Exciting!

[MailGuru]

Xerox is here today de-installing the 8002 (coming off of lease).

Versant 2100/full-width array/ with new EFI Fiery EX-P "Hyper-RIP" scheduled for install on Monday morning.

Will probably take them most of the day to get it installed, software loaded, etc.

Training Mon Afternoon & Tuesday.

Will update you as to my review after we get it in and seated.

-Best

MailGuru

 

[PrintIT]

Good Luck! We're looking at one for the new year. We've got a color-1000 we love, and our old Canon c6000 lease is coming up, so we're looking at the Versant to replace it. Are you planning on using it for envelopes at all? Sales rep says it does great with them, but at the shop we went to see the Versant they've never run envelopes on it.

 

[MailGuru]

Good Luck! We're looking at one for the new year. We've got a color-1000 we love, and our old Canon c6000 lease is coming up, so we're looking at the Versant to replace it. Are you planning on using it for envelopes at all? Sales rep says it does great with them, but at the shop we went to see the Versant they've never run envelopes on it.

Thanks PrintIT! We've got the first one coming in to the Orlando area. There are some over in Tampa, and down in South Florida, but ours will be the first one here. Can't wait to see the RIP speed on the new Fiery!

Running envelopes was not our primary purpose, but, it definitely helped tip the scales in favor of the 2100. We get several small color envelope orders throughout the year, and, we've just been jobbing them out. (not enough volume to financially justify the purchase of a digital envelope printer). It'll be nice to keep those in house.

-MailGuru

 

[DYP]

Xerox is here today de-installing the 8002 (coming off of lease).

Versant 2100/full-width array/ with new EFI Fiery EX-P "Hyper-RIP" scheduled for install on Monday morning.

Will probably take them most of the day to get it installed, software loaded, etc.

Training Mon Afternoon & Tuesday.

Will update you as to my review after we get it in and seated.

-Best

MailGuru

Welcome to the club. We have had ours since 9-29-14. Make sure they have the latest software install on the Versant and the Fiery if that is your DFE. Also if you using the ES-2000 it is very helpful to do a least 5 calibration and profile copies and only read the last one. For some reason Fiery does not have an option for warm-up sheets and the first sheet out tends to have some color inconsistencies.

 

[PrintIT]

Well??? Don't leave us hanging!!
How's it going so far?

 

[MailGuru]

Hi PrintIT!

Well, the install was a bit rough (but, then, of all the years I've been in this industry, I've never actually seen a "smooth" install.......just the way it is) The rigger (installer) left off the entire interface unit, and so, Xerox had to tear it apart, and, re-install. They finally got it up and running on Wednesday afternoon (Christmas Eve). Then, we closed early on Wednesday, and, we were closed on Friday. SO, that brings us to today. We are still waiting on the Xerox guy to get here and train us. We've run a couple of things on it, and, the color is friggin' AWESOME!. Much much better than the 8002 we replaced it with, and, I thought that color was good. The images coming off this thing runs circles around anything I've ever seen (including the X1000). The RIP is lightning fast.

We've only been "toying" with it so far. We haven't actually put it in production, yet. That will be the true test as to how it will hold up under pressure.

I'll update the post after we have it in actual production.

-Best

MailGuru

 

[thebluesdude]

How's it going with the versant?

 

[MailGuru]

We're up, and in production. It's an awesome machine. Best color I've ever seen (and, I've seen a lot). Install was a little rough, but, actually, I expected that. We got ours with the inline booklet-maker, as, we wanted to start experimenting, ever so slowly and cautiously, on what effect it would have on our workflow to start running some of our booklets in-line, instead of our current offline configuration. Turns out, the stock booklet-maker that comes on the machine, does not have a face-trimmer (I just assumed all booklet-makers have a face-trim device to eliminate the normal creep that occurs during the booklet-making process). To get the trimmer function, I need to add a "square-fold trimmer" unit to my config. So, I'm going to price out how much that would change the lease. If it is too significant, then we'll just have to face-trim on the cutter.

It's been in solid production for about 2-weeks, (a little over 125,000 clicks) with no service calls.

The printed paper output is much better than the 8000/8002 line (straight, flat, no curls or waves).

Overall, so far, I'm VERY satisfied with the acquisition.

-Best

MailGuru

 

[thebluesdude]

Sounds great, thanks for sharing

 

[MailGuru]

Continuing update:

End of the 3rd week, and, like the old Timex watch "Takes a licking and keeps on ticking....". No problems. No service calls.

Our Xerox Systems Analyst has been in 2 or 3 times to continue training us on all the new features and capabilities of the new EX-P EFI Hyper-Fiery. You can use it just like your old Fiery through CWS and it will work fine, but, there is so much more that this thing can do, if you know how, so, he will continue to stop by about once a week to show us new stuff.

-Best

MailGuru

 

[QTab]

Can anybody tell me what a reasonable make ready time is to set up for color, position etc.
Looking at this device, Xerox is telling the owner, "just hit print". I know thats not true, I have seen an installation, not a high volume shop, and makeready time closely matched my BizHub 7000.

 

[MailGuru]

That is basically correct.

Don't know what you mean by "make ready", but, most of that should already be done before sending to the RIP (color, position, etc.). To get optimum color, once on the RIP, you need to select the proper profile to match the paper size and type that you are using (100# Gloss Cover, 70# uncoated text, etc.). You should have these "profiles" pre-set after installation to match your most common paper types. You can store them in the on-board "Paper Catalog", and then just highlight & select. This process usually takes 5 to 10 seconds.

Optionally, you can set up multiple "hot folders" on your server that has the profile already set for that job (Folder Name: 4_UP 6x9 Post Card on 13 x 19 10-Pt C2S", "Statements 2-up on 11x17 70# Whitehall Text", etc. You can have an unlimited amount of these "hot folders". The benefit is, all you do is drag and drop your print job to the proper hot folder, and, the profile is set on the fly when it is transmitted to the RIP.

In both cases, depending on the type of RIP you chose, speed from RIP to start printing could be a 4 to 5 minutes (for the basic slower-style RIP), or, basically instantaneous (a couple of seconds) if you opted for the high-speed Hyper-RIP.

-Best

MailGuru

 

[QTab]

And ALL of that training to make that happen comes from Xerox, regardless of experience?
Or do you numbers come from your years of experience with this type of work?
Just asking, not doubting.
Thank You.

 

[MailGuru]

And ALL of that training to make that happen comes from Xerox, regardless of experience?
Or do you numbers come from your years of experience with this type of work?
Just asking, not doubting.
Thank You.

No, Xerox trains you. We've had the machine for about 3-weeks, and their "Systems Analyst" still stops by 1 - 2 days a week to show us something new about the RIP and/or the printer. I believe they would have to assume that you already know the basics of color theory and imposition, or, how to interact with InDesign, or, your merge software, but, at least in our case, the Systems Analyst is there to help you get the optimum use out of your printer & RIP, even if they have to give you a crash course on InDesign (or whatever art program you are using), or XMPie, or anything else. He has been very patient with us.
Heck, he even spent time with us a couple of years ago, re-setting printer drivers to run on a 64-bit computer, that wasn't even a Xerox machine!!!!

There have been several instances over the years with our other Xerox printers, that, we may have bitten off more than we can chew, and did not know how to do a complicated print job that we had undertaken. In those instances, we would call him up and say "Ok, this is what we want to do. Can you show us how to do it?". And, he would come over and walk us through the process and help us complete the job.

The extensive help, training, and cooperation we receive from Xerox is one of the reasons we opted for this machine over the competitor's similar machines.

I can't, however, confirm that you would receive the same service, as, what we experience here may be specific to our area, and, the expertise and personality of our specific Xerox Systems Analyst.

Just to be clear, I am neither employed by Xerox, nor have any affilliation with them other than the usual vendor/client relationship.

-Best

MailGuru

 

[QTab]

Thank You, I appreciate that. From what I am used to when it comes to that type of support, yours would definitely be the exception.
I am speaking from my Konica Minolta experience.

 

[MailGuru]

Thank You, I appreciate that. From what I am used to when it comes to that type of support, yours would definitely be the exception.
I am speaking from my Konica Minolta experience.

Understood. We do have a couple of KM's here, and, no, you will not get that from them.

Oh, I forgot to mention. Once installed, the Systems Analyst will spend two days with you (part of your installation) to train you on the RIP, and, help you set up your profiles and paper catalog, etc.

-MailGuru

 

[MailGuru]

Ok, we've had the 2100 for about a year now, and, we're still very impressed with the quality and performance of this machine. Our monthly usage is on the high-end of their suggested volume for this machine, and, it still performs perfectly with a minimum of service calls.

BIG NEWS! We just signed the lease for our SECOND Versant 2100 and, it should be installed and running by the end of the year!

-Best

MailGuru

 

[jrsc]

How often do you have to run your alignment profiles? We've had a 2100 for a few weeks. We are finding we have to run them daily to keep registration on. Also how good is your registration? We are finding up to about 1mm difference sheet to sheet throughout a run. We've had Ricoh's in the past and I'm used to tighter registration that you don't have to mess with very often. Although I do have to say it is super quick and easy to run the alignment profiles with the full width array and they always seem to bring it back in.

 

[kdw75]

How often do you have to run your alignment profiles? We've had a 2100 for a few weeks. We are finding we have to run them daily to keep registration on. Also how good is your registration? We are finding up to about 1mm difference sheet to sheet throughout a run. We've had Ricoh's in the past and I'm used to tighter registration that you don't have to mess with very often. Although I do have to say it is super quick and easy to run the alignment profiles with the full width array and they always seem to bring it back in.

I wanted to jump in and share our experience with the 2100. I have run it daily, since we had it installed in October of 2014. We have to update our registration profiles pretty regularly, as they seem to drift out on the very same stocks, from day to day. It is hit and miss, but with the latest engine software update, we noticed the auto alignment is more accurate.

 

[MailGuru]

How often do you have to run your alignment profiles? We've had a 2100 for a few weeks. We are finding we have to run them daily to keep registration on. Also how good is your registration? We are finding up to about 1mm difference sheet to sheet throughout a run. We've had Ricoh's in the past and I'm used to tighter registration that you don't have to mess with very often. Although I do have to say it is super quick and easy to run the alignment profiles with the full width array and they always seem to bring it back in.

We don't seem to have a problem with day-to-day alignment, and, it stays pretty tight. For us, less than 0.25mm front to back, and, sheet to sheet. CED states 0.5mm, so, we're consistently below specs.