Re: Xeikon 6000
Heavy coverage just pushes the cost up a little beyond that of an Indigo 'click' rate. But I guess that depends on the deal you have in place with Xeikon. We are not on a click rate, and find that an average of 22% coverage(per colour), which is pretty normal for bookwork, is competitive to Indigo click rate.
It can pick, it is rare though. Really depends on the stock (and i'm talking 380% coverage). Some stocks it loves, others just don't work. But as you buy more or less by the tonne (each roll is normally about half a tonne), it can be an expensive way to find out. Compared to Indigo, where a couple of free sample sheets can generally give you a good indication if the substrate is suitable.
The X800 front end is really on the money. I guess I'm comparing this to Indigo - and only the 1000 front end at that. But throwing PPML work at it is no problems - which we cannot do with Indigo. But the RIP is fast, and very stable, heaps of colour management features (ICC- both vector and image, tone curves etc), great layout tools, easy previewing of jobs, good hot folder support.
Stuss