Kodak ESP 3250 - Horrible Printing Quality

Ok here is my story, about one year ago I bought this SAME Kodak printer and took it back to to store after many frustrations with it, paper jams, pictures cutting off and of course ink quality. I have had an HP printer ever since.

However my HP printer went down and started acting up and after being so sick and tired of HP's customer support I tossed them to the side. So my bother surprised me for christmas with a brand new printer....the Kodak...

So i figured, ok, its been over a year since I last owned this printer, Kodak, the great company they are would have fixed all issues with this printer by now right? WRONG!

When ever I try and print ANYTHING the image is ALWAYS cut up and the ink quality is just as horrible as before. In the photos I have down below, look at the difference in quality of something printed on my old HP printer and this brand new $80 Kodak printer. Its crazy, Kodak customer support is just as horrible, so I am asking here, Any tips on how to get this printer to not cut my pictures up and how to improve color quality?

Thank You Guys!

http://s1134.photobucket.com/albums/m602/eggs441/

I have tried various model Kodak, Canon and HP printers and found them to be pretty poor at printing photos, only brand I recommend to people these days is Epson, head and shoulders above the rest.

Tried espon and it was just as bad, the best I have EVER had was an HP computer, but I am tired of there high ink printers and rude customer support when the printers crap out. Plus on HP I kept having DVD label alignment issues as you can see from the new picture on the bucket, I wanted a change but IDK why this Kodak is SO bad for the $8-0 price tag and why in a year no changes have been made to fix it :/

Looks like a paper alignment issue with your Kodak.

Anyways, I have a Lexmark printer that I used to print numerous CD labels and it was just fine until my ink cartridge ran out. After that I couldn't justify the cost of buying a ink catridge ($30) over a Sharpie ($2) .

Check if your state has a "Lemon Law" that gives you protection if you consistently get a defective product from the manufacture despite "repairs" or a "replacement."
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/techoutsider

Looking at your samples, the Kodak printer cut out at the left side and the HP printer cut out at the right side.





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chiue -
Nikon D5000 / Kodak P880 DX7590 Z915 DX6440 V803 C190
Kodak Digital Cameras Galleries
http://www.wix.com/chiuestar/Kodak-DC

Curious, what print quality setting did you use for the Kodak prints?

DRAFT
NORMAL, or
BEST

This option is found under printer preferences.

jr

chiue said:

Looking at your samples, the Kodak printer cut out at the left side and the HP printer cut out at the right side.





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chiue -
Nikon D5000 / Kodak P880 DX7590 Z915 DX6440 V803 C190
Kodak Digital Cameras Galleries
http://www.wix.com/chiuestar/Kodak-DC

Click to expand...

No the HP printer prints it right how it should to fit in a DVD case

JohnRussell said:

Curious, what print quality setting did you use for the Kodak prints?

DRAFT
NORMAL, or
BEST

This option is found under printer preferences.

jr

Click to expand...

Its on Normal,, Should it be on best?

Try holding the paper to make it go in straight.

Does the paper, when untouched, enter the printer at an angle?
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/techoutsider

TechOutsider said:

Try holding the paper to make it go in straight.

Does the paper, when untouched, enter the printer at an angle?
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/techoutsider

Click to expand...

Nope goes in fine,

See if your state has a Lemon law:

http://www.lemonlawamerica.com/
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/techoutsider

I am in Florida, so it looks like it does

Were you copying a DVD cover or printing from a document?





I looked at it this way, if the wording is on the right side, the HP printer will cut off part of the word.

In either case, it looks like whatever you are copying or printing the document is not centered.
I'm not sure if it is a defected product just by the sample you've provided.

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chiue -
Nikon D5000 / Kodak P880 DX7590 Z915 DX6440 V803 C190
Kodak Digital Cameras Galleries
http://www.wix.com/chiuestar/Kodak-DC

Just a couple of recommendations after a having used both a 5500 and now the 7250.

First paper does make a big difference. Make sure you are using an inkjet paper, not copy paper. The inkjet paper is designed to take the ink, whereas copy or multipurpose paper is more for toner. Kodak's printer paper (non-photo) is excellent, and in the last year or so has come down a lot from the original price. There are several differnt weights for the 500 sheet pack. Other papers work, but it looks like the color is somewhat dull compared to the HP print. All printers have their strengths and weaknesses, but the Kodak is really nice if you ever get the paper wet--won't run. My old HP prints ran at any moisture.

Second, make sure the printer is set to borderless printing. This is in the printer properties just under paper size. I would not touch the quality settings. High quality will just make your printer use more ink, which usually makes the prints look over-saturated and dull.

Third, make sure you have the latest firmware. I know the 7250 has had new software released recently.

Hope some of these tips work.

Just got a brand new print head in the mail and bought Kodak Paper and just tired to print something and the color quality is still awful, Not sure what to do now, this was a Chrismas present so I dont have any receipts...Can I report this printer some where and get my brothers money back on it? Kodak has done everything is can to try and help me out, but for some reason this printer is just no good and should be taken off the marker right away! I dont understand how a product this bad can be sitting on the shelves this long.

Help any one? I mean I am getting close to just reporting this printer and seeing if I can get my brothers money back he spent on it.

I came to this forum by accident (was going to Nikon) and just noticed your post. Your results look like you're printing in 'draft' mode. Maybe that's what Kodak calls 'normal'?

Try using a higher quality setting that uses more ink (photo?). The position of your printing is usually something that can be adjusted in the printer driver. Before giving up I suggest you look deeper in the manual to find more info about its print quality settings and how to adjust image placement (or offset). Printers are not all the same and the settings that work well for one will often not work with another brand. One company's 'normal' setting might be another company's 'fine' or 'photo'. Maybe that's how Kodak can claim its printers use less ink --- their 'Normal' mode is everyone else's 'Draft' mode..? So find the right print quality setting that gives you what you need.

You should be able to get the Kodak to print very close to the HP for the kind of image you're printing. Epson is good for very high quality photo printing. But your image is almost a standard business type graphic that pretty well any printer should be able to do a decent job.

Your Kodak image really looks like the wrong settings were used..

Russell

Thanks for you input Russell! I have been printing in "normal" mode since I got this printer and still no dice...Kodak is being very nice to trying to help me figure this out, after 3 failed time of sending me print heads they are going to send me a brand new printer so I will keep you guys updated on how this works out!

What is a link to a site where I can report a faulty product?

See Printers and Printing. Buy Epson.