Comments on: Kodak's consumer printers aim to chop ink costs

EasyShare All-In-One printers, which use company's less expensive cartridges, handle documents and "lab quality" photos.
Photos: Kodak's new printers

[Tennisace]

Get Real

What they call cheap I call really really expensive. Since I pay 95 cents each for the ink cartridges that I use in my Canon S9000. But by keeping the print head out of the cartridges they it will be very easy for others to make the cartridges at really good prices and Kodak will at least make money off the printers.

[Tennisace]

Get Real

What they call cheap I call really really expensive. Since I pay 95 cents each for the ink cartridges that I use in my Canon S9000. But by keeping the print head out of the cartridges they it will be very easy for others to make the cartridges at really good prices and Kodak will at least make money off the printers.

[justkenl]

buyer beware

Consumers can only hope the new AIO printer family is developed, maintained and supported with a different model than is currently in place for the Kodak consumer cameras.

Beware of:

1) Each new Model obsoletes old equipment and supplies. Product changes on a 4-6 month cycle will require different connectors, new expendable supplies that are incompatible with older equipment, etc.

2) When the next model comes out, the expendables for the current model cease to be supplied and supported, therefore you must buy new equipment to continue using the product family line.

3) Windows plug-and-play licensed drivers are not included. Kodak-only drivers are generally specialized and buggy, especially in the first couple of cycles mentioned above.

I speak from experience. I currently have a drawer of 5 consumer cameras at home, none of which are currently in use. Each has various combinations of their own media types, docking stations, docking adapters, batteries, chargers, cords, etc. No single combination is interchangeable with any other combination.

I finally gave up and went to another brand about 3 years ago and have been more satisfied and a whole lot less frustrated.

[ddesy]

Easy solution to cameras

You have a drawer full of unused cameras? And speak of "their own media types?" Well, if any of them use Compact Flash, SD, XD, Smart Media, Memory Stick, etc, etc... then there is no problem at all. Devices to read these cards are cheap, and many support all or at least most of the formats!

I have to question why many people need to print directly from the camera anyhow. Using a computer in between adds so much versatility!

[justkenl]

buyer beware

Consumers can only hope the new AIO printer family is developed, maintained and supported with a different model than is currently in place for the Kodak consumer cameras.

Beware of:

1) Each new Model obsoletes old equipment and supplies. Product changes on a 4-6 month cycle will require different connectors, new expendable supplies that are incompatible with older equipment, etc.

2) When the next model comes out, the expendables for the current model cease to be supplied and supported, therefore you must buy new equipment to continue using the product family line.

3) Windows plug-and-play licensed drivers are not included. Kodak-only drivers are generally specialized and buggy, especially in the first couple of cycles mentioned above.

I speak from experience. I currently have a drawer of 5 consumer cameras at home, none of which are currently in use. Each has various combinations of their own media types, docking stations, docking adapters, batteries, chargers, cords, etc. No single combination is interchangeable with any other combination.

I finally gave up and went to another brand about 3 years ago and have been more satisfied and a whole lot less frustrated.

[ddesy]

Easy solution to cameras

You have a drawer full of unused cameras? And speak of "their own media types?" Well, if any of them use Compact Flash, SD, XD, Smart Media, Memory Stick, etc, etc... then there is no problem at all. Devices to read these cards are cheap, and many support all or at least most of the formats!

I have to question why many people need to print directly from the camera anyhow. Using a computer in between adds so much versatility!

[wadehi]

Kokak is on target strategically

Dont count Kodak out just cause you see it as a new player. That would be stupid. Kodak is right about the consumer issues of ink costs and the fat margins are an easy target to attack. The inkjet market is the classic "razor-blade" model...they often literally give you the printer to get the captive ink sales at great gross margins 60-75%. Over the last 5-8 years these margins have gotten even better as the size of the cartridges has decreased without significant increases in volume yield. SO, HP, Epson etc are making even more money. This was done in response to a slowing market as most users had printers or AIOs...so now the units last fewer years, are more cheaply built (all overseas) and they are in a market share battle to get a larger piece of the installed base. The real gains in the market are due to some improved technology from Canon and Epson while HP has slid due to many reasons...Kodak can be a huge threat if it delivers a mchine with good prints, easy to use and install SW, cheaper ink costs/lower cost per page/print and good after sale support.They are keeping the offerings simple which will also help. The average consumer doesnt want to deal with the myriad offerings from HP and the other companies. Its too much work. Kodak still has a pretty good brand, is regarded by consumers as an expert in photos, has technical competence and offers a line of decent consumer friendly cameras which offers bundling oppties. It is a far better marketer than any of the other companies in the space. It understands how to deal with consumers and how to sell to them. HP, Canon and Epson rely too much on their dealers and distribution channels. Their websites and consumer support are a joke.

BTW, I have just gone thru buying a printer and AIO and thats where those comments come from. As a management consultant I tend to research products extensively before buying....trying to get thru the websites for these companies, trying to get info about their products at the Best Buys etc....horrible. In most cases, I new more about the individual machines I targeted than any sales person I encountered. The online info, if you could find it was difficult to unscramble to get to key details. My emails to the 3 top companies regarding specific models were generally answered only by form emails which didnt answer the questions. When I got a "human" response it was generally not a direct answer to my question.

[wadehi]

Kokak is on target strategically

Dont count Kodak out just cause you see it as a new player. That would be stupid. Kodak is right about the consumer issues of ink costs and the fat margins are an easy target to attack. The inkjet market is the classic "razor-blade" model...they often literally give you the printer to get the captive ink sales at great gross margins 60-75%. Over the last 5-8 years these margins have gotten even better as the size of the cartridges has decreased without significant increases in volume yield. SO, HP, Epson etc are making even more money. This was done in response to a slowing market as most users had printers or AIOs...so now the units last fewer years, are more cheaply built (all overseas) and they are in a market share battle to get a larger piece of the installed base. The real gains in the market are due to some improved technology from Canon and Epson while HP has slid due to many reasons...Kodak can be a huge threat if it delivers a mchine with good prints, easy to use and install SW, cheaper ink costs/lower cost per page/print and good after sale support.They are keeping the offerings simple which will also help. The average consumer doesnt want to deal with the myriad offerings from HP and the other companies. Its too much work. Kodak still has a pretty good brand, is regarded by consumers as an expert in photos, has technical competence and offers a line of decent consumer friendly cameras which offers bundling oppties. It is a far better marketer than any of the other companies in the space. It understands how to deal with consumers and how to sell to them. HP, Canon and Epson rely too much on their dealers and distribution channels. Their websites and consumer support are a joke.

BTW, I have just gone thru buying a printer and AIO and thats where those comments come from. As a management consultant I tend to research products extensively before buying....trying to get thru the websites for these companies, trying to get info about their products at the Best Buys etc....horrible. In most cases, I new more about the individual machines I targeted than any sales person I encountered. The online info, if you could find it was difficult to unscramble to get to key details. My emails to the 3 top companies regarding specific models were generally answered only by form emails which didnt answer the questions. When I got a "human" response it was generally not a direct answer to my question.

[Sallie Bailey]

New Kodak Printes

The price of ink is way out of line - we all know that. If it
accomplishes nothing else, Kodak will shake up the market and
that's long overdue. I've had both Epson & HP printers (right now
I have 2 HPs - the old workhorse 1218 which still works great -
and a newer (oversize prints) 9800 which is the pits. (I
understand it's no longer available - I can see why). I currently
have a Kodak EasyShare camera with dock (a great convenience)
and am very pleased with it. It will be very interesting to see
what Kodak comes up with in the printer line. I - and everybody
else - will be watching...

[Sallie Bailey]

New Kodak Printes

The price of ink is way out of line - we all know that. If it
accomplishes nothing else, Kodak will shake up the market and
that's long overdue. I've had both Epson & HP printers (right now
I have 2 HPs - the old workhorse 1218 which still works great -
and a newer (oversize prints) 9800 which is the pits. (I
understand it's no longer available - I can see why). I currently
have a Kodak EasyShare camera with dock (a great convenience)
and am very pleased with it. It will be very interesting to see
what Kodak comes up with in the printer line. I - and everybody
else - will be watching...

[firing]

Bravo! Kodak!

If Kodak can give us quality printing at a more reasonable price, I'll give them my vote and my printer dollars. Recently I paid almost seventy dollars for replacement ink cartridges for a fine Canon printer. I paid less for the printer than for the two replacement cartridges. Ridiculous!
It is the old story about the safety razor and the blades all over again.

[firing]

Bravo! Kodak!

If Kodak can give us quality printing at a more reasonable price, I'll give them my vote and my printer dollars. Recently I paid almost seventy dollars for replacement ink cartridges for a fine Canon printer. I paid less for the printer than for the two replacement cartridges. Ridiculous!
It is the old story about the safety razor and the blades all over again.

[eeee]

CNET: who makes these printers ??

I appreciate the story; are these designed and made by Kodak or are they rebranded Lexmarks, Epsons, Canons?
I hope they have individual ink tanks for the colors or do they use the wasteful 3 in one color concept that requires buying a new color cart when, for example, only the red is gone.

[trainlover45]

RE: Who makes these printers

From I have can obtain from inside Kodak, they spent 3 years designing the printers from scratch. There are two cartridges in each printer. One cartridge is black ink to use for everyday text printing. The other cartridge has 5 colors in it (including black) for color printing. If you go to http://1000nerds.kodak.com which is an official Kodak blog site, they have some of the technical information about the printers. If the printers are of durable construction and have excellent print results as per the Kodak press release, I think I'll hold off on purchasing a new printer until these are available.

[jisenga]

Who Makes the Kodak Printers

The printers are made by Kodak.

[eeee]

CNET: who makes these printers ??

I appreciate the story; are these designed and made by Kodak or are they rebranded Lexmarks, Epsons, Canons?
I hope they have individual ink tanks for the colors or do they use the wasteful 3 in one color concept that requires buying a new color cart when, for example, only the red is gone.

[trainlover45]

RE: Who makes these printers

From I have can obtain from inside Kodak, they spent 3 years designing the printers from scratch. There are two cartridges in each printer. One cartridge is black ink to use for everyday text printing. The other cartridge has 5 colors in it (including black) for color printing. If you go to http://1000nerds.kodak.com which is an official Kodak blog site, they have some of the technical information about the printers. If the printers are of durable construction and have excellent print results as per the Kodak press release, I think I'll hold off on purchasing a new printer until these are available.

[jisenga]

Who Makes the Kodak Printers

The printers are made by Kodak.

[DennyInCary]

Kodak's Cliam Doesn't Hold Water

Kodak claims that their printing is 50% cheaper over other brands. The truth is...Kodak is 2.9¢ per page black and 15¢ for a 4? x 6? photo. HP is 4.5¢ per page black and 24¢ for a 4" x 6" photo. Where is the 50% savings. Also, HP offers more features for the same price with 2.4? color graphics display, Digital media card slots -Photosmart Express user interface - HP Photosmart Premier software. Again... where is the 50% savings. Buyer beware!

[sallieb]

Deteriorating products

I always loved HP and bought an HP 9800 about a year ago. It's a dog. A friend bought an Epson recently - it's a dog. These are companies with a rep for quality. Are their products taking a nose dive - as so often seems to happen these days - ('one of the virtues of 'outsourcing'). Kodak, on the other hand, has a reputation to establish in the field of printer production. Will their product be topnotch? One hopes. I just bought one and it's not out of the box yet. We shall see...

[DennyInCary]

Kodak's Cliam Doesn't Hold Water

Kodak claims that their printing is 50% cheaper over other brands. The truth is...Kodak is 2.9¢ per page black and 15¢ for a 4? x 6? photo. HP is 4.5¢ per page black and 24¢ for a 4" x 6" photo. Where is the 50% savings. Also, HP offers more features for the same price with 2.4? color graphics display, Digital media card slots -Photosmart Express user interface - HP Photosmart Premier software. Again... where is the 50% savings. Buyer beware!

[sallieb]

Deteriorating products

I always loved HP and bought an HP 9800 about a year ago. It's a dog. A friend bought an Epson recently - it's a dog. These are companies with a rep for quality. Are their products taking a nose dive - as so often seems to happen these days - ('one of the virtues of 'outsourcing'). Kodak, on the other hand, has a reputation to establish in the field of printer production. Will their product be topnotch? One hopes. I just bought one and it's not out of the box yet. We shall see...