Customer Reviews

Kodak 8290207 5100 Easyshare All-In-1 Photo Printer

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I am so happy with my new 5100. I got my new printer at Walmart for $99, after finding the ink cartridges I needed for my old Lexmark were going to cost me over $70 for color and black. I have not really been happy with my Lexmark print quality and the printer drank ink. I was very motivated to try the Kodak.

My first impression, out of the box, was the complexity of the install. I read through all the instructions before getting started and was very glad that I know something about computers. Kodak might consider making installation a bit easier, because it was quite a chore. I had problems getting the printer to print the page that calibrates the printer. I was glad for the printer paper that was included. I would have been in trouble without it.

Once installed, I started testing my printer. I printed one 4X6 photo, a 25 sheet report, 150 business cards, 6 pieces of sheet music and my tax forms for 2007. My ink is STILL showing at 100%. The print quality was excellent. I was able to print all my docs in draft mode and they look great. Draft mode on my Lexmark was grainy and looked washed out. I was so amazed at the crispness of the colors. Plus, printing is nearly twice the speed of my Lexmark. The pages shot out so fast, it startled me a bit.

The paper tray is annoying a bit. It is a fold out piece that fits up into the paper tray. If this piece is not folded out, your papers end up on the floor. Folded out, it seems very flimsy and some care must be taken to make sure it does not break. If you break it off, you will have nothing to catch your papers with.

The printer is a bit noisy. It is rather loud when it is printing and from time to time, just seems to come on by itself. I think it is cleaning the printer head.

I am also concerned about the cost of a replacement head. I says the head is permenant but no printer head has ever been created that lasts forever. The cost of a replacement head could be quite high, as with other models that have separate heads/inks (ie: cannon multijets) But with the ink costs so low, as long as the printer head lasts for a good number of pages, it will be so worth not paying $70 for ink. I will keep printing and see how it goes. If something changes, I will record it here but for now, I am totally happy with my new printer.

Overall, I give the Kodak 4 STARS!!!

LEAnderson

So I turn on my printer this morning, had to print a couple of vacation pics real quick to give to someone... but once again, this printer refuses to print one of its colors... This time, the yellow seems to be "stuck".

This printer might be great for people who print every single day (although I'm not sure it makes a difference, just conjectures...). Here's where I think the good reviews come from: when you first open the package and start printing, it does exactly what it's advertised for: great photo printing quality on the photo paper in the dedicated tray, while descent printing of letter size document. The scanner is on par with the $99 Canons you can get, and the "photocopy" function that scans + print all in the push of a button is a great time saver for daily office work...

... BUT ...

If you don't print for a couple of weeks, you can be pretty sure that the ink will get stuck and the printer will be unusable. Doing all the trouble shooting, head cleaning stuff from the provided maintenance software won't help. The only thing that WILL help is to get a replacement print head from the tech support via phone. Granted, they're very useful, friendly, and will ship you a new head at no cost, with extra ink cartridges for free... But you'll have to do that every time you don't print anything for more than a few days. To me, that qualifies as a buggy piece of junk not ready for production. From the other comments, and how easy it is to get a replacement from customer service, it's obviously a known issue...

On top of that, on OS X, they're some obvious USB connection problems on the software level... Checking ink levels will randomly disconnect all USB devices on your Mac, you have to plug/unplug your USB devices (such as keyboard... mouse... whatever's the flavor of the day...) and hope you don't have to restart...

So, yeah, when it works it's a great printer.... but that's 5% of the time you use this junk.

You've been warned!

KODAK 8290207 5100 EASYSHARE ALL-IN-1 PHOTO PRINTER

I have had this printer since January of this year and it has been nothing but problems. Takes too long to ever get started performing but that is not the worst problem. It never did scan right, then it just quit printing so I contacted the company for help and as now am waiting to get a printer head from them that is supposed to fix it but I have my doubts. I am getting ready to just trash it and go back to my old HP.

DO NOT BUY ANY PRINTER THAT USES COMPUTER REFILL CHIPS BUILT INTO THE CARTRIDGE. All they do is waste ink and cost you lots of money.

Keep in mind folks, that your new Kodak printer is just my 5100 with a new skin....
My Kodak 5100 is about to go in the trash, and I'm contacting every consumer agency or news group I can find on the net.

I put in the new print head, and a new set of cartridges.
I go five (5) prints and it's shut down with a replace cartridge warning.
With out a doubt, this machine is the biggest rip off I've run into in 20 years of using computers, and there has been a few.

Spare parts or replacements will not solve the problem of a badly engineered product and it surely will not compensate me for my time lost or aggravation.
When this printer hits the curb, it goes along with any reputation Kodak may have left.

What ever testing they did prior to production was not enough, and I really have no sympathy for people who look for quick profits, and believe that my time and money some how are not as important as theirs.

I know at Kodak there are some bean counters that simple look at this as numbers, but in the end it's people, and this person is going to spread the word about this, and those number they can count on too.

If you are thinking of a Kodak printer, think again, and really do your research.
Most of these shopper reviews are done by people who know their jobs depend on these products selling, and they seldom spend more than a few hours with them.
In a week or two, your printer will dry up, it will suck up ink cartridges like a sponge, and you two will be sitting here using up your valuable time warning others.

Print head clogs very easily, and the problem is so bad that Kodak's customer support sends replacements free.
But it also goes through cartridges like paper. My latest set of cartridges got me a "replace" shut down window after only five (5) prints.
Also the controls are so simplified that you have almost NO options.

**Update 12-12-08**
Save your money! I've had this machine for 6-7 mos. now and the print quality has gotten worse & worse to the point that it doesn't matter how much ink is available, nor does it matter how many maintenance tasks are performed (ie printhead cleaning, calibration). I spent way too long on a online chat w/Kodak tech support today and got no answers. Finally came to the conclusion (thru online troubleshooting program) that it is a failed printhead and Kodak is sending me a replacement. Failed printhead w/less than a year's use and barely any usable printing. Ink is cheap, but this machine goes thru it quickly...be warned.

Original review:
I picked up this Kodak all-in-one after my 2nd Lexmark all-in-one had a paper feed/roller issue. I didn't read any reviews beforehand so I went in blind, hoping that because it was a Kodak, it would be as good as expected.

I went in looking for an all-in-one that would have the photo paper tray and a regular paper tray on the bottom, not sticking off the back (like Lexmark & others). So, I was happy to find a Kodak that had exactly what I was looking for in that area. The machine itself it a bit bigger & bulkier than my last one, but that's not too big of an issue.

The machine overall performs well. The paper print quality is good to excellent, the photo print is excellent & water resistent. The printing speed is decent once the paper actually feeds into the print process. This is my biggest problem with the machine. Once you click print, the machine does the normal "gonna print" start up noises, then the paper feed rollers start rolling like they are going to pull the paper in...but that noise/action goes on & on for awhile before you actually hear the paper get pulled in & the printing starts. It's quite a delay in actual print time and it's annoying. This feature makes it a noisy machine, worst I've owned as far as noise level.

Ink is much cheaper to replace on this machine than any other I've owned, but I don't yet know how quickly it uses up the ink. So time will tell if it's actually cheaper in that respect.

Overall, worth the money if you don't mind the noise & slower printing. I think that Kodak needs to improve on the noisy paper feed issues on this machine.

I have this printer as well as its bigger brother and love both of them. They have super quality pictures. The ink is cheap and works each and every time. The scanning is fast. Pictures are also quick to print and are water resistant.

My experience with this printer has been an extremely frustrating fight. The printer performs vastly below the advertised 32/22 ppm range; it is closer to 3 ppm (black). I never got a chance to test the color printing, because the printer crashed when I tried to print to it from a network.
Every time the printer starts up, it demands that it be recalibrated, which seems like just a ploy to make customers waste the expensive Kodak photo paper. If you're not that lucky, the printer will just sit there and insist you haven't installed the cartridges correctly (they're in there just fine). There are too many problems to count, the printer comes with very little helpful documentation, and the Kodak support website is blissfully ignorant of any real problems people might have with the printer.

When my father brought this printer to my house after purchasing it with no advice from anyone other than the sales associate at our local Walmart, I was frustrated. Since Dad was Tech-illiterate he decided that he would have me keep his printer at my house and print his photos for him. Ugh... I'm a firm believer in only printing photos at home in a pinch, not doing so as a way of life. All that being said, I was extrememly impressed with the scanner's ability to scan several small pics at the same time. I was also impressed with the print quality. The ink seemed to be priced fairly, although I never could find anyone that would accept the empty cartridges for recycling. I printed dozens of pictures in many sizes and was pleased overall with it's performance. Then I let the printer sit for a couple of weeks. When I used it next it wouldn't print correctly. I ran the trouble shooter, followed all the instructions, was directed to call Kodak. After doing this, I was impressed that they sent me a replacement printhead free of charge. Finally, the printer was in my good graces again.... until I let it sit unused for a couple of weeks again. Same problem occurred. Since reading reviews on other sites it has come to my attention that every one of these printers has to have the printheads replaced constantly. It's not worth the time, trouble, or aggrivation. If someone offers to GIVE you one, thank them politely then turn and run the other way.

I purchased this printer a couple of years ago and had it for 6 months before I even opened the box...my HP printer was still working. After installing the software, print head and ink cartridges, I verified that it was working and turned it off. After a couple of months, I turned it on again and tried to print...it wouldn't. I ran out of ink trying to clean the printhead...bought 2 new ink cartridges and tried again...didn't work.

I contacted Kodak and because it was still under warranty, they replaced the print head. The new print head worked but because I didn't use the printer on a weekly basis, the print head clogged again in a couple of months...used up both cartridges to try to clean it but ran out of ink again.
Because my warranty expired, I went online to find a solution...found a website that discussed cleaning a clogged printhead. I ran through the process a couple of times, purchased another set of ink cartridges and did the cleaning cycle...black print was illegible and color photos looked like ghosts and zombies. I did another clean cycle and was able to watch the ink disappear from the cartridges with the onscreen monitor. I was shocked to see how much ink was being used in the cleaning process!

Kodak might advertise low prices for their cartridges but they don't hold much ink. You could easily use up a quarter of the cartridges during the cleaning process if that works at all.
If you use the printer on a daily basis it might work ok but you'll run out of ink quite frequently.

I will not be purchasing any more Kodak printers...I'll stick to HP from now on.

Yes, the ink is cheap and your printer may even work for several months to a year. But the printheads on these things just break down. When I call Kodak for support they tell me this is normal. Kodak printheads "go bad," as Kodak's tech support says, as if these things are like little cartons of milk. I've had to replace two in two years. And I use normal paper, Kodak ink, and print about 20 pages a month. This machine is a cheap piece of junk. You may save money on ink, but you'll spend it on replacement printheads. Eventually you'll spend it on a more reliable printer, which you should have bought in the first place.