The Kodak EasyShare 5300 All-in-One printer, like many other multifunction printers has the general look of a kitchen appliance. Mostly white with a silver control panel and scanner bed, the unit is not flashy but still pleasing in appearance.
The 5300 printer’s front consists of the silver 2-inch wide printer access door, which allows the user to view and change the ink cartridges. The front edge of the slim, white scanner/copier door can be seen just above this. The dark gray Kodak logo appears in the middle of the access door edge. Just below this the plain white body of the printer body has an indentation to allow easy grasping of the door. To the right of this are the memory card slots, which sit exposed to dust and debris. They are inset slightly into the printer body, with the smaller top slot accepting SD, MMC, Memory Stick, and xD cards while the bottom slot accepts Compact Flash. Directly below this at the bottom right corner of the printer’s front are the USB and PictBridge ports. The two are not labeled, so it’s not easy to tell which is which. To the left of this and lying at the base of the printer centrally located are the printer trays, which stick out like a huge tongue. A more detailed description of these can be read in the Components section below.
The back looks nearly as minimal as the sides, but it has a few items of note. The USB B port and the power cable port sit in a square indented trough in the lower left of the printer’s rear. Most of the rest of the lower back is taken up with the paper path door, which provides the user with a way to clear paper jams or feed paper directly through the rollers. This is opened by pinching two clasps, one on each edge, and pulling the whole panel out. Above this and lining the top edge is the 2-inch wide silver back of the access door. Above this can be seen the back of the scanner/copier door with the hinges that allow it to open.
Left Side
The left side of the of the ES5300 looks like an access panel on the set of the Starship Enterprise, with it’s tapered design, metallic-looking plastic, and striped pattern. The wide top of the scanner lid side tapers down to a slimmer base. There are no functional components here.
Right Side
This side is virtually a mirror image of the left side, with no ports, controls, or other functional elements.
Top
The top of the printer is dominated by the scanner/copier door, all white with the Kodak logo on a small silver panel in the center. To the right of this and flush against the side is the ES5300’s control panel. The hinged LCD screen sits at the top, with the Kodak EasyShare 5300 name across the top and the words All-in-One Printer across the bottom on the light grey border surrounding the display. When the screen, which sits in a slim, grey plastic housing, lies flat, it is flush with printer top as it lies within a trough just a bit larger than the screen. The extra indent at the top allows the user to grasp the edge and pull it up.
Below the screen is the symmetrically designed control panel. The top row of five square buttons is controls for image viewing and selection: Rotate, Zoom (in and out), Proofsheet, and Transfer. This and the Photo button below are the only buttons to sit against a cutout into the faceplate. This arrangement indicates that these functions are connected. Below the top five buttons are the three main function buttons—Scan, Photo, and Copy, in a slight arc. All three buttons are round, raised and have an icon on them indicating their function as well as the printed word for each above them. The four-way navigational control lies centered below these, with the OK button in the center. The curved rectangular Menu and Help buttons flank the four-way on the left and right sides, respectively.
Centered below the four-way is the all important Start button. This button is uniquely clear plastic with the printed green universal start icon printed on the silver base beneath the plastic. The small round Cancel button sits to the left and the same-sized On/Off button sits to the right, with a small LED at eight o’clock that lights green when the printer is on. Directly below the Start button is the word Attention printed small above a pill-shaped LED that flashed orange when there’s an error or the printer needs attention.
The scanner door is lightweight and hinged at the back. These hinges can be raised so the door can sit flat against an open book being scanned or copied. It holds in place when fully open. There is no lock to keep it there, but the hinge is stiff enough to leave a span of about 2 inches, measured from the top, in which the door stays open. Many all-in-one scanner doors are designed to be lightweight like this; while this is user-friendly in one sense—i.e., the door is easy to lift—it’s awkward if the door is knocked while setting an item for scanning. The Canon Pixma MP600’s design has separate hinges to hold both the access door and the scanner door open for the user.
Interior
Opening the access door of the 5300 printer reveals a broad flat white surface with a 5" x 10" opening at the front which provides access to the printer cartridges when they slide into view along the carriage after the door is opened while the printer is powered on. A small sticker showing a graphic illustrating the removal and installation of the ink cartridges is affixed to the left of this opening. A smaller sticker with the printer service number sits below this.
The access door, containing the scanner platen and door, lifts from the front to provide access to the ink carriage. A single brace to hold the door open and lock it in place is at the back left above the stickers. Movement of the door is somewhat stiff, and the brace grabs the door sharply when engaging the lock, pulling the printer up and even lifting it slightly off the table surface. Returning the door to a closed position requires a bit of finesse, as it’s likely to slam down otherwise. Kodak needs to work on this, by either shifting more weight to the bottom or improving the hinges and brace.
A small, flat, L-shaped access panel sits in the back right corner which provides access to wiring. This is likely just for service personnel. In front of that is a small trough in which the bulge in the bottom of the access door fits. A small wing on the edge of this fits into an open slot which likely trips a switch to tell the printer that the cover is open.
Components
Display (7.00)
The Kodak EasyShare 5300’s 3-inch LCD screen is bright and clear, if a little blown out in the highlights. Scrolling through images occurs quickly although the images take a second or two to resolve completely. The zoom function is slow to read or prepare the image, but once it does, zooming is quick and gives a good sense of the resolution of the screen.
Paper trays (8.00)
The ES5300 features two main input trays, sandwiched together into one unit, much like the HP Photosmart all-in-one printers. The topmost, output part of the tray is hinged to provide access to the letter-sized input tray below. A 4x6-inch input tray is inset into the output tray and sits below the surface behind a clear plastic tray that lies flush with the output tray surface. The 4x6-inch tray needs to be pushed into the printer when in use and pulled out when not in use. An LED on the right side of the tray lights when the small tray is pushed in properly, and it also serves to alert the user that the tray is in place if they are planning to make letter-sized prints. Both input trays feature locks to keep the paper in place. Efficiently designed and functional, the paper trays work well.
CD burner (0)
This all-in-one printer does not feature a CD burner, similar to others in its class and price range.
Power supply
An external AC adapter and cord provide the power interface on the EasyShare 5300. Manufacturer reported specs and our own power usage test results are reported in the Performance section (link).
Internal memory (8.00)
The 5300 has an internal memory of 128 mb, well beyond most all-in-one photo printers in this class. The HP C5180 has 64 mb, while the Canon MP600 only has 42 kb of RAM.
Multi-tasking (0)
This printer can only perform one function at a time, which is on par with other all-in-ones in this class.
Hard drive (0)
The 5300 printer does not have a hard drive for storing information.
Accessories (7.00)
Color ink cartridges and photo paper are the main accessories available for the EasyShare 5000 series printers. Color cartridges sell for $14.99 and black ones for $9.99; alternatively, they can be purchased as a set for $21.99. Printer packs are also available, which bundle paper and inks together. Two packs are available on Kodak’s website. The Kodak Photo Value Pack includes 180 4x6-inch sheets of Kodak photo paper with one color ink cartridge for $17.99, while the Kodak Premium Photo Pack includes 135 4x6-inch sheets of premium photo paper with one ink cartridge. Kodak also sells their own memory cards, a Bluetooth adapter for $49.99, a print duplexer for $79.99, and a 6-foot USB capable for the exorbitant price of $24.99.
