The company has recently revealed a 45% increase in sales of their inkjet printers and with their advertising campaigns seemingly everywhere right now, Kodak appear to be the printer manufacturer of the moment.
However the brand is still relatively new to the printer market only launching their current inkjet range in 2007 and originally the biggest grumble with consumers seems to have been that reliability was a bit of an issue with the early models. Now that they've got production of a few models under their belt and with The Gadget Show rating the ESP 3250 highly last summer, combined with promises of savings on the costs of replacement ink, it's no wonder consumers are being tempted in to give them a try.
So does Kodak really live up to their promises?
They've certainly made life simple by designing most of their current range to take the same Kodak 10 black and 10 colour cartridges. The printers are also developed so that the print head forms part of the printer and not the cartridge, meaning you only pay for it once and not every time you need replacement ink. The downside to this of course is that the print head will eventually wear out, although Kodak are quick to assure customers that this shouldn't happen during the lifetime of the printer. The warranty however, is only for the first year, so if the print head stops working after this it's down to the customer to replace it.
It's true that compared to other manufacturers genuine or OEM cartridges, replacing the ink in a Kodak printer is a far less traumatic experience, with the RRP for the 10 black at £6.99. There is a big but when it comes to the colour. With any combined colour cartridges, you'll need to replace it completely and won't be able to print even if you've only run down one colour. So if you're printing a lot of photos with one main colour scheme you are going to be throwing away a cartridge that still contains ink which seems rather wasteful and frustrating.
With Kodak's printers the emphasis is on printing photographs, not very surprising considering the brands heritage but to get any decent result you need to pay out for their special photo paper and with only the most expensive very being reported as any good it quickly cancels out any benefit from cheaper ink costs.
It's fair to say that in general their all-in-ones can cope with the demands of an average family life, and for the time being this is likely to remain their niche.
Kodak remains optimistic for the future, and is forecasting a 50% increase in printer sales for 2011 with profits from ink doubling also. Something they may need to rely on as a trading statement revealed sales of digital cameras have slumped recently.
Their recent campaigns are certainly making people think about their printing costs, but if you're considering purchasing any kind of new printer it's always advisable to do some research. Not only independent reviews but also get an idea of replacement cartridge costs and whether cheap compatibles are readily available if you don't want to have to rely on expensive genuine's.
There's huge choice and variety within the Inkjet market, with a printer out there to suit everyone, Kodak aren't the only brand but they're certainly the first to be using the costs of cartridges as a marketing tool, usually it's the dirty secret manufacturers do their best to keep quiet.
However the brand is still relatively new to the printer market only launching their current inkjet range in 2007 and originally the biggest grumble with consumers seems to have been that reliability was a bit of an issue with the early models. Now that they've got production of a few models under their belt and with The Gadget Show rating the ESP 3250 highly last summer, combined with promises of savings on the costs of replacement ink, it's no wonder consumers are being tempted in to give them a try.
So does Kodak really live up to their promises?
They've certainly made life simple by designing most of their current range to take the same Kodak 10 black and 10 colour cartridges. The printers are also developed so that the print head forms part of the printer and not the cartridge, meaning you only pay for it once and not every time you need replacement ink. The downside to this of course is that the print head will eventually wear out, although Kodak are quick to assure customers that this shouldn't happen during the lifetime of the printer. The warranty however, is only for the first year, so if the print head stops working after this it's down to the customer to replace it.
It's true that compared to other manufacturers genuine or OEM cartridges, replacing the ink in a Kodak printer is a far less traumatic experience, with the RRP for the 10 black at £6.99. There is a big but when it comes to the colour. With any combined colour cartridges, you'll need to replace it completely and won't be able to print even if you've only run down one colour. So if you're printing a lot of photos with one main colour scheme you are going to be throwing away a cartridge that still contains ink which seems rather wasteful and frustrating.
With Kodak's printers the emphasis is on printing photographs, not very surprising considering the brands heritage but to get any decent result you need to pay out for their special photo paper and with only the most expensive very being reported as any good it quickly cancels out any benefit from cheaper ink costs.
It's fair to say that in general their all-in-ones can cope with the demands of an average family life, and for the time being this is likely to remain their niche.
Kodak remains optimistic for the future, and is forecasting a 50% increase in printer sales for 2011 with profits from ink doubling also. Something they may need to rely on as a trading statement revealed sales of digital cameras have slumped recently.
Their recent campaigns are certainly making people think about their printing costs, but if you're considering purchasing any kind of new printer it's always advisable to do some research. Not only independent reviews but also get an idea of replacement cartridge costs and whether cheap compatibles are readily available if you don't want to have to rely on expensive genuine's.
There's huge choice and variety within the Inkjet market, with a printer out there to suit everyone, Kodak aren't the only brand but they're certainly the first to be using the costs of cartridges as a marketing tool, usually it's the dirty secret manufacturers do their best to keep quiet.
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