We upgraded from Series 3 to ApogeeX 3.5, then 4, now at :Apogee :Prepress :Version :5 (hopefully senselessly prepended colons do not nauseate you). Overall, the improvement is significant. Version 3.5 wasn't much faster software-wise, but the time spent per job was a lot less because we went from one slow machine to two fast machines (one main server plus a satellite that RIPs concurrently). There was a definite speed improvement when they added an APPE engine as an alternative to CPSI, so non-Postscript PDF input does not have to be internally converted to Postscript, and it will usually take live transparency without complaint. This reduces trapping problems with flattened transparency, and you can generate PDF files that are usually smaller, process faster and better, and are more editable with Pitstop.
We had both Series 3 and ApogeeX 3.5 running at the same time for about three months, and there were a few jobs that would process with Series 3 but not with ApogeeX, but overall ApogeeX handled files better. The interface is of the eye-candy icon type, which is better or worse depending upon personal preference.
And now for the complaints:
Input files for each job must now be given to the RIP to store in its database, whereas before they were merely referenced by name and location. When I have a single PDF file with pages that are printed in different sections on three different presses, I now have to either upload all of the pages to all three jobs, wasting time and hard drive space, or split the PDF file into separate files to upload to each job.
You can no longer easily control what changes the RIP will make to an existing job; sometimes it reprocesses pages for no obvious reason leaving you hoping they still match what you've already proofed. If we have a job with 4 inks on the first flat and just black on 15 other flats, I have to send 4 inks for all 16 flats and then delete the unused inks in Printdrive, or make a separate job for the first flat and combine in Printdrive. If we didn't use DQS, I could create two separate "flows," one for the first flat and one for the other fifteen. With Series 3, it was just a matter of submitting the first flat, then turning off CMY and submitting the others.
Archiving takes about eight hours for a few hundred jobs, whereas with Series 3 it was just a matter of keeping the small QJT file.
Apogee can output either to Printdrive or directly to a platesetter. If you have Printdrive, I suggest you keep it (most upgraded shops have). If you plate from Printdrive, you should be able to use any RIP capable of outputting TIFF files, though it would probably mean an upgraded license for your Printdrive to accept TIFF input.
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