help!!!

[natty]

Hi,

I am looking at upgrading to a bigger digital machine and i thought i had it dialed in to either a xerox 700 or konica 5601... but now i'm not sure...

We currently have an imagepress C1 doing about 20,000 clicks of colour per month... The machine is physically incapable of doing more than this really as it is to slow and we are hitting it hard so we are having major issues with tech's in multiple times per week...

We could easily take this volume to 50,000 almost straight away as we outsource mid size runs to offset because it would just take too long to print on the canon...

The 2 boxes i want to ask about are the canon imagerunner 9065 and the xerox 250...

Canon are prepared to give us a great deal on the 9065 but my first impressions were that it is just an office machine... but some people here are saying that its viable for production and the print quality is good (same toner as imagepress etc)...

Xerox have offered the 250 at a great price too... and from what i understand the print quality of the 250 is pretty much the same as the 700 ???

What is making me think twice is that both of these machines are almost half the price of the 700 and i could afford to put 2 machines in for almost the same price... this would give me higher output, better duty cycle and almost 100% up-time (it would be pretty unlikely for both machines to die at once?)

Am i crazy for thinking like this ???

 

[natty]

Sorry actually the Canon they are quoting on is the C7055 which they are telling me is the same base engine as the 9000 series ???

 

[GusG]

What is making me think twice is that both of these machines are almost half the price of the 700 and i could afford to put 2 machines in for almost the same price... this would give me higher output, better duty cycle and almost 100% up-time (it would be pretty unlikely for both machines to die at once?)

Am i crazy for thinking like this ???

NO YOU ARE NOT!

Well, depending on where you are and what kind of service you can expect in you area, having redundancy is definitely going to be giving you anywhere from some relief to being the reason your business survives.

I would say if you can make do with the cheaper machines for your use then go with two of those rather than one big one.

 

[lfelton]

Multiple machines are always better than one and will save your bacon in the long run. However, the caveat is to make sure that they meet your minimum requirements. For example, you will find that a 250 won't duplex coated sheets with any kind of f-t-b registration accuracy, whereas a 700 will. So, you limit the type of work that you can take on.

 

[X33]

you'll be pushing the limits of the Canon and the Xerox 250 by printing 50k a month consistently.

Go one step further with the Xerox 700; I'm sure you are expecting your volume to grow over 50k.

 

[Jsims]

I too am a fan of redundancy where possible. Be sure to check the stated monthly capacity of the machines to be sure they will accomplish what you need (usually good to calculate something for volume growth over time). Also as mentioned, the maintenance agreement will usually charge a base rate which will include X amount of clicks per month. It really hurts when we get an invoice and realize we've been paying for clicks that we never used.
Good luck!
James
Alabama Graphics : Home

 

[natty]

Any word on what the imageRunner is like ??? I hear what people are saying about front to back rego on the 250 and also the fact it doesn't like the heavy stocks...

I haven't tested the imageRunner but its rated to 300gsm (sorry i'm in australia don't know the US equivalent) and they state a 1mm front to back registration... I am guessing being a new model vs. the 250 which is older techology i would hope the imageRunner is better on both fronts ???

 

[unoprint1]

I would get the 2 xerox machines. Having more than one machine more than doubles productivity and improves customer turnaround. I would keep the old machine and intall one of the 260's with six month warranty. With the 260 running longer jobs, you can run the old machine for the short runs. Hopefully at the end of the 6 month warranty, your volume increases enough to get the 700 as the second machine.

 

[tppsg]

I cannot imagine running 20,000 sheets monthly off a 12ppm machine. It must be awfully painful.

What stock do you run most of the time? If it is just plain paper, a high end office copier could be sufficient.

if you plan to run coated and heavyweight stocks, do go for a 700 if you have the budget for 2 lower end machines. 2 250s / 7055s will not be a match for the 700's productivity. Furthermore, there is still a C1 as a backup?

 

[natty]

We run mostly gloss - 120gsm to 300gsm

Mostly high coverage... flyers etc... It is not like we are printing office documents so quality is an issue...

You are probably right... it is probably better to have 1 machine that does what you need rather than 2 that don't !

 

[Shane]

My recommendation is the 700, it is an outstanding machine and sounds like the perfect fit for your requirements.

 

[yanger]

I agree with everyone as well, the 700 is highly recommended. 250 is nice, but from my experience, it's registration changes alot, the 700 is near perfect in registration - especially when it's a duplex job.

 

[jotterpinky]

We have a X700 and a Canon 9065, and I would spend double for the Xerox any day. We have had nothing but trouble with the 9065 and the down time puts us behind. Interestingly we've had all sorts of promises from Canon Direct as far as getting "specialists" and the like to come look at it but have yet to see anyone!

One other big problem is the Canon Imagerunner Advance does not put out a good print on uncoated cardstock...it looks unacceptably mottled for a print for pay operation.

The KM6501 which we had for a month on trial was also a decent machine but in the end we decided we liked the color and interface on the Xerox

 

[rath307]

Xerox 700

Xerox 700

We installed a 700 about 7months ago it now has 1.4 million copies
on it. We run 20 Lb bond up to 100 Lb coated cover. No major
issues but it does require more service when you run these kind of numbers monthly. I do not expect it to last more than 3 years at
this rate of usage. I suggest you look at how long you expect
the copier to last, And how long it will be before it pays for itself.