CrunchGear

Like the “micro-innovations” this printer introduces - I wonder how HP (etc. ) will respond… the price for ink is about what you pay for 3rd party for current ink printers - looks like Kodak is going along the right path. Considering color laser printers can be had for but a few hundred dollars now, I wonder if the price point is a little high, might as well “splurge” for a laser for a little extra cash.

Jon

Yeah, I agree Jon - I’ve been wanting a color laser and like you said, they’re coming-down in price. However, you cannot buy an all-in-one color laser for anywhere near the $200 this printer costs, so it probably still has a solid market. The last color laser AIO I saw was $600 or so, and I want an AIO since I do copying :(

Anyway, nice review. Epson uses the permanent print-head design as well, and that’s why their ink is less than the others. I believe that Canon does also.

The problem I had with my Epson is that I don’t print much and my house gets pretty hot during the summer. As such, the heads would frequently get clogged and need 4 or 5 clean cycles (which blasts tons of ink into the waste well) to get them working for a decent, but still not perfect, print. I wonder if Kodak has improved upon that disadvantage at all.

Mike

I bought the kodak printer. I had a couple of issues, one the rear door didn’t close correctly. Two the lcd stopped working. I had to return the printer.

The biggest problem I’ve had with printers is the paper alignment. Normally this doesn’t matter, but when printing business cards or slide labels, a lot of printers tlit the page enough that many of the labels are printed off the sticker, making them unusable. Did you notice how this printer performed in that regard?

Yes I printed labels for work and no problem at all there.

I have been following the evolution of the inkjet printers for a long time. My first printer was the HP photsmart 1000 and the print quality was excelent. I am into photography and shot and print a lot of photos. It printed great photos pluse the printheads were bult into the cartridges. When you replace the cartridge you also replace the printhead (neat) and they were easy to refill (if you were not looking for long lasting quality photoprints. I moved up to the Epson Stylus Photo RX500 all-in-one printer to save space on my desk. The printed Photos were outstanding and with the built in scanner it was a big pluse. The down size was that the print heads are built in the printer, the inkcartridge do not last long and are exspensive to replace. I tried using refill ink cartridges but they were good for normal printing, not for photo if you want them to last long( regardless what the refill supplies say or imply). I am very interested in Kodak easyshare printer. I think Kodak was behind the wagon of time and is about to move in front with it’s know-how in producing a good photo-printer. I am looking for any feed back on this or any other all-in-one priter.

The Kodak AIO uses ink not dyes like many of the others so prints should last. That is important to me after spending time making a scapbook watching them fade is sad.

Think again!!!
I have had a model 5300 going on three months. I’m on the third color ink and second black ink and third print head. All together I have printed less than twenty pages of text and less than twenty photos. It works when you put new ink in for a day or two and then just quits printing black or shows low on ink. I have notified Kodak and they keep telling me it is print heads. I just ordered a new Canon ,I know the ink cost more ,but at least they work. I cannot wait on getting a new print head everytime I want to print a page and refill the ink. Cheap ink ???? not when you refill as often as I do!!!!

I AGREE. I HAVE HAD MY 5300 LESS THAN ONE MONTH AND IT WILL NOT PRINT.
AND WHAT’S WORSE I CAN,T GET A RESPONSE FROM THE MFG ABOUT TROUBLESHOOTING. I’M SURE I WILL RETURN IT FOR A DIFFERENT PRINTER.

I’m sure glad I’m not alone!!!! I have tried to 2 1/2 weeks to call Kodak regarding my 5300 not printing black ink! It showed full…so I bought another cartridge thinking maybe it was wrong? Nope, just no black. I called, on hold for 2 hours 5 different times! I emailed and no response. I finally got an email response that told me to do the typical “clean head”, etc. Like I haven’t done that 50 times!

Then, I called at 11:00pm one night. On hold again for 2 hours! WTF!? I finally set the phone down and went about my business until someone picked up. They finally did. She told me it was b/c of post-holiday sales! WHAT? It is January 24th! And are your products so crappy that your phone lines and email lines are that jammed upat 11:00pm PACIFIC TIME!?

They told me I needed a new print head. Well, this is #2 already….why don’t they just come with a case of them?

Great prints, but a pain in the arsh!

If you call in the middle of the night obviously you not going to get an answer you idiot. Do you work until 11 PM????

I am glad I am not the only one. Long story short, now they tell me that my Dell laptop is not compatible…What, Huhhhh??? Are you kidding me? I have asked Kodak for instructions on returning the printer, and I keep getting answers to try different things to keep it. So, If anyone knows or has returned the 5300 could you please let me know?

Thanks

just call and they will replace the printhead.

“I’m on the third color ink and second black ink and third print head. All together I have printed less than twenty pages of text and less than twenty photos.”

With all respect, this is simply not credible. Are you really saying you can only print seven photos per colour cartridge? And only seven per print head? And only twenty pages of text from two black ink cartridges??

Come on, George, you are overdoing your put-down of Kodak.

I totally agree with Peter UK. That does not even seem possible, besides cannon’s printheads are built into the printer as well, who knows you could have the same issue with canon as well. There’s always one bad apple in a bunch, especailly with electronics. Maybe you should of returned the printer to your local Best Buy and got a new one there is such a thing as a 30 day return/exchange policy!

ONE bad apple? I did return my first one…now my second one is on the fritz, going through printheads! Gimme a break…this does not hardly constitute a “bad apple” in the bunch when everyone is having the same problems. I cannot afford to wait on hold for hours…get a reply 2 weeks later, and then wait for the printhead to arrive in the mail…I have things to print and do! If they go out this often, why aren’t they SOLD at BESTBUY!!!!!???? Why do I have to wait to get in touch with Kodak (which is impossible) and have it sent via mail? Poor customer service, I’m sorry! Poor product, I’m sorry.

I bought the 5300 in January. Encountered the print head malfunction this past weekend. Several calls to Kodak- reached tech support in India, of course. The second support chap was very helpful after the first guy had me jumping through downloading firmware and uninstalling and re-installing cartridges and unplugging and replugging the printer. Received a new printhead assembly today and, based on all your comments, will hope for the best. Why DOESN’T Kodak make these assemblies available in Best Buy etc.?!!

John, You’re absolutely right about GIGO. I’ve had one of these 5300s since they first appeared on BB’s shelves. Color photos that I’ve shot with my DSLR are really pretty good using the medium-grade value pack paper (they call it “Premium”) and the 4×6 prints wind up costing less than $0.15 each. But try to print a low-res graphic image and the results are generally unacceptable in my opinion. I’ve had no hardware problems at all and I’ve printed 100’s of 4×6 prints and many pages of text. My biggest complaints (so far) concern the clunkiness and of the software interface (on XP), and I’m hopeful that Kodak can fix this over time.

I purchased a Kodak EasyShare Printer for use at school. I had trouble right from the beginning and the “support” over the 1 1/2 hour phone call read from a script. I am returning it as soon as possible. It scanned a few pictures and then froze. It printed twice and stopped. Does anyone have the name of another all-in-one that works?

I purchased the HP1510 all in one printer with my computer and I am totaly satisfied!! My daughter is at the everything project years in school and so far (2 years) later all is still perfect and the ink is cheaper than most others when purchased in the combo pack.Five star in my books.

Well the back door does not fasten properly so none of the functions work. Even when I hold it shut, the scan never functioned. Seems to be pretty shoddy workmanship. I’ll exchange it at Best Buy, but I have little faith that another will work.

Nice review. I’m waiting on the EasyShare 5500 model release reviews.

If Kodak can quickly work out any product bugs and offer excellent customer service they will have many brand XYZ converts! If they fall short then they aren’t going to gain much market share and are going to lose potential growth to others that can get the job done better.

I’m currently in the market for an Aio printer and I know it is not going to be a color laser due to cost of ownership, or an HP brand anything. There is no way I am going to spend ~$750 a pop on a set of 4 toner cartridge replacements for a color laser! Just isn’t economically feasible for a home office set up and I hear photo quality is not good. I’m PO’d at HP for two reasons: 1. Their historically expensive inkjet cartridges and their decision to not support my HP 3150 mono Laser with a Vista driver release.

Anyway, I sincerely hope Kodak can get this line of printers working well. If they do they will have my business!

I only wish the MemJet printer technology patented by Silverbrook was here now! That seems to hold a lot of promise!
http://texyt.com/silverbrook+memjet+technology+available+desktop+photo+wideformat+hp+edgeline+comparison

I tried one of these printers and had nothing but problems. I printed about 10 pages before the unit told me the print head or cartridge was not installed properly, and this was without touching the machine. At Kodak’s direction I exchanged it and the new unit had the exact same problem. I’m returning it in the morning for a refund and buying a Canon Pixma instead. It might not be as inexpensive to buy ink, but at least it will work.

John,
I worked for Best Buy for a year and bought a Kodak 5300 on my last day there. (I moved to an engineering job with lot’s more promise.} My experience has been mostly positive with this AIO. I love the feature that I can put 4 each 4×6 pictures on the glass, and the software separates them into four files to my HD. I did have trouble with driver installation, but that’s my fault! The instructions didn’t say the included CD had a driver compatible with VISTA. So I tried searching the internet to find one. Kodak’s online help told me to load the driver on the CD and it works fine now. I’ve printed lots of business cards, lots of plain paper documents, and use the 24 lb paper. There are no “indexing” problems and my biz cards all look splendid through Word 2007! I ordered Kodak’s “duplex” unit that will plug into the back door on my AIO printer. I have 3 years experience duplex printing on my HP6540. But HP never came out with a successful VISTA driver for the HP. So I bought and gladly use my new Kodak 5300. The best feature for printing Color Pictures, is the clear “fixer” included in the color cartridge. This prints on and “seals” the picture over the ink. But you have to use good quality (Kodak) photo paper so the ink penetrates into the layers so the “fixer” can go on top. The previous respondents who have ink/print-head trouble have done something wrong when they setup their AIO’s. My Kodak 5300 AIO works GREAT and I’m glad to tell everyone about it!

Is there anyway I can load just the drivers for the AIO and not the rest. It takes over my whole PC. Other wise I love the Kodak AIO. Thanks
Dan

Yes, day you can just load the drivers for the AIO and not the rest. When installing the software, do not choose typical install but rather custom. When the list comes up of what is to be installed, install none of them. It will just install the necessary drivers. This solution reported on http://www.computerworld.com

Roger,
Thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!! This will make life alot easier.
Dan

Roger,
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will make my like alot easier.
Dan

I need the fax feature; has anyone purchased the 5500 and used it with a MAC? Thanks.

My experience with the 5300 on Mac has been a slow one. Seem the drivers take forever to transfer data to the printer & therefore it takes forever to print even just one page of text. I have had a couple of issues with printing also. At one point the printer would not print. I spent over an hour with tech support cleaning after cleaning before they finally sent a replacement print head. By then the ink was quite low from all of the cleanings that had been done. Well, I returned the print head with the return shipping label Kodak supplied & they mailed me one black & one color cartridge. If Kodak could improve the transfer/print speed on Mac I would be more satisfied!

Same problem I had with my iMac….too bad. Kodak has a good rep and I thought this would be a good printer. Kudos to Best Buy for refunding my purchase. I went back to Canon with fair customer service, good print quality and very expensive ink cartridges.

I have the Kodak 5500 only problem I have had so far is a message paper not loaded correctly so after pressing the ok but 25 times it prints :)

I really have to wonder what business this guy has reviewing printers. He obviously has zero experience with any consumer printers.

His one beef: No USB cable.

HELLO. Printers DON’T COME WITH USB CABLES. Period. Buy an HP, Canon, Brother, Oki, etc. You won’t get a single USB cable. Why? Retailers can sell you them at a markup and make some extra money while printer manufacturers save money by not having to produce/buy cables. Both sides win.

If the reviewer doesn’t know that every printer doesn’t come with the USB cable, it shows that he doesn’t know enough about printers to accurately review and grade a printer.

In my experience, these Kodak printers are cheap. I don’t own one, but I work in a retail store. If you just pop open these printers and look inside, you can see the cheap materials.

I installed the printhead, and 50 percent of the time when I close the top, the printer tells me through the LCD, “Print head not installed correctly.”

I can open and close the top 3-4 times and it works fine.

BUT, when I print out a photo the printer has pretty poor quality. You can visually see the lines of the photo. We’ve got sample photos provided by Kodak that are NOTHING like those printed out by the actual printer.

I’d honestly compare the photo quality of these printers to those of HP’s Officejet line, and the HP OJ series costs even less per photo (Hp’s 7580, 7680, and 7780).

These printer can’t even hold a candle to HP’s C5180 AIO printer as far as photo quality, and that printer retails at the same price.

BUT, there’s only one thing I’ve yet to test out on the Kodak printers. Water resistence. HP’s photos, while they’ll theoretically last you 100 years, will bleed if a drop of water lands on them.

HP will tell you differently. They’ll say that if you use HP paper they won’t bleed. False. They do. I’ve tested it :).

If Kodak’s photo prints don’t bleed, it may actually be worth purchasing. It’s fairly inexpensive to print off of (Don’t be fooled by, “OMG It’s only $10 for black and $15 for colors!!” It makes no difference in the grand scheme since you’ll be replacing the cartridge more frequently, and it comes out comparable price per page wise against other inkjets in the same price bracket), has decent print quality, and decent print speed. If the photos are actually waterproof, the printer might be worth purchasing.

Personally, if I were to buy one, I’d buy an extended warranty. Looking inside the Kodak printers just screams, “Cheap.”

I can assure you that the Kodak pictures are waterproof. My grandson had a 4×6 picture in his jacket pocket. My daughter washed his jacket. The picture not only survived the washer, but it survived the dryer! Edges were a little frayed, but that was it.

They do scream “cheap” I can’t believe how much I have saved already!! This AIO is GREAT!!

Has anyone else experienced the “scan” function not working but everything else does ? I can make copies fine, printing photos and text has not been a problem.. I do get the occasional “Print head not installed correctly.” message but I can work around that. It’s just when I try to scan a document. It “warms” up then the menu pops us, I select my choices and hit start. Display shows “scanning” but nothing happens.. After a few minutes, the display goes back to the menu mode (as if it completed it’s task !).. Any clues ?

i have the same thing happen to me with the scanner part as well. i have called kodak a number of times and they thought it was the printer so sent me a new one and the same outcome. i have tried everything and still cant figure it out

D a Firmware update: http://www.kodak.com/go/drivers

I have for some time been scouting for a good AIO for my personal use. Photography is an old hobby of mine and i do photoprinting quite regularly.
Having experienced the great nuisance value, by accident or by design, I am determined not to buy an HP printer.
Canon’s reviews are not bad but the prospects of heavy ink bills is alarming.
If Kodak’s claim of low priced ink is true then it is going to be my choice, and like me of many others who work on frugal budgets.
The greed of companies like HP and Canon is scandalous. How long do they expect to get away with this open loot? Are they not writing their own obituary in costly ink?

Maybe I’m the only one, but my 5300 is the biggest useless paperweight I’ve ever owned. The first one printed only 176 pages between 4 sets of ink and 2 different printheads. It would gum up after sitting stationary for a few days. The replacement printer lasted 4 pages until issuing fatal error 3809. I do not how much Kodak paid to develop this albatross, but HP has nothing to worry about. I’m waiting for Kodak ’s lackluster customer support to determine what to do with this one. The thing about printers is they never work when you need them and this Kodak seems to never work at all.

My 5300 keep telling me my paper is loaded wrong. Rejects the paper unless it is upside down.

Why Can’t I read any of these 100+ messages?

I just bought this printer at Circ City. I followed the loading instructions and now I smell something burning. The LCD says the printhead is missing or loose, so I have reseated it 10x. I called 1-800-421-6699, option 20, just like the paper in the box says. So far, it’s been 22 minutes and I am listening to country music and hearing the woman say they’re sorry every 2 minutes or so. “Thank you for holding…..check kodak.com/go/support…”that hasn’t helped.
Not a good start. I am guessing they will be sending me a new printhead.