Kodak Office Hero 6.1 All-in-One Inkjet Printer

Using the word "Hero" in a product name is like waving a red flag in front of a bull--it's a sure way to invite skepticism from journalists. Fortunately, the Kodak Office Hero 6.1 color inkjet multifunction printer (copy/fax/print/scan) delivers on its marketing boast on almost all counts. The notable exception is speed, which is more like that of a home unit than of one intended for a small or home office. Still, for $200 (as of 12/06/2011), you’re getting a full load of features, as well as stellar photo quality. (If you're on a really tight budget, see our "Best Bargain Printers."

It's a shame that Kodak dropped its classic gold band across the front of the printer for a red one. That gold band was a nice nod to Kodak's tradition, and it made their printers look friendlier and less cheap. The red just highlights some poor styling choices, such as dull-silver buttons, and detracts from the otherwise solid construction and flawless performance.

The front panel of the Office Hero 6.1 sports a 2.4-inch color LCD and an array of logically placed controls, including a keypad for faxing. The ink cartridges (black and unified color) are easy to get to, and the machine has Secure Digital, MultiMedia Card, Memory Stick, and USB/Pictbridge ports for easy photo printing or offloading scans. You may connect the unit via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi. The bottom-mounted paper tray holds 200 sheets, and the output tray, approximately 50 sheets; the automatic document feeder for the letter/A4-size scanner holds 35 sheets. Duplexing is fully supported, with both two-sided printing and two-sided-to-two-sided copying and scanning.

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention the Office Hero 6.1's Home Center software. The package is the easiest to use and the easiest on the eye of any put forth by the major vendors. It's also highly integrated: Everything is done from within the application. The fun 3D-photo feature prints any photo as a 3D photo; Kodak even provides a pair of 3D glasses for enjoying them. The OCR (optical character recognition) feature is so well integrated that you know it's there only because it has a save-to-RTF (rich-text format) option for document files. The OCR is not suitable for recreating complex documents with graphics, but it's great at grabbing text. The only thing missing is the documentation, which is available only online.

Much as we enjoy the Home Center software, we encountered a few kinks during use this time. When testing the Office Hero 6.1 on the Mac platform using Microsoft Word, the system hung when we selected the 'Printer Options 2' menu in the print driver. Kodak is aware of this issue and will be releasing a fix later this month, with the 7.3 version of its Home Center Software.