Mach 5 vs Xante

[camasprinter]

We are deciding on purchasing either a Rena Mach 5 or a Xante as another print option, mainly for short run color envelopes and addressing capabilities.

We already have a Xerox 700 and use it a lot, also a Heid QM46DI which we run on longer runs quite well.

Curious what everyone can contribute to a discussion about costs of operation and ease of use, repair & service history etc.

The Mach 5 looks like a better ROI but the Xante, on paper seems to do more better . . .

 

[larryg4b]

I have a Mach 5 and I can tell you it has potential. It is easy to use and feeds pretty good. Color matching is near impossible and it does have it's issues with the heads clogging causing constant cleaning throughout the print run. Our machine has been down quite a bit too. So it is not the production work horse but should work good for short run jobs. The colors will look faded compared to offset and toner based machines but it does do an acceptable job for the non-color-picky customer.

 

[camasprinter]

Rena has a $4k add on "mColor" new to the system that you can dial in colors better. I saw it demo'd and found it to be credible enough. There are a couple of ways to pick and choose & adjust. Do you have that option?

 

[NeildawgNCP]

I have no experience with the Rena although I did scope it out when it was first announced. I've owned a Xante for about 6 months and I've been pleasantly surprised with it most of the time...lol. Every machine has its quirks and this one is no exception. I can color match pretty darn well with the RIP tools that came with it. It is not a cheap machine to purchase but in keeping with my all-digital shop philosophy, there were painfully few options for envelope printing. You'll find a great many Xante haters in here but when it comes right down to it, it works...and works very well. And here's my favorite part that I found out only after I bought it: during setup of the machine the technician can install a firmware upgrade and RIP add-on that will allow you to take the CMY cartridges AND drums out of the machine when needed and run ONLY the black toner and drum, thereby substantially saving wear and tear on the CMY drums when you only need to print black. That was a huge discovery that doesn't seem to be promoted in any of their literature. I wish I'd bought it sooner for that reason alone.

 

[snapprinting]

Hi Neil,

Just reading through you comment regarding the Xante Envelope printer..We own one of these and seems to work great..I am very interested in the firmwear update and RIP add-on that allows you to remove the drum and toner cartridges while only printing black..Is this a do it your self job or does a tech need to install this option for you?

 

[NeildawgNCP]

Hi Neil,

Just reading through you comment regarding the Xante Envelope printer..We own one of these and seems to work great..I am very interested in the firmwear update and RIP add-on that allows you to remove the drum and toner cartridges while only printing black..Is this a do it your self job or does a tech need to install this option for you?

When I was setting up the machine the technician logged in to my computer that runs the RIP software and did it all through there. He just asked me (almost in passing) if we ran a lot of black only envelopes. When I said yes he told me about the updates (that didn't cost anything) and I told him to proceed with it. I'm pretty sure it's something they would have to do from their end.

 

[PrintTriks]

We have the Rena, after getting a lot of kinks worked out (early adopter) it has become a reliable work horse. Color matching..............Not good at all, you can get it pretty close but it takes some work. My longest run on it at once has been 10k, most runs are 500 - 2k. Their ink yields and print head estimates have been close to accurate.

 

[csudman]

Look at colordyne. Same box as the rena and a bit cheaper. We've had one for about 4 months and are pleased with it. Get the rip. You can get pretty close on most colors. Some pantones are just not reachable. We've replaced about 75% of our offset with this.

CJ

PM me if you want my reps info. Good guy and very knowlegable.

 

[Joe Duffy]

Looked at this at the show in October - seems like a better version of inkjet because of the color control.
Still Memjet technology.
iJetPress Digital Inkjet Press Benefits - powered by Memjet

 

[zele]

Hi,
we have one Xante Ilumina in our shop for a years already, which is print engine is the same like by Ilumina 650 GS and I must to say that this machine didn't reliable and pretty expensive to operate. The color match isn't perfect but still salable. On my opinion is the Mach 5 or similar with his Mmemjet technology better engine constructed specially for envelope printing. The problem can be with the dye inks which are not waterproof, but we know that sometimes the mail can be wet. But like I sad we haven't any experience with Rena only with Memjet on other machine and works great there.

 

[SHORTRUN GURU]

Looked at this at the show in October - seems like a better version of inkjet because of the color control.
Still Memjet technology.
iJetPress Digital Inkjet Press Benefits - powered by Memjet

iJet does a couple of things right- they place their stickers all over the box to make it look nice and talk the talk.
Unfortunately, they are the only company in the Memjet marketplace that sell directly without dealers and/or on-site service. Meaning that owners become responsible for fixing their own machine.
I can tell you, Joe, that this is the same exact box and RIP as the Rena, Hasler, Neopost, Formax, etc.
The RIP software is made by a company called Xitron who sells their Navigator Soar software to all of these companies.
Frankly, for the color matching, an experienced user can successfully achieve 99% of pantone matches, even including reflex. However, i would not be shy to admit that colormatching is the ONLY function of this RIP that makes the purchase valid. iJet has been successful in selling these boxes principally because they are cheap in pricing. They do not offer support on-site (and hardly otherwise) - if you read 90% of the blogs about memjet on this website, the struggles are attributed to misuse and lack of effective training.

 

[OkiTech]

Guys, so you know... All Oki based machines, I.e Xante, intec, phaser 7400 and obviously all oki 9600, 9800, 3640, 3641 do kick cmy drums up if you send a job as grayscale, that being said, if you print as b/w, cmy drums are not turning and obviously their life is not being consumed. The only advantage of a mentioned update that sometimes envelopes being not perfectly flat and tend to pick up dust because they reach to other drums surfaces, other than that.... keeping your printer clean and serviced will do half of the trick.

 

[OkiTech]

As far as Xante VS Rena, it is hard to compare inkjet technology to toner based printing... ink jet has problems with clogging plus because most of the envelops made out of plain uncoated paper, colors suck because ink seeps in to paper's fibers too much, that it why they sell special inkjet paper, sadly no envelopes . With toner based printers most of the problems come from overlaping of paper layers. Toner transfer is usually uneven there, fuser pressure, usually leaves impression showing seemed lines, if window envelopes have clear film, that must be laser safe or will melt in fuser. Take your pick, Gentleman, whichever problems you'd rather have, LOL.

 

[OkiTech]

By the way, if you print b/w envelopes, HP 4250, 4350 With envelope feeder will dance around Xante, cost just a few hundred, cost per print so low that Xante should jump off the cliff.

 

[SHORTRUN GURU]

As far as Xante VS Rena, it is hard to compare inkjet technology to toner based printing... ink jet has problems with clogging plus because most of the envelops made out of plain uncoated paper, colors suck because ink seeps in to paper's fibers too much, that it why they sell special inkjet paper, sadly no envelopes . With toner based printers most of the problems come from overlaping of paper layers. Toner transfer is usually uneven there, fuser pressure, usually leaves impression showing seemed lines, if window envelopes have clear film, that must be laser safe or will melt in fuser. Take your pick, Gentleman, whichever problems you'd rather have, LOL.

disagree on a couple of these points. Nozzle clogging is not the greatest worry of the Ink Jet, specifically Memjet tech. that is a naive approach to the ink jet industry as a whole. over the past five or so years that segment of ink jet has improved.
You are correct about the reason that the colors fade and are not as vibrant. the soaking in to the media- However, there are inkjet envelopes on the market. specifically #10's, however, all of the ink jet paper is imported at this point on rolls. They are actually converted in the US, this means that custom sizes, although most likely expensive, are available. Check with Relyco Business Solutions - HOME - they sell a lot of these memjet products.

And otherwise, i havent heard it stated better; each machine has its ups and downs, none more significant than the other. The BEST solution to offer would be to get one of each, haha. FOr the customers who approve the memjet tech quality, you will make a great margin. For the customers who require the OKI quality, they will get it.

 

[OkiTech]

Hey, if you disagree - you must have a reason, I, personally, do not own any inkjet envelopes printers, we sold a few Secaps though but my opinion was/is based on what other people say on this and other forums...
In any case, if I was inaccurate - thanks for correcting that.
Roman.