40 out of 40 people found this review helpful.
For $200, she better be good! Kodak Easyshare 5500 InkJet Printer
Date of Review: Apr 30, 2008
The Bottom Line: The Kodak Easyshare 5500 InkJet Printer is a great all in one printer! The cost is right under $200 and well worth every penny for the savings in ink cost
My good friend Ellen Degeneres gave me the Kodak Easyshare 5500 printer. What? Okay, okay, I won it from the Ellen Degeneres show! I did not remember even signing up to win it and was surprised when it came to my door! I told the Fedex guy that he had the wrong house but he insisted it was mine. After checking the name on it and lugging it inside, the first thing I noticed was.....IT WAS HUGE! In the box surrounded with all of the packaging, I expected the printer to be an industrial sized printer/copier for businesses!! Wow. It turns out that this printer is taller than any that I have owned before but just about the same length and width. The measurements are 8.8" wide,11.3" tall, and 14.8" deep. It weighs over 26 pounds.
So what is most important about a printer? That it prints well and fast of course. The Kodak Easyshare 5500 printer will print out documents (even text loaded documents!) in two seconds flat. Black text is black, colors are very colorful and show up nicely. My pictures have printed out nicely and been dry to the touch! So no worrying about drying time. Even pictures that online services said could not be printed out or would show the pixels? I have printed out perfectly at home on my printer! 4" by 6" photos with no borders are printed in less than 28 seconds. The cost of ink is a high concern for low income families who are unable to replace the ink after they run out....this printer actually saves on the cost of ink! It can print out more for less than other printers. This all-in-one printer helps you save up to 50% on everything you print (compared to other consumer inkjet systems) and delivers stunning high-quality photos and sharp, vibrant copies, scans and faxes. Printer ink for the Kodak Easyshare 5500 is $10 for black and $15 for color. The ink is included when you buy the printer. I love the flip-up about 3" by 3" color viewscreen so I can see what I am printing or how things will look....great for aligning just right. This screen also allows me to easily select quantity, color, quality, and output. This negates the need for a computer used alongside the printer! Do things straight from the printer!
Memory card slots support CompactFlash Type I/II, Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, xD-Picture Card and Microdrive; direct printing from USB and PictBridge-enabled digital device. No need to go through the computer any longer....the printer has a place for my memory card directly. Set-up was a breeze besides lifting it out of the box and not being able to close the lid for a while...see below! The copier has these options: fit-to-page; borderless, mirror, duplex and 10-500% enlargement. The scanner bed is 8.5" x 11.7" in size and has been plenty big for scanning magazines, books, articles, documents, and pictures. This printer can print on both sides of the paper easily with the included duplex printing accessory which is really nice...save a tree, print on each side! The printer came with samples of paper and photo paper.
What did I NOT care for in the Kodak Eashyshare 5500 printer? Oh boy, it would have been nice to have a tray for the papers the printer spits out. It does have a place to 'catch' printed documents but the printer spits them out so quickly that they go flying! Since we do not have the space nor the long table needed, right now the printer is shooting papers out into the wild blue yonder....er....air! This is rather annoying as I have to stand by and catch the papers or let them pile up in the floor. Another disappointment for me is the loud noise this printer makes. I am not used to one being so noisy so keep listening closely, wondering if something is wrong with it! The noise is a loud humming mechanical noise and then you can hear the motion of the printer going back and forth printing. But that is not the only noise.....there is a start up/warm up noise that is a loud humming mechanical noise too! Clicking, clacking, humming, thumping, boom, bam, boom....the noise disrupts normal television sound as well as is annoying when I am on a phone call. Once I ran out of ink, I was unable to use the printer for anything else...I could not scan in documents or transfer pictures....fax also does not work in this instance. The white and gray exterior attracts dust like a magnet! When I lifted the heavy lid to get to put in the printer ink, I was unable to close it back down. It took me the longest to figure it out...no levers or buttons to release the lid....just push down and it goes back down! I would have much rather it be like the scanner part....Lift the lid, there is the scanner, close it back. The scanner lid does not prop up with a 'leg' like the ink part does! This machine is very heavy and difficult to remove from packaging.
Items that this printer has that I have not used include a fax machine. This all in one printer can receive color and black and white faxes or send faxes at speeds of 33.6 Kbps. Since we have no home phone line, it is not something that we use. This part of it has 3 speed dials and a place to hold 60 of your most common fax numbers. Optional Bluetooth 1.2 connectivity (requires adapter, not included) I was never able to contact customer service at the toll free number.
Other specifics of the Kodak Easyshare 5500 all in one printer:
Automatic document feeder holds 35 sheets of paper. This is located at the very bottom of the printer....hard to tell at first looking at it! You lift up the 4" by 6" shelf and see where the paper feeder is.
The 4" by 6" location is different....this you will see right away. It is still towards the bottom of the printer but on top of the larger paper feeder. You will see a clear plastic covering, lift this up, and then you can place in your 4" by 6" photo paper and close the lid. The little tray pushes in when you are ready to print.
The various buttons on the little silver shelf of this printer are: on/off, cancel, start, ok, four arrows to choose selections from menu, menu (this includes a help section to walk you through installing ink, making a copy, printing a photo, making a scan, or calibrating), copy, zoom, rotate, transfer, scan, fax, 0-9 number buttons, phonebook, 3 one touch buttons for remembering your most common used fax numbers, and also not a button but an attention light when the printer needs something like paper or is jammed. After months of use, this attention light has only come on when I was out of paper.
Highspeed USB but cable does not come with it...also MAC and PC compatible.
Includes Kodak Easyshare software which will load quickly on your computer.
Can make 99 copies at a time.
System requirements for this printer use: Intel? Celeron? 1.2GHz or Intel? Pentium? 4 3.0GHz processor or equivalent; Windows XP or Vista; PowerPC G5 2.0GHz or Intel? processor; Mac OS 10.4.8 or higher; 128MB RAM; 200MB hard drive; available USB port; CD-ROM.
You can save documents in any style of file on the computer, even pdf.
I have had this printer for months now and had no issues after the first day. I print homeschool materal every day from online sources, copy legal documents when I am asked to send in a copy of them, print pictures of my daughter at least once a week so I do not have to go to town and go through the hassle of printing there, and could not be happier. I can print quickly (even pictures!) and efficiently. My copies look terrific with no issues at all. Iin the past I have been unhappy with the colors especially black ink showing up as gray, this printer shows up the colors nicely and exactly what I wanted. All colors are true...even black! I have been able to put in my memory card, print my pictures, and have nice pictures with no delay or problems at all! The features are easy to use and easy to understand with help instructions when needed. I did find the heavy top to be difficult when putting in the ink cartridges but thankfully this printer uses LESS ink so I will not be changing the cartridges as often! Really could use a paper holder instead of the completed printed papers flying across the room too!! Even with the small issues that I found, the Kodak Easyshare 5500 is a great all in one printer! The cost is right under $200 and well worth every penny for the savings in ink cost!
What is so good about THIS item?
Fast printing, clear documents, colors look great, pictures are perfect, less ink cost, saves money, two sided printing, and easy to understand options to use.
What is unique about this item?
Saves 50% on ink costs, double sided printing, all in one.
Is it worth the price?
Absolutely! It will save money on ink in the future making up for the cost of the printer.
There has to be some bad to this item, right?
Loud, heavy, heavy lid, unable to contact customer service, and no paper tray!
Any warnings people should be aware of?
None.
Final verdict:
Even with the small issues that I found, the Kodak Easyshare 5500 is a great all in one printer! The cost is right under $200 and well worth every penny for the savings in ink cost
pablo the printer
Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy. Robert A. Heinlein
