And the big question is: which one do you recommend? We're a print and copy center looking to get one of these (or similar) to replace a Canon 7200 B&W (50k per month) and Canon 3200 color (10k per month). Thanks.
Both are good machines, although you must realise that the 6501 system 7 with an IC-305, FACI etc., is 3x the price of a 242 with bustled RIP, so I don't think that making a comparison between them is really fair to the 242, you really need to compare a basic 5501 and the 242 -or- the 6501 system 7 and the Xerox 700.
The 700 came out as a direct response to the 6500 which was "eating Xerox's lunch" as they had a big yawning chasm in their product line between the 2xx product range and the 5000. This was especially acute in Europe where Xerox charge roughly 2x the capital cost for hardware compared with prices in the USA. I mention this because the 700 and 6501 system 7 are very, very similar machines. So the following comments apply to both except where mentioned.
The 2xx print engine is excellent, so I don't think that you will find a lot of difference between the print quality on a 2xx with a decent RIP and a 700. Some people drone on about the relative qualities of 2400dpi 1-bit vs 600dpi 8-bit (the 2xx/700 is one the 6501 is the other). I'm yet to be convinced that anyone outside of a lab really understands the difference between these. Subjectively, there is no difference. The output from a 700 and a 6501 (with an IC-304 or 305) are both excellent and sellable. Even with calibration using a specrophotometer, we cannot get the colour accuracy of our 250 to be anywhere near as accurate as our 6501, or as consistent across the sheet, or during a run, so if that's important to you, you need to factor that in. Bear in mind that in our experience the 2xx is not bad at all in this regard, just not in the same league as a more expensive machine. We have no experience of the same on a 700 as we don't have one.
The major weakness on a 2xx series is the paper handling. Front to back registration is poor and it struggles to handle coated stocks, even with the SRA3 high capacity feeder option (yes, we have this too). You cannot duplex coated stocks in our experience. The 700 apparently addresses these problems. We have excellent front to back registration with our 6501 *system 7* and good paper handling once you understand it's limitations. Please note that I emphasise the system 7 bit. We never use any input trays except the big high cap ones you get with the system 7, with the air separators and the pre-heaters. I would guess that paper handling, f-t-b registration etc. would be very different if you don't have these.
What are the weaknesses on the 6501 paper handling? Not many really, I think it's probably the best in class for it's price range. We've found that it does not like handling coated litho stock less than 115gsm and is happiest at 150gsm and above. It will pretty much run constantly with no jams on this paper. Gloss vs silk does not seem to make much difference. You will get marking on stiff card stock, i.e. greeting card board, all the way down to 240gsm. The marking is caused by the conveyor which is installed when you have the high capacity stacker, so other configurations won't have this. The other daft thing is that you cannot stack 300gsm into the high capacity stacker, it has to go into the top tray. The top tray is too short for SRA3 paper which means that some of the stack overhangs the end. As the card will be hot from the fuser, it slumps a little and "sets" in that position, making it difficult to feed for laminating etc. That's easy to fix by cutting a sheet of thick plastic and glueing that on top of the tray - but it's still a daft design flaw.
The elephant in the room is service. We have had a lot of niggles with the 6501, some of which are ongoing with K-M. I think that if we were being serviced by a reseller without the same level of manufacturer training and experience, we would be very unhappy bunnies. Whenever I hear of a really unhappy 6501 customer, it always seems that they have bought from and are serviced through a local photocopier sales company. IMO letting these types of organisation service a print-for-pay machine is a big mistake by K-M. One of Xerox's strengths has always been it's service department, and the service is always from Xerox. If you're not 100% confident in the service you will get for any machine you're looking at, walk away from the deal. It's that important.
Hope that helps. We really should have a sticky about this subject, it comes up so often.
PS, I've noticed several people mention that the print from a 6501 is very matt. We don't find this, although it is matt on uncoated paper. On gloss paper, it's reasonably gloss. Not the same high gloss as a Xerox 7000/8000, but closer to the 2xx/700 series. If people are finding different, then I would make sure that you have your paper profiled correctly.
