We recently reviewed Kodak’s Easyshare 5300, Kodak’s first product to use their new ultra-competitively priced ink.

It’s a multifunction device, providing print, scan and copy functions, with memory card slots supporting all major formats, a full control panel and a large colour LCD.

The new Easyshare 5500 builds on the same basic design by adding fax, an automatic document feeder (ADF) and duplex printing. Curiously, it has a slightly smaller colour LCD screen than the basic model, although the remaining functionality is the same.

Performance is rated at 30ppm (pages per minute) mono and 32ppm in colour which is around the fastest for any device in its class, making it ideal for a small workgroup or for anyone with a lot of photographs to print - 10x15cm prints are ready in just 28 seconds.

Setting up and operating the Easyshare 5500 is very simple. Kodak’s Easyshare software installs everything you need to make the most of the product from configuration to ordering supplies. Some might say it goes a little too far - a large selection of options, such as various themed greeting cards templates, come with the package, although you’re not forced to install them.

Kodak’s new six-ink system is priced very competitively and seriously undercuts the competition. Black ink cartridges cost £6.99 each and the five-ink colour cartridges sell for £9.99.

Printing costs are quoted at 2p for a black text page and 7p for a full-colour 10x15cm photo. This allows you to print around double the number of pages as most competing products for the same cost. What's more, these low prices don’t come at the expense of quality, with the Kodak Easyshare 5500 capable of producing superb photo images, delivering the very best of what’s possible in this price range.