Kodak EASYSHARE 5500 InkJet Printer

Just in time for Christmas 2007, me and my wife caught the somewhat informative infomercial on TV that is dedicated to the brand new Kodak 500 series printers. It was fairly timely too because I had just finished painfully spending about 60 dollars on new ink cartridges for my wonderful Hewlett Packard Photosmart 2410 Model. I really liked my HP all-in-one printer, so I wasn't actually looking to dump this printer, but then this infomercial really started to make sense to me, and even worse - my wife.

In the infomercial, actress/comedian Caroline Rhea was illustrating at just how much money the average person will save on ink replacement cartridges. I'm an average person, and I sure would love to save some money. She had this model, the 5500 and an HP model side by side, printing 4x6 color photos and black and white documents, with the total running cost hovering above the printers. I'd have to be a fool not to buy this printer, it sounded great. At the end of the infomercial, I turned to my wife and said, "Wow dear that sounds interesting doesn't it?" But she wasn't there; she walked in about a half hour later with the brand new Kodak 5500 Easyshare printer.



Kodak EASYSHARE 5500

When I saw my wife with this big package, I knew that this means I had to say goodbye to my trusty HP printer. I really loved my Photosmart all-in-one. I had bought the duplexer to fit on the back and everything. Plus I had it for almost five years and it never failed. But on the other hand, saving lots of money on ink expenses is a very appealing feature. So the question is, how much am I going to save on ink? Well, as I said above, to refill the Hewlett Packard Photosmart all-in-one costs conservatively $60. When I buy new ink for the Kodak, I spend less than $25 for both cartridges. So far, so good.

Cosmetically, it is somewhat more attractive than my old printer. I appreciate the dial pad on the front of the printer, instead of on top. I also find the high-res 2.4" LCD color display window right next to it. There is easy access to insert your memory cards also right in the front too. They designed this intelligently, keeping the machine functional while retaining the feature of a space saver.


Printing

Because I set this machine up so quickly I was able to easily discern that the Kodak model is a considerably quicker printer despite what quality chosen. I like to keep my printer on energy save, so it may take about 10 - 15 seconds to start up and then begin printing, but I think that even with the start up included, this is a speedy printer. It does come in handy sometimes to have a printer that works fast.

The quality of the black and white documents are fine, and with one cool feature of no smudging. Because the printer uses pigments instead of dyes in their inks, the document comes out fast and also immediately dry. The color photos eventually came out looking stunning. It took about two alignments and cleanings before the 4x6 photos were looking vibrant and stunning. The color prints also print remarkably fast, well when compared to my old printer anyway. The infomercial states that because the inks use pigments instead of dyes, the pictures will last lifetimes with no fading. I'll have to take their word for it, I haven't printed anything that is older than a year even.


Copying / Faxing

This may be the one feature we use the least, but it's nice to know it's there. It's usually if company is over the house, when someone else would need something copied. It's cool to say; oh would you want that in color or black and white. Plus, even though this has a flatbed scanner, there's no need to open the heavy top to place the paper on the glass. This has a feeder sitting on the top that you just place the paper in, and then the machine does the rest for you. Also, when it is done printing, you still don't need to lift the top cover, because this just shoots it out into the tray right underneath. It's very convenient. I guess it goes without saying that the fax works in the same way. Speaking of the fax, I had a little trouble receiving faxes, but a quick call to Kodak customer service helped me out of that jam in a jiffy. There is also a phone book where you can store up to 60 numbers, and with three speed dials that also remarkable fit on the front of the printer.


Scanning

As I stated above, this model uses the convenient flat bed scanner, which I prefer over a feeder just in case it isn't a photo or a document I need to scan. I scan DVDs and CDs when I am selling on eBay, and a feeder just wouldn't do in that situation. It scans at six different quality settings; 75 dpi, 100 dpi, 150 dpi (default), 200 dpi, 300 dpi and 600 dpi. (dpi = dots per square inch). You would only use 600 dpi if you are scanning something unusually small that you would want to make bigger later. I wouldn't recommend using 600 dpi too much as it needs a lot of your computer's RAM to make this work.


Installation

I couldn't be happier with the ease of installation. I am not one who usually takes out the directions for a device that I had installed a bunch of times already. So for this, the CD-Rom goes in and it pretty much does it itself. It didn't take too long either, maybe 25 minutes which is about half the time of the Hewlett Packard software. I had a little trouble with the fax at first but only because I had hooked up the phone wires in the wrong inputs in the back. Maybe I should have opened the instructions, eh? After the installation, I went to the Kodak website and updated the firmware which was already available for me. The firmware can be found at http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/products/ekn033541.jhtml?pq-path=10623.


Special Features

I really like the two-sided duplexer that I bought for my older HP model. I was sad to see that go, but was ecstatically surprised to find that this Kodak model has thought of that as well. I spent over $100 for that add-on HP duplexer, and for $199, I am getting an excellent printer with two-sided printing built in.

But my favorite feature here that Kodak has thought of to include in also conveniently placed to the immediate right of the paper loading tray is a special 4x6 photo paper loading tray. You just need to lift the plastic cover, load the photo paper, lower the plastic cover and push the whole feeder forward. This lets the printer know that you want to use photo paper instead of regular printing paper. I just keep mine loaded (about 14 sheets) at all times, and when I need to print out a color picture I just push in the tray and I'm ready to go.


In Conclusion


The initial draw of this purchase was the low price of ink cartridges and the potential to save money over the span of a year with printing supplies. I do believe that we save money, although I find that we are buying ink at a quicker pace than when we owned the HP model. I used to buy ink maybe three times a year ($180 approx), and at this rate I am going to replace my Kodak ink cartridges about five times this year ($125). Right there is a savings of $55 which is nothing to sneeze at. In three years, this printer will have paid for itself, (especially because I sold the old printer on eBay at $125 - hee hee).

Now, the reason why I'm glad my wife went out and spent $200 (+ NYC tax) so quickly are the little conveniences and special features of this model. The top feeder is very cool to have. Lifting that heavy lid could be dangerous to your machine when it comes crashing down, which this one will if you are not careful to open it up all the way. I didn't miss having a top feeder when I was using my HP, but now I don't see how I lived without it now that I own the Kodak 5500. Also, the very dual paper tray is beyond amazing. It's so cool having 4x6 photo paper sitting ready to go with the ease of a push. Again, I don't know how I did without these things for so long.

The software that comes with the printer is OK, but is almost unnecessary. I can pretty much do everything that this all-in-one has to offer even without hooking it up to a computer. I don't use it much at all, if I do need software, I am still happy with my Microsoft Picture It! software.

I can easily recommend this printer for anyone, it's simple to use, it's cost to maintain is comparatively small, and to get all these little special features inside of $200 is a steal!



The Boring Details

Print performance
Black print speed
up to 32 ppm*
Color print speed
up to 30 ppm*
Best-quality photo speed
in as little as 28 sec/print*, 4 × 6 in. (10 × 15 cm)
Printing features
Borderless sizes supported
3½ × 5 in. (8.9 × 13 cm)
4 × 6 in. (10 × 15 cm)
4 × 8 in. (10 × 20 cm)
4 × 12 in. (10 × 30 cm)
5 × 7 in. (13 × 18 cm)
6 × 9 in. (15 × 23 cm)
8 × 10 in. (20 × 25 cm)
A
A4

Papers supported
Plain paper, coated paper, photo paper, iron-on, transparency film, label media, greeting cards,17 to 24 lb plain paper
Auto-detect media
KODAK Photo Papers with custom backprint
Image enhancement
KODAK PERFECT TOUCH Technology
Print functions
100%, fit-to-page, fill-page, mirror, poster
Display
2.4 in. (6.1 cm) color graphics LCD
Two-sided printing
duplex printing accessory included

Copying features
Copy quantity
black & color, 1㫻 copies
Copy enlargement/reduction
10𤯤% at 1% increments
Special copy modes
fit-to-page; one-to-many; 2-to-1; 4-to-1; 2-on-1; 4-on-1; poster 2X, 3X, 4X (5X, PC only); borderless; mirror; duplex; iron-on

Scanning features
Scanner type
CCD
Maximum scan size
up to 8½ × 11.7 in. (21.6 × 29.7 cm), (US letter, A4) via platen only; up to 8½ × 14 in. (21.6 × 36 cm), (US legal w/ADF)
Paper trays
Paper capacity
Main: 100 sheets 20 lb plain paper; up to 20 sheets 10 mil photo paper
Output: 50 sheets 20 lb paper
Main tray
3½ × 5 in. to 8½ × 14 in. (8.9 × 13 cm to 21.6 × 36 cm)
Photo tray
3½ × 5 in. to 4 × 6 in. (8.9 × 13 cm to 10 × 15 cm)
Output tray
3½ × 5 in. to 8½ × 14 in. (8.9 × 13 cm to 21.6 × 36 cm)

Ink tanks
Ink handling
2-cartridge, 6-ink system
Ink life
Minimum 2 years life from manufacture; 6 months in product

Connectivity
Protocols supported
USB 2.0, USB 2.0 (Mass Storage & PTP), USB EKPTP, BLUETOOTH® 1.2, PictBridge, DPOF, MIPC, PTP/IP

Devices supported
USB PC/MACs, USB mass storage devices, PictBridge enabled digital still cameras, EKPTP cameras via camera dock or printer dock, and BLUETOOTH® Technology enabled imaging devices
Number of USB ports
2 host ports, 1 device port

Software support
Application support
EASYSHARE Software or third party image management applications, registration, user-customized installation, OCR support for documents
Media support
Plain paper, photo paper, envelopes, greeting cards, transparencies, t-shirt transfer
Scanner support
TWAIN and WIA import, preview window, scan-to-PC file or PC applications, including EASYSHARE Software, segmentation scanning
File transfer support
Automatic color, contrast, sharpness improvements upon transfer to PC
Update support
Software updates available through web support
Physical specifications
Power
US: 110𤩨 V AC, 60 Hz at ~2 A
WW: 110𤫠 V AC, 50㫔 Hz
Output: 36 V AC at 3 A (120 watt)
Dimensions
[W × D × H]: 18.8 × 16.4 (with duplexer) × 11.3 in. (47.8 × 41.7 × 28.7 cm)
Weight
26.7 lbs (12.11 kg)


* Based on fastest document print modes and borderless 4 × 6 in. photos using KODAK ULTRA Premium Photo Paper, Studio Gloss, and using WINDOWS PCs that meet recommended system requirements. Actual results may vary.