September 22nd, 2008
Kodak introduces two wireless all-in-one printers
Hot on the heels of new wireless multifunctions from Canon and Epson, Kodak has announced two printers that are also Wi-Fi enabled and will compete with those other units. At $199.99, the Kodak ESP 7 All-in-One Printer will be priced similarly to the Epson Artisan 700, while the $299.99 ESP 9 All-in-One Printer goes print-to-print with the Canon Pixma MP980 and the Epson Artisan 800.
Kodak has tried to differentiate its recent forays into the printer market by offering low-cost ink cartridges—for example, replacing the ink in these ESP printers will cost just $9.99 for black and $14.99 for color. Unfortunately, a recent review points out that the previously released ESP 5 had some poor mechanical design choices that these printers will have to overcome, though print quality had improved over the ESP 3. In its favor, Kodak has added built-in duplexing to both of these units, with the ESP 9 also sporting an automatic document feeder and faxing capabilities.
Of course, in addition to Wi-Fi, the Kodak printers offer an Ethernet port for wired network printing. What’s interesting is that the company hasn’t been pushing Wi-Fi into its digital cameras (save the older EasyShare-One), which seems like a natural synergy if it wants to stay in the printing game. In any event, the trend is clearly to add wireless networking to all-in-ones at the higher end of the price range; the only question is how soon it will be added to budget multifunctions and then more inkjet and personal laser printers.
Sean Portnoy spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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