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Nov. 17, 2009
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JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : When borrowing is stealing
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity
Nov. 12, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet By Marialisa Calta : A sweet sweet potato treat
JWisdom.com Does God get tired? with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Jews and money: When anti-Semitism isn't
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Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review August 17, 2007 / 3 Elul, 5767

Kodak makes print sharing easy

By Mark Kellner

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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Can a $299 ink jet printer (and scanner and fax) start a revolution? I don't know, but the Kodak EasyShare 5500 is one interesting piece of equipment which I'm enjoying in ways I didn't expect.


Beyond the glaring white case - a trend among printer makers, it seems, who must believe that "consumer" all-in-one printers would never, ever enter an office space - the EasyShare 5500 offers a combination of features and a tantalizing promise: ink refills that won't require you to refinance your house.


As mentioned here (and elsewhere) many times, inkjet and laser printer manufacturers, to a degree, operate much like the Gillette Company does. The "razor," or in this case the printer, is relatively inexpensive, and you "pay" for the bargain when you need to buy a new ink cartridge. With the new EasyShare printers, announced in February, Kodak claims it'll turn the tables: the firm said it would offer refills "priced at $9.99 for a cartridge of black ink and $14.99 for a five-ink color cartridge," a price the firm claimed was "half the cost of other consumer inkjet printers."


Having just begun using the EasyShare 5500, it's impossible for me to prove that claim. It's a somewhat audacious one, and if true, it'll be rather liberating for users. What I can say is that if you use the printer properly, the resulting prints will be quite nice.


For example, attach a camera (or even an Apple, Inc., IPhone) using a USB cable, or slip in a camera's memory card, and you can print photos directly without going through a PC. There's a small LCD screen on the front of the printer which lets you view and select photos using a series of push-button controls. It's rather nice. At the same time, you can print photos from a computer using software such as Apple's IPhoto '08, which arrived last week.


A neat "trick," though, is the built-in miniature paper drawer which handles 4-by-6 inch photo paper. Slide it forward before printing and your photos come out looking very much as if they came back from the drugstore, only they appear in 10 seconds, not a couple of days.


The printer handles other types of photo paper, and you can also print, on plain paper, a "contact sheet" of prints from a digital "roll" of photos, from which you can select what you want to print. That sort of thing has been available on other printers for a while, but it's a nice feature to have here.


I haven't used the duplex, or two-sided, printing feature of the EasyShare 5500 yet, but that's one item which probably accounts for the high-end price. Printing on two sides of a page not only saves paper, it can make certain kinds of reading, such as with a report, that much easier. For those who really want to use this device in small business, it's almost a must.


I would be remiss, though, if I didn't discuss the scanning feature of this printer. It's more than handy - it can be a lifesaver. I found scanning better for monochromatic documents (bills, receipts, etc.) using the sheet feeder and/or glass than for color items, unless I scanned the latter as a photo. Scanning a color inkjet printout, I either got a nice monochrome document or a very slow color scan of the illustration on the printed page. Oh, well, I did mention that this cost only $299? (Further practice with the scanner will likely result in better scans, I suspect.)


No, the Kodak EasyShare 5500 will not slay dragons or do everything everyone might want in every way imaginable. However, at the low price it offers, you get a lot to like, and if the ink price works out, little to regret down the road.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.

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