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(More customer reviews)Well it started off like this. I was looking for a replacement printer for my old my reliable Canon i850. I liked the output from the i850 but I was sick of paying for the ink cartridges over and over. I was finding I would get through replacement black and color every 2 months even though I was only printing 50-60 text pages a month!!!!!!! It was time for a change.
With this in mind I started seeing and reading reviews (the few that there are) for the new Kodak line of all in ones. I had been tempted for some time by the ability to have everything (scan, copy, print and fax)in one device but I was skeptical too. I have been in the IT industry professionally for 15+ years and so have always been wary of throwing all my eggs in one basket. The reviews sounded pretty favorable with regards to meeting Kodak's claims of great ink performance for the cheap price you were paying so I decided that I would take a gamble.
I originally ruled out going for the 5500 and 5300 (didn't need the fax after all and thought I'd leave the LCD screen) and first purchased a 5100. First thing I did when I got home was unpack everything, hook it up and then proceeded to use all the sample photo paper that came with it. This was on a Friday and by the Saturday when I tried scanning for the first time it would not scan to the PC without causing an error as it was looking (and couldn't find) the temporary BMP it created in it's temp file. So with this in mind I started looking into the install, pulled everything from registry and restored my machine, still no luck. It's worth pointing out that the scanner component uses proprietary TWAIN drivers that seemed to be causing the issue. I also want to point out that my PC has been stable and not rebuilt in 3 years so has collected a lot of c**p.
I finally admitted defeat after two days solid trying to get around the problem and called (doesn't happen very often for us in IT) Kodak tech support. I was again skeptical about the support and knowledge I would receive. I have to say that my support experience with Kodak was one of the best I have come across in my 15 years and no I do not work for them. My call was answered in under 7 minutes at 11am in the morning and I was expecting the usual Tier 1 type experience. Instead I spoke with a tech called Matt who was extremely knowledgeable and in total (get ready for this) spent 2.5 hours on the phone with me going through everything from simple reinstall to disassociation of USB registry entries, manual rekeys etc. Unfortunately this did not resolve the issue so the ticket was sent to their research department.
I was a little dissuaded but wanted the printer to work so badly that I decided to stay with it for a while longer. With that in mind and knowing this was probably software/os related I decided that with all the stuff I had loaded in the past 3 years I would rebuild my PC and also take the original printer back in case of other issues. After rebuilding the PC I took the printer back (purchased from a brick and mortar) and decided I would treat myself by now upgrading to the 5300. I came home and installed the printer for the first time on my new PC and voila!! worked perfectly with all my apps including photoshop. No scanning issues at all............but then I had a print head issue (one that I have read about). I was getting a little more frustrated at this point and called Kodak in the evening (6pm). Again I got straight through and spoke with another tech who took me through printhead re-installation as he stated these had been coming loose. Still no luck and before I could say anything else the tech offered to send me a new printhead free of charge (under warranty) and also gave me a brand new set of cartridges for my troubles.
Again I decided to take the printer back and switched it for another 5300 just to be safe. I brought the new one home and it worked like a dream, no printhead issues, no scanner issues. I have been using this printer constantly for black text printing for 3 weeks now and this evening I just tested Kodaks claims of photo prints. I completed (as I type) over 128 photo pictures on 4x6 and although the tank is saying its getting low, it is still going !!!!!!!!!!. All of this for 14.99 for a color cart. I am absolutely floored. The other thing that is important to point out is although the color cart is almost out, the black has only reduced by about a thumb scratch. Thats right, you 're not losing your black cartridge like you do with HP and Canon when you print photos.
In summary (I know I've gone on long enough) I wanted to state that I don't usually write reviews. In this case I felt compelled for two reasons
1) There aren't many reviews or info sources for this printer
2) This machine truly is amazing and lives up to the claims of the manufacturer which is nice to see.
In all my years I have not come across a printer that has given this type of performance along with absolutely gorgeous looking (photo processing quality) prints. There may be a few bugs and there has already been 2 firmware releases (make sure you get these as they improve performance and reduce errors) but I'm here to tell you to hang in there with this printer as it is well worth it. As stated, after picking up the new printer and installing the latest firmware I could not be more pleased.
I cannot recommend this any stronger. Buy this today, you will not regret it. It is a new product but don't be afraid to jump in with those of us that took the gamble. It is a lot more stable now than when first released (thanks to the firmware updates) and should you have a problem Kodak support has been fantastic.
Enjoy printing again and stop worry about ink costs. 21.99 got me black and color and as stated above already completed 136 (now) prints on color alone.
Also consider upgrading to this 5300 if like me you were originally thinking of the 5100, I'm really glad I did and love the memory slots and LCD.
Enjoy the printer !!!!!!!!!!
Click Here to see more reviews about: Kodak EasyShare 5300 All-in-One Printer Print, Copy, and Scan (8804056)
Kodak 8804056 5300 All-in-1 photo printer
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