kodak printer review

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.

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 ☺

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.

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 !

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.

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.