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CNET editors' review
- CNET editors' rating: stars OK
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 08/19/2008
The simplistic design, barebones editing software, and lack of features peg the $170 Kodak ESP5 as an entry level all-in-one printer. Unfortunately, you can do much better for the money; for example, the HP OfficeJet J6480 is meant for the home office, but still produces excellent quality photos and even includes a fax machine with an autofeeder for just $30 more. The inflated price tag and mechanical deficiencies prevent us from recommending Kodak ESP5.
Design and Features
The printer has the same simple black design as the ESP3, its cheaper cousin that lacks the LCD screen. The perforated scanner cover adds an elegant touch and the smaller footprint (6.9 inches tall by 16.6 inches wide by 11.8 inches deep) will easily fit into tight quarters, but the majority of the printer is made of a light plastic that gives the device a flimsy and delicate feel. When you raise the cover to reveal the ink bay, a thin plastic arm pops up and braces the cover, similar to the hood of a car. The mechanism requires two hands to close and is an overall poor design choice; it's almost guaranteed to break over time, and we're not sure why Kodak didn't just use a standard spring-mounted lid. Also, the cover on top of the scanner bed folds on a fixed hinge that doesn't reach over thicker items like large books.
The printer industry has slowly started to steer more toward photo printers with five individual color ink cartridges for less waste, but the ESP5 still retains the standard-size ink cartridge bay: one for black and one for five different colors. The Kodak Web site reports 10 cents per color photo, a relatively decent price for the average inkjet printer. In addition, Kodak sells three different printing bundles that include black and color ink cartridges as well as several types of paper.
The most obvious advancement over previous models is the ESP5's 3-inch LCD screen that lets you perform light photo-editing features right on the printer. The options aren't nearly as sophisticated as the HP Photosmart C8180, but the choices are fine for the average photo enthusiast. We're also happy to see that the home screen has a shortcut to copy or scan a document--we usually see this option at least two or three clicks into the menu. The screen itself moves on a hinge so you can see it from a variety of angles and also folds down flush into the printer when it's not in use. The rest of the basic faceplate features zoom, menu, start, and cancel buttons. Just below the buttons you'll find a multimedia card reader for MemorySticks, xD, SD, and Compact Flash cards. There's also a USB port at the bottom for printing directly from a USB key or a PictBridge-compatible digital camera.
The ESP5 feeds paper through one tray for both input and output and can accommodate up to 100 sheets of paper in a variety of sizes. At this price, we would have liked to see two separate trays for output organization and perhaps even a separate tray for 4-inch-by-6-inch photo paper so that you don't have to deal with taking out paper every time you want to swap media. We also encountered several paper jams--enough to where we found ourselves constantly monitoring our tests to watch for error. Most of the jams are caused by the small plastic guide that's supposed to align the paper according to its size, although most of the time its tiny reach results in bunched up, misfed bundles of paper.
The printer ships with the two separate installation discs for Mac OS X and Windows XP/Vista. It also includes the Kodak Home Center software. The Home Center acts as a hub for the copy, print, and scan functions. The copy feature is easy to navigate and offers a unique collage copy setting that duplicates several pictures in the same orientation as the originals. The scanning center is a little too simplified and lacks an option to scan directly to a PDF or an e-mail; both are almost an industry standard and we're disappointed to see that Kodak let these two crucial features fall by the wayside.
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