Imagepress C1 - is it the right machine for us?

[MattOz]

We have an opportunity to purchase a used Imagepress C1 with less than 200k clicks (100k colour, 81k black). Regular service by Canon and no major issues from its service record. The machine has been in storage for the past 6 weeks. We have the option of a maintenance contract (not through Canon) for 14 cents a click or sourcing parts ourselves and paying a tech. per visit for the difficult stuff.

We currently print less than 5k clicks a month - flyers, photobooks, brochures, mock-ups for offset work. Speed of the machine is not really an issue, more interested in quality. These are currently done on a Xerox Phaser 7760 machine, which is a fairly easy machine to obtain parts for and maintain ourselves.

What are your thoughts on the C1 and do you think its an upgrade machine that would suit our needs based on the above info? We looked at similar spec Xerox and Konica machines, but the rental cost is too much based on our current workload.

[mac_man_luke]

14 cents sounds like a high click rate, have you looked at used xerox and konica machines?

[MattOz]

Yes, used Docucolor 5065 from Xerox and Konica Minolta 5500 machines. Click rate is lower at 10 cents. However, the machines work out more expensive when you factor in the rental/purchase cost.

[richsweeney]

My client who is taking work from me is paying less than .5 per click

[Damianc]

$.14 sounds high until you factor in the fact that the dealer has little opportunity to make a profit on the sale of the copier, and that toner costs can easily be $.10 on a 11 x 17 page, if you're buying toner separately. Also, as you've probably already seen, the C1 quality is much better than comparably priced Xerox and KM gear. For low volume, highest quality, the C1 can't be beat, except by the C1+.

I'm a Canon guy, so I'm biased.

[acacia print]

We are in a similar situation. Interested to see how this conversation plays out. Rental on low volume put us off from upgrading for now. It sounds that if there is a big difference in click costs across the board.

[iambuzzman!]

As soon as you have a need for any volume job you will start kicking yourself in the rear. Forget front to back registration as well if needed, and the paper trays are all different in edge registration to boot. Print quality is very good, but long term machine will give you many headaches!
Plus, waste toner issues cause downtime waiting for a service rep to empty.