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Kodak EasyShare 5500 All-in-One By Felisa Yang, CNET.com March 05, 2008 URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/hardware/printers/soa/Kodak-EasyShare-5500-All-in-One/0,2000065768,339286509,00.htm
In its attempt to do everything, the Kodak EasyShare 5500 All-in-One printer fails to do any one thing well. To use some features of this multifunction inkjet is an exercise in frustration; other features, such as photo editing, are entirely lacking (instead, you have to turn to your PC to use Kodak's included software). Additionally, its print speeds are slow, though it does offer decent print quality. There are better multifunction printers out there, however, to suit varying needs. If you're looking for an office-oriented, all-in-one (you need fax functionality and an automatic document feeder, for example), the Canon Pixma MP830 offers a better set of features, including a built-in duplexer, while the HP Photosmart C6180 offers built-in wireless networking and better fax feature set (though worse print quality). Design Two memory card slots and two PictBridge-enabled USB ports are mounted on the front of the device. The memory card slots can take most common types of memory cards, though some will require an adapter (which is not included). The USB ports can be used to connect PictBridge cameras as well as USB storage devices, such as hard drives or flash drives. If you connect an unsupported device, the printer will beep three times to let you know -- instead of leaving you standing around, scratching your head, and trying to figure out how to view the device's contents. If you want to print wirelessly, you can also connect an optional Bluetooth adapter to one of the USB ports. We like the fact that the EasyShare 5500 has two USB ports, so the printer can always be ready for Bluetooth printing while also accepting hard drives. The control panel sits on a shelf that juts out from the front face of the printer. In its centre is a 2.4-inch, colour LCD, that's mounted on a swivel to let you move the screen from flush with the control panel to a vertical position. The control panel also features four task buttons; standard menu and menu navigation buttons; photo-focused buttons to rotate, zoom, and transfer images; and fax-centric keys, such as an alphanumeric keypad and three one-touch dial buttons. One thing to note: some of the buttons aren't very responsive and require a firm touch. The EasyShare 5500's paper handling is simple: the combined cassette features both input and output trays, with the former sitting below the latter. The output tray flips up for easy paper loading. Both trays can be extended to accommodate legal-size paper. Mounted in the output tray is a dedicated 4x6 photo paper tray. The photo paper tray's clear cover lets you see whether it's empty and also flips up for loading. The only thing we don't like about this setup is that you have to manually push in the photo tray to engage it. We'd prefer that the printer do this automatically when you select 4x6 paper for printing photos. It's a minor quibble, but the printer's setup adds a step to photo printing. The EasyShare 5500 employs the same two-tank ink system used by its little brother, the EasyShare 5300. One tank holds black pigment-based ink, while the other holds five dye-based inks. Kodak's claim of six-colour printing is misleading, however, because the black tank is used only for text prints, while one of the "inks" in the colour tank is actually a clear coating that's applied to photos for finish and protection. The remaining colours in the colour tank are the standard black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. The black tank costs AU$14.99 to replace, while the colour tank costs AU$24.99.One problem we came across is that if one of the ink tanks runs out of ink, you can't do anything with the unit until you replace the tank. You can't scan, send a fax, or transfer photos -- yet none of these tasks require ink. We find this predicament incredibly annoying, as well as short-sighted. Features The scan function lets you designate what you're scanning (document or photo) and where to scan to. Options include scan to file, scan to application, and scan to memory card. The scan-to-file option saves the scan as a PDF file, in a new folder within your My Documents folder (the new folder's name is the date you created the file). The annoying part is that you don't get a message -- either on your PC screen or on the printer's LCD -- confirming that the scan is finished. In fact, the printer's LCD continues to say "Press START to scan," which may lead you to believe the scan was not completed. Another shortcoming is that the EasyShare 5500 doesn't let you designate where you want the scan saved, nor does it allow you to choose a file type. If you want to make these changes, you'll have to start up the Kodak AiO Home Center software that comes on the device's installation disc, and start the scan from your PC. This way, you can save files in RTF, TIFF, JPEG, or PDF formats, and choose where the files end up. If you want to scan to an application, you can initiate from either the printer control panel or from within the Home Center software. The initial list of applications includes only Microsoft Paint, Kodak EasyShare, and Home Center, but you can add applications while in Home Center. Finally, you can scan photos and documents to a memory card, but not to a USB-attached hard drive or flash drive. The onboard fax machine lets you send and receive faxes. You can use the fax settings menu to alter options, such as the number of rings after which to answer a call, manage redial attempts, or whether to print a confirmation page. You can even program one-touch dial buttons for the numbers you fax to most often -- but you can only program three. Yes, three. It's a far cry from other all-in-one devices that let you program, for example, 10 one-touch numbers and dozens of quick-dial numbers that you then can select using a short code. The Canon Pixma MP830 allows for eight one-touch numbers and a multitude of quick dial numbers, while the HP Photosmart C6180 allows for 60 quick-dial numbers. Also, the user guide implies that you can program the one-touch numbers using the printer's control panel, but we followed the directions and couldn't figure out how to do it. You can do it in the Home Center application, however, which is where we were finally successful. There's no junk fax blocker or secure receive mode, either; the Lexmark X9350 offers both. The procedure for printing from a memory card or a USB storage device is similar. When you insert a card or connect a drive, the last photo is displayed. You can then scroll through the photos, selecting images and number of prints along the way. If you're ready to print, simply press the Start button. If you'd like to make changes, including layout, quantity, colour versus black and white, and quality (draft, normal, or best), simply press the Photo button. Unfortunately, you can't make even basic edits, such as red-eye removal, via the control panel; you'll have to use to the included software instead. When perusing pictures, you have the option to choose a nine-image view (by zooming out) to scroll through contents more quickly. You can even crop photos, though the process is not intuitive. To do so, zoom in on an individual photo until you have the desired print within the frame. You can also produce index or proof sheet prints with the EasyShare 5500. Index prints can be made on photo paper (even 4x6) or plain paper, and include the photo number and file name of each print for quick reference. The proof sheet is a scannable index of all the photos on your memory card. Using the sheet, you can select the images you want to print, choose the layout, and scan the sheet; the printer will then print the photos you selected. You can't opt to print more than one copy of a photo with the proof sheet, unless you've chosen to print the images in a multi-image layout (you can choose to have all the spots filled with the same photo). One feature missing from this unit is the ability to sort images by date or date range, or an option to print the last X number of images. Performance CNET Labs' Multifunction Printer Performance (pages per minute)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Canon Pixma MP810
N/A 3.98
7.4
1.88
8.43
Kodak EasyShare 5500 1.69
5.13
5.05
1.31
4.48 Text quality was fairly good, though we would like to see a true black -- the EasyShare 5500's output was more akin to very dark grey. We also saw some wicking, but the quality is acceptable for general use. Colour graphics prints were good, with nice colour saturation and sharp details, though we noticed a grainy quality to colour blocks, while colours looked slightly faded. The 4x6 photo prints showed some of the same graininess in colour blocks, particularly in faces. Also, there was some compression in the dark end of the grey scale, which resulted in lost details in shadow areas. The whole image could have used a bit of tweaking in terms of sharpness and brightness, too. We did like the scans produced by the EasyShare 5500. The greyscale scan was sharp and detailed, though it suffered the same effects from dark-end compression as the photos. The colour scan was sharp and detailed, though the colours were strangely bright and aggressive. Overall, the Kodak EasyShare 5500 offers decent print quality -- good enough for office use -- but its task speeds are slow. CNET Labs Multifunction Printer Quality
Canon Pixma MP810
Good
Good
Good
Excellent
Excellent
Kodak EasyShare 5500
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good Kodak backs the EasyShare 5300 All-in-One with a one-year warranty. The company's Web site offers manuals, software downloads, an interactive troubleshooter and interactive tutorials, and FAQs.
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