Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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117 of 120 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Printer! Kodak got it right with the ESP-5, August 17, 2008
I am thoroughly impressed with the ESP-5. I was foaming at the mouth when Kodak came out with their first line of "All in One" 5300 series printers, but after having read many marginal reviews I decided to pass and fight it out with my Lexmark X7350 until the next Kodak generation arrived. I'm glad I waited and put shortly... Kodak has ARRIVED!
The Kodak ESP-5 prints great looking full frame 4x6 and 5x7 lab quality prints. The sheet feeder is both reliable and accurate. I print a lot of labels and reproducible alignment is important. The ESP-5 does a wonderful job in terms of reproducibility and color quality. The blank paper feed on my Lexmark is unreliable at BEST! The Kodak has been 100% in terms of mechanical reliability. Color rendition is basically "WYSIWYG" when compared to a calibrated monitor.
The scanner works reliably and produces great resolution scans with accurate tonal quality.
I am also thoroughly impressed with the Kodak Perfect Touch technology software included in the Kodak Home Center. The enhancements such as color restoration and sharpening work fantastic. Please look at the Humming bird picture that I took and enhanced with the included Kodak Home Center.
And last but not least is the cost of the refill cartridges. Thank goodness I'll no longer have to run down and buy another expensive Lexmark or HP ink cartridge. Kodak has a great product with a great marketing strategy... i.e. Sell a decent printer with reasonably priced inks, unlike Lexmark and HP who basically give you the printer for $40 and make their $$$$ on overpriced ink that they purposely engineer so that you can't refill and reuse them. (I still can't grasp Lexmark's and HP's "One Use" License concept...)
Simply put. As soon as you use up that last expensive Lexmark or HP ink cartridge either recycle your old printer or put it in the nearest dumpster and run and buy yourself the Kodak ESP-5!
Footnote 1: I downloaded the latest Kodak Home Center software and ESP-5 firmware upgrade before I printed my first page, so I can't attest to the original software version that came in the box. Seems like all manufacturers always have an upgraded version waiting on their website. This approach worked flawlessly for me, so I'd suggest you do the same.
Footnote 2: I'm running Windows XP (latest service pack) and have had no software problems.
Footnote 3: I am in no way associated with Kodak, Lexmark or HP. Just trying to provide an honest unbiased review based on my experiences.
Footnote 4: The ESP-5 came with an USB cable and bonus Print Artist software. Printing directly from the SD memory card slot works great.
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75 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Decent printer bogged by few fatal flaws., October 7, 2008
Setting up this printer was pain free. All the steps were listed on the set up guide, and there is no drama, or trauma involved. Then, the oddity struck.
1. You must press the On button twice to get the set up started when prompted. If you press once, the On button will simply blink over and over. Pressing twice will turn on the screen.
2. It is fairly loud printer, but vibrates less than some of HP AIOs I've owned.
3. Scanner is very decent, perhaps a notch better than ones found in most HP AIOs.
4. Print quality on plain paper is good enough. You can tell that it is inkjet, but not bad overall.
5. Scanning via Photoshop is great, but there is two options in the "import". Choose "Kodak ESP 5 AiO" for simple setting, and choose "WIA-Kodak ESP 5 AiO" if you want more flexibilities (including options to reorient/level the document using Photoshop).
And here comes the flaws.
1. Trying to change the print setting in the web browser will crash the browser. Updating the printer software did not help, nor is there any troubleshooting to exorcise this problem. Simple click of "Print" will print out the document from the web browser, though.
2. Feeder is single roll, and off-center. When the feeder rolls to take the paper in, it tends to overshoot one side, causing the print to look slightly crooked. Not a problem for casual printing, but definitely No-No for serious printing matters such as Resume, or even Photo.
3. Every now and then, the printer status icon will blink "Not connected" while printing out the document, when it is clearly connected (and printing out properly). I believe it might be due to the lack of matured print software, and hope to see this problem solved.
All in all, average printer, better scanner, but terrible software.
Used Windows Vista SP1, Adobe Photoshop CS3 (and lots of memories) to test out this printer.
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34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good entry level printer, professionals look elsewhere., November 7, 2008
After smashing(literally) my Lexmark X7170 from frustration, I needed a new printer. I wanted an all-in-one, but mainly just wanted a good quality photo printer. I got this for $120 on sale, which is a good deal, but I wouldn't pay more than that for this printer. It's very lightweight, with a simple, stylish design. It takes up very little desktop space compared to most all-in-ones. It's very easy to install and set-up. Be aware that when I bought it, it did not come with a usb cable. I used my old one, no biggie. Additionally, it only comes with a "sample pack" of paper: a few sheets of type paper, and a few sheets of 4x6 photo paper, that's it. I started w/the 4x6. The paper pickup on my Lexmark kept failing to work properly, picking up multiple sheets/jamming/etc, which is why I smashed it. The pickup on the Kodak works fine, never jamming or picking up multiple sheets. However, the printer would continually say wrong paper size. I selected 4x6 from the menu, but still nothing. On a hunch, I flipped the paper over, and it worked fine. Of course, it printed on the wrong side of the paper! I never did get a 4x6 photo printed right. Next I went to 8x10. I used some generic photo paper, and some high-end Kodak paper to compare. Without a doubt, the generic paper looked washed out, the Kodak looked much better. The colors were deeper and more vibrant. This isn't unusual, as all printers I've seen recommend only using proprietary paper. There's the reason. Some things you can do:add watermark(confidential, draft proof, etc) You can print black and white or color, switch from portrait to landscape. This printer uses 6 colors, so it's better than cheaper printers that only use 3 or 4. There are a few things I don't like. It takes a long, very noisy, time to initially warm up and get ready to print. You must make sure it's fully on, b/c if you send a print job to the printer too early, the printer will say it's out of paper. I wanted a good quality photo printer, but on larger photos, the pics can look grainy. It's not that bad, but nowhere near professional quality, and not worth the printers normal retail of $180. Only buy this on sale. Even when fully warmed up, it takes a long, noisy time to start printing. It almost seems like my Lexmark right before the paper would jam, or it would say tray empty. Just as I want to shove the paper in farther, to hit the pickup, it starts printing. I have so far printed many photos and typed pages, and the ink is still half full. Ink conservation is supposedly an advantage of Kodak printers, and I'd say that's correct. Scanner and copier quality is very good, not great; again what you'd expect from this class of printers. There's no fax. For the occasional photo printer needs, this is a good printer for the price I paid. For professional quality photos, spend more on a better printer. The included software is also very basic, so get Photoshop etc. I only print occasionally, so this printer works fine for me.
Edit as of 7/5/09. I now give this printer 2 stars, not my original 4. That's b/c I have just trashed it. I use my printer very sporadically, so it took me months to run out of ink. Once I replaced the cartridges, I have had nothing but problems. Every time I try to print something, I get the following pattern. Attempt one comes out looking faded, w/print gaps everywhere, like the printer is almost out of ink. Attempt two, the page is almost blank. Attempt 3 comes out over-saturated w/ink and blotchy. Attempt 4 comes out w/ink smeared all over the place. Finally, attempt 5(altho sometimes not until 6 or 7, but usu 5) prints normally. I give it 2 stars instead of 1 b/c the original ink tank worked flawlessly, so at least I got that out of it. Since I am not about to go thru 5 sheets of paper, and 1/3 of the ink tank every time I need to print something, I am now in the market for a new printer.
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