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The E610 is the latest of Kodak's EasyShare printers, and to see if it's as easy to use as Kodak claims, I asked for one along with the C743 and Z712 IS cameras which I reviewed last week. Both of these models come with printer dock adapters that are compatible with the E610.

The E610 is a dye-sublimation printer, and limited to 6 x 4 inch paper size. Dye-sub printers usually produce very high quality long-lasting prints, but because they use a non-refillable ribbon cartridge and special paper they can be expensive to operate. Replacement paper and ribbons are sold in packs, costing £29.99 for 100 sheets, or £39.99 for 200 is bought direct from Kodak. This works out at roughly 20p per print, which is expensive even for a dye-sub. The E610 printer itself costs £129, although it is available for just £49 if bought as a bundle with a Kodak camera. Considering you can get a good inkjet photo printer for about £80, which can also print photos at A4 size, as well as printing out letters and other documents, what possible reason could anyone have for buying the E610?

Simply this: I got the thing out of the box, and without even glancing at the manual I slotted in the paper and ribbon cartridge, popped the Z712 on top and printed out a photo, all in about five minutes, and that includes the one-and-a-half minute printing time. It really is almost ludicrously simple. The E610 is designed to operate as a stand-alone unit, and does not need to be connected to a computer. It does have a USB socket on the back, and can be hooked up to your PC if you want, and comes with the easy-to-use EasyShare software suite that is also included with the cameras, but it doesn't have to be used with a PC, which will come as a huge relief to the technophobes.

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