Kodak ESP 3 review

Although a late arrival at the multi-function ball, Kodak succeeded in cutting itself a slice of the cake with a couple of well-specified all-in-ones. They were expensive but this was offset by the low running costs.

Now the company has brought out a second pair of all-in-ones - and addressed the purchase price issue. The ESP 3, reviewed here, is the cheaper of the two at just over £70.

However, Kodak has had to make a couple of sacrifices to get the cost down. The most obvious short cut in this all-black printer is the lack of a colour LCD monitor, though this needn't be a problem in an entry-level device if it isn't designed to print photos from memory cards. But the ESP 3 has a full set of card readers for all the major types, so omitting the monitor display could be irksome. You can use iPhoto or other photo applications to upload images from a memory card and select and print them from there, but it's not as convenient as using a machine autonomously.

The rest of the control panel is straightforward stuff, with little in the way of print adjustment - just shrink to fit, colour or black and white, and a counter for one to nine copies. The scanner is a Contact Image Sensor (CIS) device - a type traditionally known for its keen price rather than quality.

CIS scanners though have improved considerably in the past couple of years, and the copy quality here is fine for general-purpose use. Colour tints are a little lighter than in the originals, but this can be compensated for.

The paper-feed tray folds down from the front and then pulls out to its full depth, increasing the ESP 3's otherwise modest footprint. You load paper on to the tray and it feeds through, turns 180° and feeds out to sit on top of the feed stack. This works well enough but when you're not printing, you'll probably want to fold the tray back up to recover desk space and prevent your paper from gathering dust.

Under test, a five-page text print in normal mode took 2 minutes 11 seconds, which equates to 2.18 pages per minute, although the first print of the day could well take more than a minute longer if the machine has been switched off overnight. Then, you have to wait for it to clean its heads before starting to print.

This poor performance isn't just for black text. A five-page text and graphics print took 2 minutes 30 seconds to complete, although a 6 x 4in photo was produced in 55 seconds - very good for a photo print at best quality.

As well as the printer and scanner drivers, the Kodak Home Center software provides status on ink levels and simple supplies information, but there's little else. There's no EasyShare application and you have to rely on a Twain driver to scan documents into a third-party program of your own.

Print quality varies from good to very good. Text and graphics on plain paper show little feathering or ink spatter, and colours are strong. When you move to photographs, you again see natural colours, plus good levels of detail and smooth gradations in background tints.

Kodak is strangely reluctant to quote a resolution figure for the print engine but by comparing its prints with its main competitors, we reckon it tends towards an HP 600dpi rather than an Epson 1440dpi.

The ESP 3 uses the same black and five-ink cartridges as in the earlier 5300 and 5500 models. The five-ink cartridge offers CMYK inks plus a clear overcoat, which provides extra UV and ozone protection. The black cartridge offers a separate ink for text.

The two cartridges are priced at £7 and £10 and if you buy Kodak's special Photo Value Pack, you can hit Kodak's headline figure of 7p per 6 x 4in print, although the photo paper in that pack is thin. Plain paper prints cost 2.2p and 4.8p for 5% black and 20% colour, which aren't much lower than from the machine's competitors.