For three decades, camera company Kodak had a secret deep inside an underground lab in its Rochester, New York research facility: weapons-grade uranium and a californium neutron flux multiplier. (No, not a flux capacitor.) They stored 3.5 pounds of the uranium, apparently not enough to make a nuclear weapon but still not something you'd expect to find in most corporate research labs. The Union of Concerned Scientists are, well, concerned. From CNN:

Kodak turned the material over to the government in 2007, under heavy security. But for more than 30 years, the company had a device called a californium neutron flux multiplier, or CFX, in a specially built labyrinth beneath Building 82 at its labs near Rochester, New York. The device was about the size of a refrigerator.It was not a reactor, but rather a hunk of metal emitting radiation. Its purpose was to create a beam of neutrons to use for scanning and testing other materials. The device's primary source of neutron radiation was the radioactive element californium, but the stream of neutrons produced by the californium was multiplied by passing it through a lattice of highly enriched uranium U-235, whose nuclear fission released additional neutrons.

According to a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Kodak's uranium was highly enriched -- to a level approaching 93.4%. That is the type of weapons-grade material that U.S. government agencies are trying to prevent terrorists from getting their hands on…

Kodak says it never intended to hide the CFX, and it was licensed by both state and federal officials. But the fact that the company was handling highly enriched uranium was never widely publicized.

Introduction

Being released in the UK only for a price of £69 (about $110), there's little to separate the Kodak ESP 1.2 all-in-one printer from its stablemate, the ESP 3.2, which costs £79 in the UK and $99.99 in the US.

Both offer wireless printing, plus scanning and copying. Setting them up with Wi-Fi is fast with the new ESPs, and both come Google Cloud Print-ready.

Neither printer is Apple AirPrint enabled, but downloading Kodak's free Pic Flick App enables wireless printing from an iPhone, iPad, Android or BlackBerry device.

USB 2.0 connectivity is offered as standard, and each printer can read and write to SD, SDHC, MMC and Memory Stick.

Both the Kodak ESP 1.2 and Kodak ESP 3.2 feature a rear paper tray that can feed the printer with up to 100 sheets of A4 (similar to US letter size) or 20 sheets of photo paper.

Print resolution is pitched at 9600 optimised dpi for photos and 1200 x 1200 dpi for monochrome text.

Both include a 1200 dpi optical scanner, with the option to scan images and documents to computer or memory card, and both can make up to 99 copies of a document in one go.

In fact, the only distinguishing feature of the Kodak ESP 1.2 is actually quite a small one - the screen. It's approximately the size of an SD card, and inputting a wireless router's security code to access a wireless network using such a diminutive display and offset cursor keys requires painstaking precision.

The Kodak ESP 3.2's screen is around twice the size, and offers a touchscreen interface that's much more user-friendly. The Kodak ESP 1.2's is clear enough to navigate, it's it's just not as comfortable to use.

Build and handling

The Kodak ESP 1.2 is a comparatively compact all-in-one, measuring just 16.5 x 12.4 x 7 inches and weighing 5.1kg when full of ink and paper.

A single-panel, angled rear paper feed folds out from the top, while the pull-out output tray is a small, three-stage design. Other than that, the Kodak ESP 1.2 is a typically black-boxy affair.

The Kodak ESP 1.2 follows others in the range by using Kodak 30 series inks: a single-ink pigment-based black for text printing and a colour cartridge which contains three pigmented colours (cyan, magenta and yellow).

As we've stressed in our Kodak ESP 3.2 and Kodak Hero 9.1 reviews, this single colour cartridge approach isn't ideal. Once one colour runs out, you have to replace the whole cartridge, even if the other two tanks have plenty of ink to spare.

Supply levels can be monitored in the printer driver or on the printer screen itself. During our testing period, we managed to print approximately 30 A4 (roughly US letter size) photo prints, plus numerous black and white documents and photocopies before the colour ink supply was depleted to 1/3 of its capacity.

Kodak's ISO Page Yield Test indicates that it's possible to print around 132 A6 (roughly 4 x 6-inch) photos before the colour ink cartridge needs replacing. Based on the recommended price of the standard 30 series ink tanks - £14.99 in the UK and $19.99 in the US - this puts the price per print at 11.5p, or 15 cents.

Yields for black text pages are measured at 335 pages. With a standard black Kodak series 30 cartridge costing £7.99 in the UK and $12.99 in the US, this prices it at 2.4p or 3.8 cents per page.

Naturally by buying online you can make considerable savings on the quoted ink prices, and opting for the larger XL 30 series tanks and Combo or Value Packs will shave even more off the total. This makes the running costs seem very reasonable.

Performance and print times

Like the Kodak ESP 3.2, photo prints from the all-in-one Kodak ESP 1.2 are good quality. Our test shots using the best 4 x 6 glossy photo paper had good levels of saturation, and contrast levels were better than our A4 prints made with Kodak Gloss Photo Paper.

There's plenty of shadow detail visible in photos, but this can come at the expense of highlight texture. As with the Kodak ESP 3.2 test chart, the brightest values on a greyscale wedge we output on the Kodak ESP 1.2 were indistinguishable.

The rest of the test charts exhibited similar strengths and weaknesses as the Kodak ESP 3.2. They showed good, neutral colouration, slight banding and mottling in transitions and decent levels of detail.

Photo scans exhibit some noise in shadow areas and can lose highlight information, while colour document photocopies benefit from selecting the Best Quality option for finer detail reproduction and more accurate colours. Unsurprisingly, plain paper text prints also look cleaner using this option.

Printing and scanning times

When it comes to scanning, the Kodak ESP 1.2 is efficient. We noted a time of 17 seconds for a colour document scanned to a computer via USB 2.0. A colour photocopy of the same document, using the printer's best quality setting, was output in approximately one minute.

A standard six-page text document took 1min 18secs to print, and we clocked a single text page at 16 seconds from the paper being ingested to the finished page appearing in the output tray.

Kodak's quoted print speed of 38 seconds for a 4 x 6 borderless photo print proved accurate during our Kodak ESP 1.2 test, as with the Kodak ESP 3.2. We averaged between 38 and 40 seconds for fairly dense images on Kodak Ultra Premium Photo Paper.

Verdict

The Kodak ESP 1.2 is a tidy all-rounder that represents good value for money. Considering the price, and the all-in-one nature of the machine, photo prints are of impressive quality.

We liked

Good photos, easy Wi-Fi set-up and printing, and an emphasis on keeping things simple for the new user.

We disliked

The control interface isn't as slick as the one on its stablemate. It's also a little noisy when it gets going.

Final verdict

While the Kodak ESP 1.2 is a good printer, the performance levels are so similar between the ESP 1.2 and ESP 3.2 that it's hard to see why Kodak felt the need to release both all-in-ones.

At £10 (around $15), the price difference is so negligible to not be a concern, and because the 'premium' gets you a better screen and interface on the Kodak ESP 3.2, that's where the sensible money should go.

Introduction

With a suggested retail price of £79 in the UK and $99.99 in the US, the Kodak ESP 3.2 finds itself joining the entry-level multi-function printer fight.

Taking on the likes of the ridiculously cheap HP Photosmart 5510 and the Canon Pixma MG3120, the Kodak ESP 3.2 offers a competitive set of features at an affordable initial cost.

The new all-in-one Kodak printer offers wireless printing, copying and scanning - via Wi-Fi, from a computer, smartphone or tablet. The Kodak ESP 3.2 is compatible with Google Cloud Print-enabled apps and Kodak's Pic Flick and Document Print apps.

There's no Ethernet connection to enable it to be hooked up to a wired network - just a USB 2.0 port. Unlike the Pixma MG3120, the Kodak ESP 3.2 features a 2.4-inch colour LCD touchscreen. And this, combined with its SD/SDHC/MMC and USB flashdrive-compatible memory card slot, means that printing can be set up without using a computer.

When it comes to printing, the emphasis is firmly on the photo side of things rather than documents - and photos from mobile devices in particular. Kodak tell us that this is an area it's focused on with the development of the ESP 3.2, and the printer can output prints up to A4 size, at a resolution of 9,600dpi, from iOS, Android and BlackBerry devices.

In terms of inks, the Kodak ESP 3.2 is compatible with the Kodak 30 series of pigment-based ink cartridges. It's the familiar setup - one cartridge for black ink, plus another larger cartridge that contains cyan, yellow and magenta.

This being an all-in-one, the Kodak ESP 3.2 offers scanning and copying in addition to printing. Scans from the Kodak ESP 3.2 are made at 1200dpi, with multiple photos able to be scanned at once and separate files generated automatically. These files can be transferred to computer, memory card, email, Google Docs or network folders.

Build quality and handling

Build quality is in line with what you'd expect at this price point. Superficially, the Kodak ESP 3.2 is similar to the Kodak ESP C110/C310 - a blend of gloss and matt black plastic finished with a yellow trim - and its light weight makes it easily transportable.

It's certainly a good option if you don't have the necessary space in your home for a printer to become a permanent fixture.

The Kodak ESP 3.2 is simplicity itself to set up, too. Positioning the printer head, adding the two ink cartridges to the chassis and letting the printer run through its initial calibration and test print routine takes just five minutes.

The printer keeps you informed of proceedings through its excellent 2.4-inch touchscreen display. If you've struggled with setting up a regular desktop inkjet printer, let alone an all-in-one, then you're certain to find the steps the Kodak ESP 3.2 guides you through to be extremely clear and helpful.

It's the Kodak ESP 3.2's larger touchscreen that differentiates it from the Kodak ESP 1.2 all-in-one, released at the same time in the UK only for the slightly cheaper price of £69 (around $110).

The Kodak ESP 1.2's comparatively tiny 1.5-inch display only features a touch panel surround, and that makes things less intuitive. Otherwise, specifications, output quality and print times are shared across the two models.

Performance and print times

With colour management left to the Kodak ESP 3.2, print quality of everyday pictures proves surprisingly good. Colours are generally neutral and come close to those seen in the on-screen image.

Our test charts show decent levels of saturation in the solid colours, although these exhibit a faint trace of mottling at times. Some coarseness and a touch of banding is also evident in the colour transitions.

The two brightest values on the greyscale wedge blend into one, and this means that brighter areas of a print will be indistinguishable from a plain white print border.

Text printing showed clear, clean edges without much in the way of bleed, although selecting the Best Quality setting produces a finer result. This is also the case when it comes to colour photocopying, where blocks of colours become cleaner and slightly more faithful to the original.

The cost of Kodak's inks certainly makes this all-in-one an attractive prospect, with a standard black series 30 cartridge costing £7.99 in the UK and $12.99 in the US.

However, having just one colour ink tank means that wastage is inevitable with the Kodak ESP 3.2. Print photos that contain a predominance of one colour - such as cyan in holiday pictures that feature lots of blue skies and seas - and that colour will drain faster than the others.

This isn't a problem with printers that contain separate tanks for each colour - such as the Epson Stylus NX430 or Canon Pixma Pro-1 - where you can simply replace the one that's running low. But when a single colour runs out on the Kodak ESP 3.2, you have to replace the entire cartridge, even if the other tanks still have ink in them.

It might be cheap enough to buy a replacement cartridge, and the prices per print are very reasonable - standard Kodak 30-series ink is rated at 11.5p or 15 cents per A6 (roughly 4 x 6-inch) colour photo and 2.4p or 3.8 cents for mono text (although picking up Value Pack combinations brings these prices down considerably). But this two-tank approach still feels wasteful.

Kodak has already admitted to TechRadar that its printers won't be suitable for everyone - and if you think you won't use the photo printing feature frequently enough to make the efficiency savings then you're likely to be better off looking elsewhere.

Printing and scanning times

Talking of print times, Kodak quotes a 4 x 6 photo print speed of 38 seconds (but points out that actual results may vary). This is accurate, and we were able to regularly achieve a final print in under 40 seconds using Kodak Ultra Premium Photo Paper.

Switching to Kodak Gloss Photo Paper, we consistently clocked print times of 1min 56secs for A4 (similar to US letter size) prints.

Selecting the Advanced Dot Placement Mode option in Print Settings provides the maximum colour printing resolution, but this extended printing time to around 3mins 20secs for a bordered A4 (around letter size) print.

In terms of copy speed, Kodak rates the ESP 3.2 at 28 seconds, with up to 99 copies possible at a time. Scaling ranges from 20-500 per cent or fit-to-page.

Verdict

Perhaps a better choice purely for the home rather than the home office, the Kodak ESP 3.2 is a breeze to set up and use, and a sound choice for a family who want to be able to print wirelessly from their computer or iOS/BlackBerry/Android device.

We liked

The touchscreen controls and logical interface make it easy to print, copy and scan.

We disliked

The scanner is the weak point of this all-in-one's function - highlights are easily blown in photos.

Final verdict

Kodak has certainly delivered value and simplicity, and photo output is convincing when you use premium Kodak glossy photo paper. Running costs are good, and although the launch price of £79 in the UK or $99.99 in the US puts it slightly ahead of its rivals, it's not in a different ballpark.

Kodak may have specialized in cameras, but according some recent revelations, the beleaguered and recently-bankrupt company also tried its hand at nuclear research.

For thirty years, Kodak housed under its Rochester headquarters a research reactor equipped with over three pounds of enriched uranium. Kept secret, the uranium was removed in 2007, Democrat and Chronicle reports.

Though the reactor and its surrounding lab’s existence are perplexing and still a bit disconcerting, the idea behind the operation was fairly solid: Kodak used the uranium and reactor to test chemicals for impurities, as well as run neutron radiography tests. How that research was applied to its actual core operations isn’t clear, however.

It gets better. As it turns out, very few people knew of the lab’s existence, as Kodak had, with a few exceptions, not made it publicly known that the lab was in operation. Then again, that was sort of the idea, as the 3.5lbs of enriched uranium is just the sort of thing you’d want to keep secret from the general public.

Kodak, however, even kept Rochester city officials in the dark, which might have been a bad decision had some sort of disaster befell the location. Fortunately, Kodak says that the lab posed no risk to Kodak employes or the surrounding population, an assurance that may not be worth as much after the fact.

Top photo: Viktor Nagornyy; Below: Kodak’s neutron flux multiplier, via the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Kodak may have specialized in cameras, but according some recent revelations, the beleaguered and recently-bankrupt company also tried its hand at nuclear research.

For thirty years, Kodak housed under its Rochester headquarters a research reactor equipped with over three pounds of enriched uranium. Kept secret, the uranium was removed in 2007, Democrat and Chronicle reports.

Though the reactor and its surrounding lab’s existence are perplexing and still a bit disconcerting, the idea behind the operation was fairly solid: Kodak used the uranium and reactor to test chemicals for impurities, as well as run neutron radiography tests. How that research was applied to its actual core operations isn’t clear, however.

It gets better. As it turns out, very few people knew of the lab’s existence, as Kodak had, with a few exceptions, not made it publicly known that the lab was in operation. Then again, that was sort of the idea, as the 3.5lbs of enriched uranium is just the sort of thing you’d want to keep secret from the general public.

Kodak, however, even kept Rochester city officials in the dark, which might have been a bad decision had some sort of disaster befell the location. Fortunately, Kodak says that the lab posed no risk to Kodak employes or the surrounding population, an assurance that may not be worth as much after the fact.

Top photo: Viktor Nagornyy; Below: Kodak’s neutron flux multiplier, via the Nuclear Regulatory Commission