amazon Price: $9.75 List Price: $14.99 |
Kodak Easyshare 5100
This one is another all in one - Print up to 32 ppm* black and 30 ppm, laboratory quality 4 × 6 in. (10 × 15 cm) borderless photos in seconds. It has a high-density, 3,840 nozzle, high-performance, permanent printhead, a High-definition CCD scanner.
You can print borderless photos up to 8 1/2 × 11 in. (21.6 × 28 cm) and documents up to 8 1/2 × 14 in. (21.6 × 36 cm.
It can scan documents or photos up to 81⁄2 × 11.7 in. (21.6 × 29.7 cm) and you can copy actual size or fit-to-page and make up to 9 copies at a time. Two-sided document printing with optional duplexer attachment BLUETOOTH® enabled. But, once again, no cable – an extra $24.99. When you consider you can buy this through Amazon for less than $90 - that's one expensive cable.
 | Amazon Price: $19.99 List Price: $14.99 |
Kodak Easyshare 5300 all in one printer
This one has much the same specifications as the 5100, but allows more control as far as copying goes, so if you don’t need to zoom in when copying, I can’t see the point of paying the extra money. It’s also wireless Bluetooth connectable. Once again – NO CABLE !
Kodak Easyshare 5500 all in one
Now, this one does have some extra features. It is actually an all in one because it has fax/modem capabilities and a 12 button keypad with the facility to store 60 numbers in it’s phone book. This is more a small business user’s tool, I think. When they first released them, the consensus was – a great machine, but too expensive. That has changed now, and Amazon are selling them at less than $190 which is actually a good deal. But as usual – No cable.
As far as I am concerned, this is the best bet. It is much more substantial than the others and has now been discounted to the point where it is a good deal. Mainly because it will last a long time.
 | Amazon Price: $299.95 |
More Kodak from Ebay
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Kodak Office Hero 6.1 All-in-One Inkjet Printer - New
Current Bid: $119.99
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Kodak ESP Color Office 6150 All-In-One Inkjet Printer Scanner Fax / Not Working
Current Bid: $.99
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Kodak ESP 5 All-In-One Inkjet Printer
Current Bid: $30.00
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New Kodak ESP C310 All-In-One Wireless Inkjet Photo Printer Scanner Copier
Current Bid: $64.99
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Kodak Printer cartridges
By far and away the most expensive aspect of printing your own photos is the insane cost of printer ink. If you think about it, it doesn’t really make any difference if you buy $50 cheaper printer – by the time you have fed it with ink for two years, that saving will be miniscule. But Kodak’s new ink technology actually uses less ink than all the others – which saves you money and makes less waste.
| Amazon Price: $19.99 List Price: $14.99 |
Comments
Really? I don't watch that, I just watch the google hot search trends, LOL
I've always been down with Kodak stuff, even their cameras...they're easy to use for noobs.
I'm happy that Kodak has since branched out into the home printing business...they need to bite back at HP.
Sincerely,
G|M
I am having so many problems with the Kodak 5 in 1 printer. It keeps dying. I have contacted Kodak and they sent me a refurbished printer, wasn't happy since mine was less than 8 wks old. called back and now they sending me a brand new one. Company is great but not the printer.
I purchased the Kodak 5300 almost a year ago and absolutely loved it. Print quality was awesome and couldn't beat the price of ink. After several months it would no longer print anything black (other colors worked fine though). After contacting the company they told me it was the printhead and would send me a replacement. Since I could not go without a printer, while waiting for the replacement I went out and purchased the Kodak ESP-3 (which is definitely a lesser quality, but worked ok).
The replacement printhead arrived in about 2 weeks and did not work. I contacted Kodak and was told that the replacement printhead was defective and that they would send another. The day I received the 2nd replacement printhead, my Kodak ESP-3 stopped working also.
I installed the new replacement printhead (2nd one) and guess what . . . it was also defective! I just ended a nearly 2 hour conversation with Kodak customer support. After walking me through a series of steps to try to correct the problems the rep informed me that Kodak will ship me a replacement printer for my 5300 (as long as I fax or email them my original receipt) and will send a replacement printhead for my ESP-3.
This is bull. I have 2 Kodak printers and neither one works. One is only 7 months old, the other less than 4 months. When the Kodak 5300 worked it was probably the best printer I’ve ever owned. As I stated earlier, the quality of the printing, photos, and copies were superior. The Kodak name and the price of the ink was the initial reason I purchased these printers.
Kodak should have never put these printers on the market without running extensive testing. I strongly recommend NOT purchasing any Kodak printer products.
I purchased a Kodak ESP 5 printer a few months ago and while it's a good printer you really don't save much on ink because you constantly have to clean the print head which uses ink. Kodak has sent me print heads free of charge which means to me they have a problem with the print heads.
I want a new wireless printer but more over want one that prints pictures cheaper than my HP. I'd prefer small and compact but assume that is not possible. Also I like Kodak as they say one cartridge fits all printers. I hate that HP makes different ink cartridges for their printers. Looking for help on how to choose a wireless all in one that's economical for printing photos.
I'm considering taking my new Kodak printer back to Sams! I can't get it to stop paper jamming. It's very noisy when printing and I know Sam's will take it back within 30 days, no questions asked. I've had HP printers, and although the ink is expensive, they work when I need them. Any one have success with this all-in-one Kodak printer???
After only 3 months and not much printing. I have had to buy ink at least twice a month. So I don't know how they can be cheaper. And the printhead breaks. I am very disappointed with the Kodak ESP5 all-in-one printer. Biggest waste of money.
Sorry to hear that guys. What I will say is - it is relative. Trust me - compared to the HP and Lexmark - these are far better.
Just bought ink and now out of color. I have not printed any color items. I have had this printer for less than a year and have had to buy ink for it 5 times. Yes the ink is cheaper but you do not get the use you should. Also when I placed new color ink in it shows that it is only about half full on a new cartridge. In my opion it is a peice of JUNK!! Hate it.
Sorry to hear that. I have much the same issues with my Epson - except - I cannot use it alt all if one of the color cartridges is out of ink and they are 4 time steh price of the Kodak. I hate all these manufacturers. lo9l
I think that Kodak is new in the printer world, although it is very well known for its pictures and photos. They are really of good quality and if you get them from their studio itself you can see the difference. I also want to ask that is their any option that we can use re-manufactured inkjet cartridges in this printer as they are lots of them mentioned at http://www.eco-inkjets.com just to go eco-friendly.......
Just threw my kodak printer away. Worst printer I have ever owned. Printhead failure was nearly constant. Kept running out of ink due to cleaning cycle which rarely helped. Kodak knew its printers were junk but sold them to us anyway and then could not service them. Never buying anything with Kodak name again.
Sorry to hear that Gary. I have just had to throw a Hewlett Packard away for the same reasons.
I think all the manufacturers are now producing garbage that lasts a minimum time span.
I just emailed Kodak the following inquiry. I'll let you know what their response was..
Just thought I'd let you know that I was considering purchasing a new Kodak Color Printer, but after reading reviews, there are a lot of complaints about the print head having to be replaced all the, the ink cartridges running out of ink very fast making it as expensive as HP and a dull print on regular paper. Have you effectively addressed these problems? What is your warranty look like. Return policy. Do you still have to pay an extra $30 for the cable it does not come with? It has been hard finding a rating of above 2 stars out of five.
The Kodak ESP 3 in 1 printer is a junk product that will give you misrey. It will eat ink and become a throw away item within a year.
I purchased the All in on 7 last April, did not hook it up until Sept and it kept saying there was a paper jam. Called Kodak and they sent me a refurbished printer which ticked me off since I paid for a brand new one from Best Buy, hooked that one up and it had a faulty printhead, called again and had a new printhead the next day. Worked good until I had to change the ink in Dec and once I replaced the ink cartridges it said the black needed replaced. Called Kodak and they sent a new cartridge. Worked good until this past week and had to change the ink again. Now it says the same thing, the black needs replaced. Now I do not print alot, and I thought the Kodak would save me money, no way, nothing but problems. My HP might cost more for ink, but at least it works when I need it. To me this is a piece of junk that is not worth the headache. I am going to post everywhere I can on how bad this product is. I contacted Kodak, but have not heard back. Save your money and but something reliable.
ditto ,worst printer i have ever owned ,runs out of ink after only printing 20 pages
I have Kodak EasyShare 5500 at my office and believe me am really happy with the overall performance and printing result, that's machine really proved as best and very useful gadget for any office & organizations!
Have had ESP9 for several months. It uses a lot of ink, but the print quality does not reflect that. The print looks more gray than black; I have selected the best quality printing, but did not see any difference. On my Epson printer, I can print photographs on regular (non photographic) paper with very very good results. On this Kodak... the results are horrible..absolutely horrible!!
(Printing photographs [kodak} on photo paper is better). Copying is satisfactory, but as stated earlier the shade is closer to gray than black.
I have not had any technical problems--no print head problems, no paper jams, no other printer breakdowns. The initial set-up was easy.. wifi included.. took only a few minutes.
I am really sad. I bought the Kodak Easy share printer for my home based business.. It worked for maybe 3 months and now it wont print anything! Says it is - pages are blank and the ink is somehow being used. Where is it going? It is not on the paper! I am going to assume that its the print head like everyone elses. So I guess there is no hope. I do not plan on buying anything from them ever again. :(
awful!!!! runs out if ink way way too fast. cust sevice is only in india and hard to understand. also, it seems to know when you dont use kadak paper and prints a horrible quality photo. complete krap!
I have a fairly new ESP 7 All in One printer by Kodak that just keeps "shutting down." I have to unplug it to get it "acknowledge" what I am sending. It is a wireless printer, and when it works it works all over the house, but most of the time it doesn't.
I've had an ESP 5 printer for about 2 years. I've only replaced print head once so guess I'm lucky but I will add my voice to the many saying that it uses ink way too quickly - don't know if this is the machine or the cartridges (I use kodak not equivalents) but they really don't last any time at all - maybe 40 sheets. So you spend just as much in the end as other printers.
Worst product I've ever owned.It's very noisy,sounds like it's falling appart when you start it up.Goes through ink like crazy even if you hardly use it.Now the wireless link doesn't work anymore.Every time I go to use it there's something wrong.If one of the ink cartriges runs out the whole machine shuts down.You can't even use the scanner.I'm going to box it up tommorow and give it back to the store.I won't get my money back but I just want to let them know how angry I am.And Mark,don't tell me how you had the same problems with other printers.These Kodak printers are pieces of crap.
I am beginning to think they are all as bad as each other. I just had to throw out a Hewlett Packard which lasted about 1 year and am trying a Samsung with toner instead of ink this time. None of these things last any length of time.
I bought a brand new ESP 5 but i could only print 2 times, (4 photos) because I run out of ink, I think you have to buy ink daily with this printer,,,, great business
i have a kodak esp5250 i would not recomend it to anyone as it costs a fortune in inkeven when only printing black and white it takes and uses ink from the colour cartridge, i used to own a epson photo 200 hardly cost anything in ink and it didnt use colour ink up if i didnt print in colour , dont buy unless you canafford ink regular and only do a few pages before needs cartridges no wonder it was a cheap printer
I Have a Kodak esp 5210 it will not let me print in black
ink only if i am out of color. I never use colored ink
and really don't want the expense does anyone know a way around this problem ?
The Kodak 5200 series is great apart from one aspect. I only print out on black, but the printer will not work unless both B/W and colour cartridges are installed.
My Kodak 3 in 1 printer worked good for almost 12 months then nothing but trouble. Kodak folks were no help..this printer goes through ink especially black ink like salt going through a dog. Never buy one thinking you are going to get cheap longlasting ink. I will now retreat to HP which never let me down although ink was expensive.
I agree with these comments, except for the fellow that keeps defending Kodak by running down the other brand. They touted an economical alternative, but their printer inhales ink. (ESP 3 in our case.)I think we got 20 pages per set of cartridges, which cost about $35. Now the print head is bad and it's not printing at all. I guess it's a blessing in disguise. Kodak won't get rich on our ink purchases anymore.
Try to follow...
Kodak is sending me a refurbished replacement printer, to replace the refurbished replacement printer they sent me to replace the refurbished replacement printer they sent me to replace the new one that I bought at Best Buy that didn't work out of the box.
I have been scrolling through the comments and notice that mark keeps mentioning difficulties with other brands. I have a kodak printer and have had much frustration with it. However, my older HP that I just gave to my father has been a good printer for over 10 years! This may be a fluke for any compact printer... I don't know. but it sure has been great. I am currently looking for a new one since the kodak is not working.
Kodak ESP Printers are complete garbage. I have an ESP 7250 that has constant paper jams since day one even with Kodak paper. Anyone consider buying a Kodak product please read online reviews first. 1000s of bad reviews everywhere including the Kodak website lol.
Have the 7250 printer keeps saying paper jammed when there isn't paper in it agreed piece of junk less than a year old Kodak printer b4 that print head problem so yes their product not very good
i have Kodak 3 and it is running pretty well i tell you !I love almost all kodak products!
I wish I had read reviews before purchasing the ESPC310. After several months of attempting to use it, including clean installs of software and replacing ink cartridges after printing very limited amounts, I suggest that if someone purchases that specific model that they do not go through the effort to unpack it; just place box and complete contents on the street for the trash pickup. I allowed myself to believe that Kodak was produced working items. My error; a very big error.
Guru-C 4 years ago
Last night's episode of "Celebrity Apprentice" was all about the Kodak Printers and particularly about the Ink. The winning team stressed that Kodak Ink, costing about half of the average price, was a revolution in printing. Regards, Cory