Kodak EasyShare Printer Dock Series 3 user reviews

Pros Who Knows?

Cons No supplied software on CD

Summary The user guide explicitly warns to install software before using camera and dock.
However, the Kodak EasyShare CD contains absolutely no Windows software as explicitly stated on the CD. In fact, it is a Mac HFS formatted cd with Mac only software (which is fine in itself)
hmmm, how is it possible to install Windows software from a CD that contains no Windows software.
The kodak web site does not allow full download of
of their free software, only an installer application.
That is unacceptable and ridiculous

Pros Decent quality photos at a reasonable speed/price

Cons Terrible performance technically; jams, misfeeds etc. Has to be completely taken apart to remove even a small paper jam or even if the power cuts out in the middle of a print.

Summary Performance: 0 out of 10 due to design and repair procedures/costs

Photo Quality: 7/10 with some slight color shifts

Photo price: 8/10 using bulk purchased paper/thermal ink cartridge

Overall: Stay AWAY! One paper jam (not all that uncommon for quality photo printing) is NOT removable/repairable by the end user AT ALL (the printer "locks up" and removal is impossible without dis-assembling this terribly engineered/designed unit) and literally means the printer will need to be sent to Kodak for repair. Probably why there are so many "refurbished" "like new" ones for sale out there now. Even at $20 this is NOT a good deal.

Pros Good image quality, USB pc connection, charges camera.

Cons Paper feed is a manual operation.

Summary I've got two of these, one at home and one at work. They came with the Z740's I bought so it was really just a bonus. The problem is that I'm the only one that can get the paper feed to work. If you rely on the dock to pick up the paper, you'll never get a print. You have to get one sheet of paper, dust it off, and wait for the dock to get to the paper load protion of print cycle. If you miss, and you've printed from Windows, you have to go through the painful process of deleting a print job. If you shove it in crooked, you're in a big mess. It uses paper with perferated leading and trailing edges. If the paper stops or gets jammed, one of these edges is going to get stuck in the printer. I've had to take one completely apart to remove one of those tabs. I'm really not a big fan of the EasyShare software either. It looks like a file broweser but don't be confused, it's not.

Pros Easy to Use providing the cartridge is not defective.

Cons Cartridge, if defective, makes printer signal "paper jam".

Summary I am pleased with the prints but 3 times have had defective cartridges that made me believe there was a paper jam. When this happens, the printer "locks" the cartridge so you cannot remove it. After more than 2 hrs. struggling to remove the cartridge - like unplugging and replugging power to unit - the cartridge suddenly comes unlocked. Now I have about 100 sheets of paper and no "extra" cartridge to make prints. Kodak needs to have better quality control on the cartridges as well as selling them as a separate item from the paper.