Best printer brands Kodak printers
Kodak only makes all-in-one inkjet printers
We’ve been impressed by some aspects of Kodak printers’ performance, but compared with the likes of HP, Kodak's printer range is small.
We’ve tested around 10 models from Kodak, which is a good proportion of its product range. Although the range is small, there's still a Best Buy in there and a number of other all-in-one wireless printers that are worth considering.
If you're interested in buying a Kodak all-in-one take a look at our Kodak printer reviews before you buy.
The range of Kodak printers
Kodak's marketing strategy is that you pay a little more for the printer, but less than its competitors for ink cartridges.
Printer prices range from £60 for the basic entry-level Kodak printer up to around £200 for a top-of-the range model.
Kodak only makes all-in-one inkjet printers; you can't buy a standard Kodak inkjet printer.
Running costs and cartridges for Kodak printers
Kodak printers use a combined colour cartridge
All Kodak printers take a black cartridge and a combined colour cartridge. With combined cartridges you have to replace all of the colours when one runs out because they're built into the same cartridge.
This is fine if you use colours equally when you print, but if you print photos with lots of sky in them you'll use a lot of cyan and less of the other colours. You'll be throwing away the magenta and yellow when the cyan runs out which could significantly impact on your print costs.
Kodak 10 ink and 30 ink
Kodak only has two sets of ink cartridges on the market - Code 10 and Code 30 inks. They are designed to work in different printers and are aimed at different types of consumer.
The code 10 ink has been around longest - it is cheaper to buy than the code 30 ink. With code 10 ink printers you pay more for the printer, but less for the ink. In theory, if you print a lot it should work out cheaper in the long run.
The Kodak ESP C110 includes a preview screen and uses Kodak code 30 ink
Code 30 ink was introduced at the beginning of 2011 and works in Kodak's newer 'C' series printers. Code 30 ink is more expensive than code 10 ink, but the printers it works with are cheaper to buy - so the marketing strategy here is more in line with other printer manufacturers - you get the printer cheaper but pay a little more for the ink.
We test printers for the amount of ink they use to print a page as well as rating the print quality. Kodak printers are generally cheap in terms of the cost of the ink on the page if your prints use roughly the same amount of each colour.
Kodak print head
Kodak printers contain a print head inside the device rather than on the ink cartridge.
Once the print head reaches the end of its life it will need to be replaced. Kodak claims that the print head is unlikely to need replacing during the lifespan of the printer – we print thousands of pages during the course of testing and it didn’t happen during this time.
If the print head stops working in the first year of ownership, Kodak will replace it under the warranty. After that, you will need to pay to replace it.
Kodak printer names
Kodak's naming conventions are simple to understand. All printer names start with 'ESP' followed by:
- ESP Office - 'Office' titled models tend to include an automatic document feeder and fax machine.
- ESP C - The 'C' will be followed by a number. 'C' models are part of the 2011 range that use the code 30 ink - printer prices start at around £60 which is cheaper than the other ranges.
All remaining models will be ESP followed directly by a number. These models are aimed more towards printing photos and make up the largest part of Kodak's printer offering, which is unsurprising given Kodak's photography history. Models usually include memory card slots and preview screens.
As a general rule, the higher the model number, the higher up in the range and the more features it's likely to have.
See how Kodak's printer range compares with those of other manufacturers by checking out our HP, Epson and Canon printers brand overview pages.
