Kodak's ESP series boasts printers to suit home and office users, with the budget end currently filled by the very usable Kodak ESP C310. We got an exclusive early look at the new Kodak ESP 1.2 and can report that - along with its partner the Kodak ESP 3.2 - it's a worthy successor.
Stylish in matt black and orange trim, the Kodak ESP 1.2 is a pretty chunky feeling budget printer that won't take up much room in your home office. One thing stands out immediately though - there are fewer physical buttons on the body of the multifunction printer. These have been rethought and designed into a control panel mounted on the all-in-one. See also Group test: What's the best inkjet printer?
The “all-in-one” aspect here is the Kodak ESP 1.2's ability to print, scan and copy. Of course, printing is the real emphasis and, as expected from a Kodak device, photo printing is the focus. There's no separate tray for photo paper - it simply shares the same rear feed slot as plain. That takes 100 sheets of document paper or 20 glossy photo sheets.
Kodak inkjet printers do tend to cost a little bit more than their rivals, which can put them at a disadvantage in head to head to tests where unit price is the common factor. However, running costs are lower, with cheaper cartridges and more economical usage of ink meaning that over its lifetime the Kodak ESP 1.2 should save the extra cost of the initial purchase several times over.
As for quality, it's just the high quality you'd expect from a Kodak printer. The print time for great looking photos is a very decent 38 seconds - though printing to plain paper is a little slower with the Kodak ESP 1.2. You can also print to standard paper, card stock up to 200 gsm, envelopes and a range of odd sizes.
A more than serviceable scanner lurks under the Kodak ESP 1.2's lid, capable of reproducing images at an interpolated 9600 DPI and accepting documents around A4 size. Copying's achieved with the push of a button.
The Kodak ESP 1.2 and 3.2 are very similar indeed. In fact, they ship with the same manual. The differences between the ESP 1.2 and its slightly more expensive cousin the 3.2 are pretty much all in the control panel. The ESP 3.2 boasts a 2.4 inch touchscreen. The ESP 1.2 has a smaller LCD augmented with a few physical buttons that enable you to page through and navigate choices instead.
You can connect to WiFi, print from mobile devices, memory cards and other forms of data storage all without a PC connected. With the Kodak ESP 1.2 you can print forms and search for images on external data storage too.
The smaller screen makes it a little more difficult to preview images - especially if you're printing from a memory card or stick. Still, it's easy to navigate through folders full of images despite this disadvantage.
Comments
David said: how to change language
Nicosrs2009 said: pc and curry all rubish made in china fed up keep changing kodak printer
Melandely said: Told the guy at PC World I needed to use the printer with my Netbook no disc drive and he said to download the driver from the Kodak site After 3 frustrating days I now realise its because Windows 7 doesnt have the Kodak driver Going back for a refund and will shop elsewhere where the staff may actually know whats compatable with what
Tara Tandavis said: How do you put the printer on standby I have just installed my new printer on WiFi and having initially hit the standby button was faced with re-registering the languageregion and extended wireless password every time I switch back on Any ideas
graham luckins said: my printer wont print red
Photomobi said: Wheres the USB thumb drive slot Please check what you put in your tech spec list I justgotan esp 12based on this review and the fact it has a USB thumb drive slot and mine doesnt have one