Choosing an entry-level digital printer machine

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DarkIngram

Member
Hi! I'm new here. :)

I'm planning to start a small digital printing business, can you please help me about choosing an entry-level digital printer machine. I need a printer that handles up to A3 size, 12"x18" prints (for brochures, posters, calendars, business cards, tickets, stationary, folders, hang tags, envelopes, letterheads, labels, menus, booklets.:D

I've found this one, is this ok:

DocuColor 5065 II, Production product from Fuji Xerox Australia

If not, what is the average cost of an entry-level digital printer machines (in Philippine peso| Php48.00=1US$)?:confused:
 
Hello DarkIngram, apart from DocuColor 5065, look also on KM 6501. I have heard is really good. Also i am planning to go for it with same job description as yours.
 
Do you have a technician available where you are located, Xerox machines are a little difficult ? If you dont its def. not worth the buy.

P.s. are you looking to buy the machine or lease?
 
CanarcticPress said:
Do you have a technician available where you are located, Xerox machines are a little difficult ? If you dont its def. not worth the buy.

P.s. are you looking to buy the machine or lease?
Click to expand...

I'm planning to buy a machine, but I don't know which one I choose. And also I don't have an idea about the price range of an entry-level digital printer machines.:confused:

Can you please give me a estimate pricelists of those machines?:)
 
vwrome said:
If you haven't looked already I would try Ricoh. The Ricoh Pro550EX would be ideal. Check it out on Home | Ricoh Global
Click to expand...


The Ricoh machine is completely the wrong way to go. It can't print any solids on any uncoated paper. I had the c700ex (same machine but faster) as an in house demo and it was awful. Ikon had the c550ex in their demo room and it had the same problems. Look at the attached file. It is the pantone spot on print directly from the rip. All those blue squares should be solid blue, not all patchy. This is hammermill color copy paper. Ikon could not come up with a solution and Ricoh was put in little effort to fix the problem. They did testing in their lab and didn't have a solution. This happens on any uncoated paper. Even bold black text will look patchy. We returned the machine. There were several other small problems also. Do not buy this machine. Do yourself a favor and look at either Konica or Xerox.
 

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Wow sorry about your luck. I haven't heard anything bad about them yet. I can't believe you didn't get an answer. What state are you in?
 
I'm in western NY. I think the whole model line has issues. This wasn't unique to our machine.
 
Understand up front, I am biased as I work for Xerox. Here's the truth though, the Ricoh is not really equipped to handle graphic arts type work and it does a very poor job. I would steer you towards the Xerox 700 or the KM box. I'm being totally honest here. If you are in the market for price, they are both really close. If it's quality then really pay close attention to gradients. Look for banding on the KM box which you will not see on the Xerox due to the EA High-Grade Toner and the 2,400 dpi. I know, the guys who work for KM will pounce all over this, (they really feel the need to defend themselves) but when you view both demos, make sure you are evaluating gradients, shadows and fine detailed text. 2 years ago, when I was a printer and not a Xeroid, I actually owned several different models of the KM boxes, and while they were 8050's, 500's and the 650, I had to constantly redo work and mess around to make things look good. I run the Xerox 700 everyday for customers and let them bring anything and everything into my demo room and I've only lost to Ikon (Ricoh) due to price when they've used extreme low prices on demo or repo gear. Never have I heard "the quality is better on the KM 6501". Being totally honest here.
 
Atleast US price is $21K. I got the price yesterday fro KM 6501e/ep from a Transpaper company in dar es salaam, tanzania they are selling only the base for $39,000. And all the rest of the options like bookletmaker and the rest in each and every they are like keeping a markup of 7-10K$. If i total up the machine is costing me $125,000. Imagine if are presenting to be the KM in dar and thats the price they are selling then who will buy the machine? When i got the price i was very much discourage, i even talked with them but they said we can't reduce the price. It is becoming cheaper for me to get it from states rather then buying locally but the question is coming how can i get the technical support and on top i am trying to find another agent but haven't managed it yet. Any idea guys.
 
DarkIngram said:
Is there a machine that is US$20k or lower? I need only an entry-level, not a mid-range or high-end machines.
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I don't think there's a machine below $20k that will fit your needs.

The machine you are looking at (DocuColor 252) is Entry Level; is at the bottom of the product line in the Xerox Production Color Portfolio. Mid-Range : DocuColor 7000AP. High-End : iGen
 
Other option is to buy used off lease. We have a 252 and we got ours for around $25K. If you are in or getting into the digital quick printing or going to offer this service you are better getting a decent machine and grow your business into the unit then to get a VERY low end color machine that suits you now but then in a yr when your business grows you are stuck with a machine that cant keep up with you. Then you are forced to look to get another unit that can handle your work flow. With the economy there are plenty of vendors or even businesses that you can take a nice machine off their hands. Service companies many times they dont care about the unit itself as much as they want that service contract. If it is a business (print shop) if they are hurting they just need some dead weight removed to help them out financially.

Which ever printer you get just make sure it fits your print shop model. For me the 252 is a great unit for my volume however the 252 for X33 is an entry level and cant keep up with his needs. Analyze your business structure and needs first and go from there.
 
postnetnc133 said:
Other option is to buy used off lease. We have a 252 and we got ours for around $25K. If you are in or getting into the digital quick printing or going to offer this service you are better getting a decent machine and grow your business into the unit then to get a VERY low end color machine that suits you now but then in a yr when your business grows you are stuck with a machine that cant keep up with you. Then you are forced to look to get another unit that can handle your work flow. With the economy there are plenty of vendors or even businesses that you can take a nice machine off their hands. Service companies many times they dont care about the unit itself as much as they want that service contract. If it is a business (print shop) if they are hurting they just need some dead weight removed to help them out financially.

Which ever printer you get just make sure it fits your print shop model. For me the 252 is a great unit for my volume however the 252 for X33 is an entry level and cant keep up with his needs. Analyze your business structure and needs first and go from there.
Click to expand...

How much is the Docucolor 252 if I buy a brand new? and DocuColor 5065?
 
Last edited:
I'll buy a 1257GA, I'm impressed with the print quality of that machine, but this machine is not built for volume printing because of its speed. I'll use this for photo-printing. XD
 
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Hello to everybody. Our company is involved in the optical business (frames-sunglasses e.t.c) and we are interesting in digital printing logos and pictures in microfiber clothes that are used for cleaning the lenses.
The clothes are of size either 14x16 cm or 15 x 18cm. And the estimation per year volume is 250.000 pieces. The cloth will come to us in the above dimesnsion in whit color so we will be able to print anything on it.

As we are completely irrelevant with printing busines I would like some info on which type of machine is suitable for us, its cost and also some info for the printing procedure from whit cloth how we can turn it to a cloth with a picture on it.

Thank you in advance.
 
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