QUICK LOOK

• Easy to unpack and set-up
• No Wi-Fi; connects to computer via USB
• Back feeder tray, which makes for straighter prints
• Slowish ppm (page-per-minute) print speeds, but decent quality print-outs for an inkjet
• Kodak Home Centre software is perfect for entry-level users, plus more advanced features

I feel obliged to make a correction after my first write-up about the set-up process of the Kodak ESP C110. I complained about the bloatware that was installed on my computer. The AiO Kodak Home Centre is, in fact, awesome-ware.

Despite its lack of Wi-Fi, I love this inkjet printer. Yes, it seems impossible that you could feel as attached to a printer as you would to a more personal gadget, like your smartphone, but Kodak has done the impossible. I have warm, fuzzy feelings for the C110. This is why... printing photos.

Scanning

But before I launch into the business of printing, the first function I got to test out on the C110 was scanning. It was also the first time I launched the Home Centre software, and I was immediately chuffed by how easy-to-use Kodak has made this functionality. It’ll ask you what you’re scanning. Select ‘photo’ and it adjusts the settings to a higher resolution of 300dpi. Select ‘document’ and it adds the option for greyscale, and drops the resolution down to 200dpi. Of course, you can adjust these all yourself, but I think the average user of this particular model is probably someone who doesn’t know much about which file formats to save their scanned documents in etc. and would appreciate the hand-holding. 

Printing

Inkjet printing is really not my first choice – it might be cheaper, but there are those soggy print-outs that dry crinkled. The Kodak’s new technology encompassed in the C110 uses less ink, so your pages still come out damp, but it doesn’t smear as easily as I’ve found with other inkjets, and there’s only a slight ink-bleed. Printing speeds for black-and-white were around five pages-per-minute, and three pages-per-minute for colour. 

My favourite feature by far is printing photos. Home office users aka moms, if you purchase the C110 for only one reason, let it be to take advantage of Kodak’s ridiculously cheap ink cartridge prices (only R299 for the largest colour cartridge), and print out stacks of family snaps.

The ‘one-button edits’ let you colour-correct and fix red-eye with just one click, and 90% of the time the ‘Perfect Touch’ technology adjusts your photo just right. The other 10% of the time you might prefer your original pic to Kodak’s ‘optimised’ one. My only complaint is that my printed photos, although looking great on screen, consistently came out of the printer with too much yellow in the skin tones.

As you can see, I was particularly fond of printing in black-and-white, and the white border option looks fantastic! (That’s what my fridge looks alike after an afternoon testing photo printing!)

Kodak’s software has also made it much easier than I’d ever imagined stealing frames from video clips to print as stills. The 3D printing requires that you take two photos (Kodak shows you how), which the Home Centre software will superimpose to create the 3D image. It didn’t work out too well when I tried it, but in my books the whole 3D thing is overrated and years away from mainstream.

(The Kodak ESP C110 doesn’t offer the option to fax, which makes the “all-in-one” branding confusing.)

Scoring high in the ‘bang for your buck’ category, the Kodak ESP C110 all-in-one inkjet printer is economical and easy to use. It’s highly recommended for home offices that don’t do enough printing to warrant investing in a laser printer, and an especially good choice for snap-happy moms.

Turn ons

• Low cost of replacement cartridges
• Huge variety of printing options, made easy by Kodak’s Home Centre software
• Photo printing is FTW!

Turn offs

• I’d still take a laser printer over an inkjet; but that’s because I print a lot
• Wi-Fi would have been nice

Price: R799.95