Is the Ricoh Pro C7500 comparable to the Versant 4100?

[Duncan Hyde]

Morning Forum,

We currently have a Versant 4100 now we need a new secondary production printer so is the Ricoh Pro C7500 and good choice and is it comparable to the Versant 4100?

Reasons for the post is we always had Xerox printers and just kept with it over the years, but now Ricoh in my region has become a serious player and are offering full support and good price points wether leasing, click charges or to purchase.

Hope for some feedback so we can close a deal on a Ricoh?

Regards,
Duncan

 

[EdwardB]

if I remember the 1st generation correctly, I would have said run away.... now that they are on the 5th Gen, and spec wise, I'd say they are definitely worth looking into.

5th ink would definitely be an improvement over the 4100.

The max GSM is nearly identical (400+ vs 470? can it auto-duplex 470??)

duty cycle of 1.5M to 1.7M.. I want to say the Xerox recommended duty cycle is like 1-1.25

speed claiming 85 (or upgradeable to 95) ppm, I want to say I rarely saw speeds on my 4100 above the high 80s on long runs

Richoh and Fuji are on my shortlist of machines to look at on our next lease cycle.

 

[Duncan Hyde]

if I remember the 1st generation correctly, I would have said run away.... now that they are on the 5th Gen, and spec wise, I'd say they are definitely worth looking into.

5th ink would definitely be an improvement over the 4100.

The max GSM is nearly identical (400+ vs 470? can it auto-duplex 470??)

duty cycle of 1.5M to 1.7M.. I want to say the Xerox recommended duty cycle is like 1-1.25

speed claiming 85 (or upgradeable to 95) ppm, I want to say I rarely saw speeds on my 4100 above the high 80s on long runs

Richoh and Fuji are on my shortlist of machines to look at on our next lease cycle.

Morning Edward,

Thanks for the reply, yes were liking the 5th Ink unit for some embellishments or clear coating. The rated speed seems comparable and the GSM capabilities. We don't often run duplex more than 4000GSM on our 4100 anyway. I'll try and keep this post updated.

 

[kslight]

I love our 7210, installed 3 years ago this month, has been a zero regret purchase…had a KM before, and I had all Xerox at my old job…this stomps everything I’ve had in terms of consistency, quality, and reliability. I don’t put much value in the 5th color capability. We have used it a handful of times, but unless you have the customers willing to pay for that those features will sit unused.

 

[Duncan Hyde]

I love our 7210, installed 3 years ago this month, has been a zero regret purchase…had a KM before, and I had all Xerox at my old job…this stomps everything I’ve had in terms of consistency, quality, and reliability. I don’t put much value in the 5th color capability. We have used it a handful of times, but unless you have the customers willing to pay for that those features will sit unused.

Morning Kslight,

Thanks for your testimonial on the Ricoh experience you're having, I hope we do too. Just curious did you get an additional service contract along with the purchase or lease.?

 

[kslight]

I am in the United States, and we have a service contract with Ricoh direct on this machine. They have been great, though honestly don’t see the tech very much. Maybe every 6-8 weeks.

 

[jwheeler]

Morning Forum,

We currently have a Versant 4100 now we need a new secondary production printer so is the Ricoh Pro C7500 and good choice and is it comparable to the Versant 4100?

One other thing to consider with having two completely separate brands is that the output may vary significantly from one machine to another. This means you may not be able to split a large job between the two machines, or it may require you noting which machine a job was ran on so it looks consistent the next time. We currently have KM's and recently tested the Ricoh's. Their output looks great on all of the stocks we ran, and we even think the gradients look smoother, but the look/feel of the toner on the paper is different, and the color was definitely different. The majority of our customer's wouldn't care, but I don't know your situation.

 

[[email protected]]

One other thing to consider with having two completely separate brands is that the output may vary significantly from one machine to another. This means you may not be able to split a large job between the two machines, or it may require you noting which machine a job was ran on so it looks consistent the next time. We currently have KM's and recently tested the Ricoh's. Their output looks great on all of the stocks we ran, and we even think the gradients look smoother, but the look/feel of the toner on the paper is different, and the color was definitely different. The majority of our customer's wouldn't care, but I don't know your situation.

Ricoh offers profiling software and services including G7 on non-Ricoh devices to help to reach the goal of matching output across multiple devices.

 

[jwheeler]

Ricoh offers profiling software and services including G7 on non-Ricoh devices to help to reach the goal of matching output across multiple devices.

So does KM and probably every other vendor. Doesn’t mean it holds forever and also doesn’t change the look/feel of the different toners.

 

[[email protected]]

So does KM and probably every other vendor. Doesn’t mean it holds forever and also doesn’t change the look/feel of the different toners.

Facts

 

[Duncan Hyde]

One other thing to consider with having two completely separate brands is that the output may vary significantly from one machine to another. This means you may not be able to split a large job between the two machines, or it may require you noting which machine a job was ran on so it looks consistent the next time. We currently have KM's and recently tested the Ricoh's. Their output looks great on all of the stocks we ran, and we even think the gradients look smoother, but the look/feel of the toner on the paper is different, and the color was definitely different. The majority of our customer's wouldn't care, but I don't know your situation.

Hi jwheeler,

Thanks for the reply, yes that did cross my mind when trying to run a job spilt across two machines. So we would have to try and do some tweaking to align both the Xerox and Ricoh maybe create some profile presets.

Regards,
Duncan

 

[LeGerbs]

Ricoh offers profiling software and services including G7 on non-Ricoh devices to help to reach the goal of matching output across multiple devices.

As others have stated so does most other manufacturers. I have experience with the Fiery Color Profile Suite. I attempted to color match a Ricoh Pro C9210 with a KM 6100 and it wasn't possible to get them even close. I did have both machines PM'd beforehand as well. I also tried to match both of our 9210s and as expected it was REALLY close but with subtle differences.

In reality matching two different machines isn't going to come down to just profiling you'll need to spend a significant amount of time adjusting for the different toner, density, and software color curves.

If you want to be able to run two machines with similar but not perfect color matching your best bet is to have 2 of the same machines.

 

[CreoleCuisine]

I love our 7210, installed 3 years ago this month, has been a zero regret purchase…had a KM before, and I had all Xerox at my old job…this stomps everything I’ve had in terms of consistency, quality, and reliability. I don’t put much value in the 5th color capability. We have used it a handful of times, but unless you have the customers willing to pay for that those features will sit unused.

I currently have the 7210 and will be upgrading to the 7500 sometime over the next few months. Easiest machine I've ever worked. I love all the automation, hardly a paper jam, practically runs itself. I do use the 5th color on some of my jobs, but I could use more training on tweaking the colors.