Output Quality
The 5250's results for output quality were also mixed, but in reverse—with high marks for business applications and relatively poor results for photos. In general, text quality is better than most inkjets, graphics are reasonably typical for the breed, and photos are at the low end of the scale.

On our text tests, more than half of the fonts were both easily readable and well formed at five points, some passed both tests at four points, and none needed more than 8 points. Edges weren't as sharp as you would get from almost any laser, which means the text doesn't have the crisp, professional look that you'd want for, say, your resume. For anything short of that, however, you shouldn't have any complaints about the text, even for documents with small fonts.

Graphics were easily good enough for any internal business need, including PowerPoint handouts. Most people would consider them good enough to hand out to important clients or customers as well, at least if you print using high-quality mode. They're certainly good enough for home use for schoolwork, say, or party invitations. I saw some banding in default mode and a slight tendency to lose thin lines, but there wasn't even a hint of banding in high-quality mode, and most printers have far greater problems with thin lines. If you use full-page graphics, however, you'll need to invest in a heavyweight paper. With the plain paper we use in our tests, the ink curled the paper into virtual scrolls.

Photos qualified as true photo quality, but not quite as good overall as I'd expect from drugstore prints. Most people would consider most of the photos in our tests good enough for framing or saving in an album, but some photos were clearly flawed.

I saw visible dithering in the form of mild graininess in several photos and a tendency to lose details in light areas. A light blue sky in one picture turned almost white, for example, making it hard to pick out the clouds or see the edge of a snow-covered mountain peak against the sky. Depending on how much of a perfectionist you are, you may or may not consider these photos acceptable.

I also saw some problems with black and white photos that I'd call more serious, including slight banding and odd diagonal lines in the dark background of one photo each I time I printed it. If you plan to print black and white photos, in short, don't expect true photo quality from the 5250.

Also note that one black and white photo came out printed in composite black (combining cyan, yellow, and magenta inks) in one test run but with only black ink in five other runs. There was no apparent reason for the printer choosing one mode or the other, since I didn't change any settings, but the results were noticeably different, with the composite black version showing a slight tint.

Warranty and Cost per Page
The 5250's one-year warranty counts as a plus, with Kodak sending a replacement printer first, if you need one, along with a return shipping label, and Kodak picking up the shipping charge in both directions.

Also worth mention is Kodak's claimed low running cost for its printers, since that's what justifies the relatively high initial price. The argument is that compared to a cheaper printer with equivalent features, the Kodak printer saves so much money on ink that it will save you money in the long run.

Whether that's true or depends entirely on how many pages you print. The only way to find out is to calculate the total cost of ownership for each of the printers you're considering, based on the initial cost of the printer plus the total cost of all the pages you expect to print over the printer's lifetime. Unfortunately, the cost per page for the 5250 isn't clear at the moment. Kodak will soon be offering new cartridges, and was not able to provide us with the yield and cost numbers that would let us confirm the internal consistency of its cost per page claim, or whether it's truly comparable to other manufacturer's claims.

In any case, if you're looking for a home MFP, be sure to also take a look at the NX515, which offers a lower initial cost than the 5250, Ethernet as well as WiFi, faster speed for business applications, and better-quality photos. But weigh that against the 5250's faster speed for photos and better-quality text—a combination that's enough to make it a more than reasonable choice regardless of the actual cost per page.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS
Check out the test scores for the Kodak ESP 5250 All-In-One Printer.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Kodak ESP 5250 All-In-One Printer with several other MFPs side by side.

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