Home > Consumer Reviews > Kodak EasyShare 5300 All-in-One Printer Print, Copy, and Scan (8804056)

Well it started off like this. I was looking for a replacement printer for my old my reliable Canon i850. I liked the output from the i850 but I was sick of paying for the ink cartridges over and over. I was finding I would get through replacement black and color every 2 months even though I was only printing 50-60 text pages a month!!!!!!! It was time for a change.

With this in mind I started seeing and reading reviews (the few that there are) for the new Kodak line of all in ones. I had been tempted for some time by the ability to have everything (scan, copy, print and fax)in one device but I was skeptical too. I have been in the IT industry professionally for 15+ years and so have always been wary of throwing all my eggs in one basket. The reviews sounded pretty favorable with regards to meeting Kodak's claims of great ink performance for the cheap price you were paying so I decided that I would take a gamble.

I originally ruled out going for the 5500 and 5300 (didn't need the fax after all and thought I'd leave the LCD screen) and first purchased a 5100. First thing I did when I got home was unpack everything, hook it up and then proceeded to use all the sample photo paper that came with it. This was on a Friday and by the Saturday when I tried scanning for the first time it would not scan to the PC without causing an error as it was looking (and couldn't find) the temporary BMP it created in it's temp file. So with this in mind I started looking into the install, pulled everything from registry and restored my machine, still no luck. It's worth pointing out that the scanner component uses proprietary TWAIN drivers that seemed to be causing the issue. I also want to point out that my PC has been stable and not rebuilt in 3 years so has collected a lot of c**p.

I finally admitted defeat after two days solid trying to get around the problem and called (doesn't happen very often for us in IT) Kodak tech support. I was again skeptical about the support and knowledge I would receive. I have to say that my support experience with Kodak was one of the best I have come across in my 15 years and no I do not work for them. My call was answered in under 7 minutes at 11am in the morning and I was expecting the usual Tier 1 type experience. Instead I spoke with a tech called Matt who was extremely knowledgeable and in total (get ready for this) spent 2.5 hours on the phone with me going through everything from simple reinstall to disassociation of USB registry entries, manual rekeys etc. Unfortunately this did not resolve the issue so the ticket was sent to their research department.

I was a little dissuaded but wanted the printer to work so badly that I decided to stay with it for a while longer. With that in mind and knowing this was probably software/os related I decided that with all the stuff I had loaded in the past 3 years I would rebuild my PC and also take the original printer back in case of other issues. After rebuilding the PC I took the printer back (purchased from a brick and mortar) and decided I would treat myself by now upgrading to the 5300. I came home and installed the printer for the first time on my new PC and voila!! worked perfectly with all my apps including photoshop. No scanning issues at all............but then I had a print head issue (one that I have read about). I was getting a little more frustrated at this point and called Kodak in the evening (6pm). Again I got straight through and spoke with another tech who took me through printhead re-installation as he stated these had been coming loose. Still no luck and before I could say anything else the tech offered to send me a new printhead free of charge (under warranty) and also gave me a brand new set of cartridges for my troubles.

Again I decided to take the printer back and switched it for another 5300 just to be safe. I brought the new one home and it worked like a dream, no printhead issues, no scanner issues. I have been using this printer constantly for black text printing for 3 weeks now and this evening I just tested Kodaks claims of photo prints. I completed (as I type) over 128 photo pictures on 4x6 and although the tank is saying its getting low, it is still going !!!!!!!!!!. All of this for 14.99 for a color cart. I am absolutely floored. The other thing that is important to point out is although the color cart is almost out, the black has only reduced by about a thumb scratch. Thats right, you 're not losing your black cartridge like you do with HP and Canon when you print photos.

In summary (I know I've gone on long enough) I wanted to state that I don't usually write reviews. In this case I felt compelled for two reasons

1) There aren't many reviews or info sources for this printer
2) This machine truly is amazing and lives up to the claims of the manufacturer which is nice to see.

In all my years I have not come across a printer that has given this type of performance along with absolutely gorgeous looking (photo processing quality) prints. There may be a few bugs and there has already been 2 firmware releases (make sure you get these as they improve performance and reduce errors) but I'm here to tell you to hang in there with this printer as it is well worth it. As stated, after picking up the new printer and installing the latest firmware I could not be more pleased.

I cannot recommend this any stronger. Buy this today, you will not regret it. It is a new product but don't be afraid to jump in with those of us that took the gamble. It is a lot more stable now than when first released (thanks to the firmware updates) and should you have a problem Kodak support has been fantastic.

Enjoy printing again and stop worry about ink costs. 21.99 got me black and color and as stated above already completed 136 (now) prints on color alone.

Also consider upgrading to this 5300 if like me you were originally thinking of the 5100, I'm really glad I did and love the memory slots and LCD.

Enjoy the printer !!!!!!!!!!

I won't slam it, because we've never had any major malfunctions or issues with the hardware like some of these other folks have. I wish though I had seen some of the software quirks before we bought it, but we got it as soon as it hit the stores.

It is easy to use, prints nice photos and is extremely affordable for an all in one WITH a flatbed scanner. Having acopier and flatbed at home is alifesaver. I have no complaints about any of that. The picture editing and sharing software is good too.

The device software however infuriates me. If your ink cartridge goes low, nothing works, not even the scanner which last I checked required no ink. I assume it is a software issue they will be fixing soon. Also, I am not entirely sure the ink cartridge status is accurate. WEe JUST replaced the ink a few weeks ago, and I do not print a ton of stuff. Well, without thinking I replaced both last time so I know they should both be good for a while.

All of a sudden tonight I went from printing a document perfectly with no signs of fading ink to "Replace ink catridges now!" And both of them are low, at the exact same time... Hmmm, wierd, normally you'll not run through them both at the same rate.

The ink is half the price but thus far we've had to replace them twice as often. I still like the printer, and have registered these complaints with customer care. Wer'll see if they do anything...

I've tried many printers before, and believe me Epson & HP can't hold a candle to this Kodak. I've had mine since it first came out and couldn't be happier - not only can I afford to print again, but this thing is the smoothest running quietest electronic in my home office now - none of the horrible noise and shaking of the other brand's cheaper (quality, not price) printers - this is first class all the way. I haven't had a single problem with it in the 6mos. I've owned it - and so far I've only spent $14 on color ink cartridge and that's with 2 kids printing constantly and plenty of photos printed out. It would've cost me well over $50 in ink for my Epson during the same time frame. Get it, you won't regret it!

I pre-ordered this printer because I have long loathed the high cost of ink and was very happy to be able to reward Kodak for doing something about it. Before this printer I would get cheap or free printers and throw them out when the ink ran out and I could get a new printer for less than refills. Not exactly environmentally sound.

Overall it's a decent multi-function. My needs are typical household needs, not a "power-user". In spite of gripes below I think it's worth considering this printer - maybe Kodak can improve their software to address some or all of my issues.

Here are my gripes

1) I can't seem to get the Kodak support site to allow me to send this list directly to Kodak. Their contact us page won't load (I use Firefox on a Mac).

2) When the print cartridges are empty (and you're waiting for online ink purchase to *finally* arrive) it won't scan or transfer photos. This really sucks - turns the printer into a $200 paperweight. I really hope Kodak can fix this in software, if not I'll probably never buy another printer from Kodak. It's bad enough not to be able to print but to be unable to scan something to e-mail in lieu of printing makes it much worse. I'm just not the kind of guy who will keep a spare cartridge around or order well in advance (or pay for express shipping).

3) The 'on/off' button doesn't really turn the printer off. The little green light is only a little annoying - but when the ink cartridges are empty the big red flashing light is very annoying, as is the LCD with the message about the empty ink - you have to unplug the printer to turn it off. I expect other error conditions are similar. Does Kodak fail to understand the meaning of "on" and "off"?

4) Photo transfer from the card slots is VERY SLOW. My little Radio Shack Dazzle card reader is so much faster that it's worth finding it and plugging it in to use it instead of using the printer card slots. This was a big disappointment - I was really hoping to reduce the clutter by using the printer instead of the little Dazzle. Is it too much to hope this is software that could be fixed too?

5) Occasional lock-up when using the printer software on my Mac Pro. I have downloaded latest as of recently and also updated firmware. Lots of reviews comment on software bugs - hopefully Kodak will keep at it and address the issues - with cheap ink I'd really like to keep using this printer for years to come but if s/w doesn't get improved I'll eventually get fed up and buy something else.

6) I'm not sure the ink lasted as long as advertised. Black was probably close, but color seemed to go pretty fast. We don't print a lot of color and that cartridge went about as fast as the black. I'll pay more attention with the replacement cartridges.

Most of my gripes are pretty minor in the big picture and I'll be really happy if Kodak can address them in software/firmware I can download. Overall this is a pretty good product and well worth considering.

I've never done a review for anything before, but I am just so amazed at this printer, and there are so few reviews on it so far, that I thought I should. It was due to the only other review on here that I decided to give this printer a shot. I was going to go for the cheaper of the the three kodak EasyShare all-in-one printers but after reading his review I went with this one. I am so glad I did. It was a very easy set-up (took maybe 5 minutes total) and I started printing pictures right away. First I used my memory card and then I printed a picture from my computer picture program. Both turned out stunning and are a great quality. I was skeptical because the ink prices are so cheap for this printer, but being a photographer, I can honestly say that the quality is wonderful. I generallly use a professional online printing source, but need to print off proofs for my clients. My old photo printer was going through ink like crazy so when I saw the add for the kodak all in one's I thought I should give it a shot. Honestly, if you're in the market for a photo printer - this is a really good choice. Not only does it print awesome pictures and the ink is cheap, but you get a scanner and copier included too.