Digital Journal The Kodak EasyShare Printer Dock Plus Series 3 does not have a catchy name. But if you can get past the unwieldy model number, you will find the functionality makes up for its marketing teams lapse in product labelling.
Right off the bat, you will notice the printer dock is easily recognizable as yet another component in Kodaks broad system of consumer photography products.
The dock provides easy dye-sublimation printing of high-quality 4×6 prints, and allows you to do red-eye correction without using a computer or software. A Picture Size button on the printer dock also allows you to choose different print options; rather than printing a single 4×6 photo, for example, you can fit two or four smaller images onto the same sheet. With a Kodak camera plugged in, the dock also allows you to transfer pictures to and from a computer, run slide shows on a TV and recharge camera batteries.
The connectivity options of the Plus Series 3 dock really give this unit a personality of its own, and its features are what save it from being discarded as simply another cog in the EasyShare line-up.
For one thing, the printer dock works with any other PictBridge digital cameras. You cant dock non-Kodak cameras, but you can hook them up using the supplied USB cable. Once connected, you can view and print your pictures using the in-camera menu system. You can also use the Picture Size button on the dock to let the printer know how many photos you want to fit onto your 4×6 print.
If you’d rather not attach your camera, there’s also has a built-in SD/MMC slot that lets you stick in the memory card of your camera and print pictures from there.
What’s more, the printer dock also boasts infrared and Bluetooth capabilities that allow you to print wirelessly from other devices, including mobile phones and PDAs. You can even make the printer dock part of your Wi-Fi network by buying an optional Wi-Fi card (about $100).
All in all, at about $159, the Kodak EasyShare Printer Dock Plus Series 3 a reasonable investment for someone who already owns a Kodak digital camera. And as with any printer, you do have to factor in the cost of supplies. The ink dyes come in cartridge form and are bundled together with photo paper. The 40-sheet package with corresponding ink cartridge costs about $25, making prints pricey at about 63 cents per print. However, you can bring the cost down by buying the more economical large packs a 160-sheet kit brings the per-print cost down to about 29 cents.
The Kodak EasyShare Printer Dock Plus Series 3 isn’t for everybody especially those that are looking for a device that is capable of doing larger prints but with its ease of use and multiplicity of connectivity options, it is a darned attractive buy for those with simple photo printing needs and a limited budget.
