KODAK ESP 9 All-in-One Printer

I have the misfortune of having a Kodak ESP 9250 at my office. The ink cartridges are cheap but it goes through a black and colour cartridge about once a month, and I do not print that much! A great feature is that when the printer detects a cartridge is low, it will not let you print until you replace it, meaning you can't print a letter if the colour cartridge runs low. FANTASTIC.

The print quality is diabolical! Even using genuine cartridges it comes out smudged and looking like it was hand written in the dark. Add to this the fact it often chooses to print at 'a jaunty angle' making doing anything even vaguely professional on it an absolute chore. EXCELLENT.

Every time Kodak send through a software update it stops the printer from working and I have to go through Windows control panel to rediscover it. BRILLIANT.

Since the last software update even though I have been through control panel and the printing now works, I cannot use the Kodak software to scan anything. However, if I use the buttons on the front of the printer it will scan to my PC! GREAT.

Did I mention this is my second one? My first one was so bad I complained and got given a new printer under warranty. This one is slightly better in that nothing has fallen off it and got jammed in the mechanism... yet. PRODUCTIVE.

The autofeeder on the scanner is also rubbish, jamming up on about every 3rd sheet. USER-FRIENDLY.

In summary, this printer drinks ink like a V12 drinks petrol. It doesn't print straight, the print quality is awful, the colours are drab and look permanently like the cartridge is running out. The software updates cause the printer to stop working, the scanner autofeeder jams all the time and the interface is cumbersome and awkward to use. In a bizarre twist, every so often it shows you a picture of a random baby and gives you the option to print it (I am not joking). In short, this KODAK ESP 9250 is complete and utter rubbish, avoid like the plague.

I have had this printer for 2 years if you include the first 8 months after which the original faulty one was replaced. The number of ink cartridges I have changed in that time is unbelievable and it is meant to be economical one as the replacement cartridges are supposed to be cheaper. My total printing requirements are probably no more than 30-40 pages a month and an occasional photgraph or two! It is very noisy when it starts up and very slow. My old HP photosmart 7660 is working amazingly well and I cant remember when I last changed the ink cartridges. I will never buy a Kodak printer again!

The printer driver and management software for the Kodak AIO would not load on a new Windows XP DELL Pc and whilst the support was easy to contact the suggestions made did not resolve the problem. The final attempt, at Kodak's suggestion, was to remove Microsoft's .NET software and then install the system. This had the affect of screwing up the PC, disabling Windows Update and making the connection to a Windows Server inoperable. Alll resolved by a system restore going back 3 weeks! We sent it back and got our money back within the 30 day timescale. We simply could not afford to devote any more time to get it to work.

In this day and age we should expect devices like this to be installed and work without having to undo much of the Windows intrinsic software.