MemJet Technology

[MailGuru]

Has anyone used any of the color or color envelope printers using the MemJet technology such as the Rena MACH5, or the astrojet? I know the technology has been out for a couple of years, but, I haven't heard any reviews on the printers that are using the technology.

Is anyone using one of these printers? What are the Pros & Cons?

Best

-MailGuru

 

[arossetti]

I've seen samples. Printed on standard envelopes the quality looks like a desktop inkjet printer. On special envelopes designed for inkjet they look a lot better but not laser quality.

To spend $15-20k on a envelope printer I don't know if the memjet printer would be my choice due to quality, I wouldn't be able to sell the prints.

 

[prwhite]

If you do a search here on PrintPlanet for "Mach 5", there's quite a bit of discussion.

 

[Razor53]

I've seen samples. Printed on standard envelopes the quality looks like a desktop inkjet printer. On special envelopes designed for inkjet they look a lot better but not laser quality.

To spend $15-20k on a envelope printer I don't know if the memjet printer would be my choice due to quality, I wouldn't be able to sell the prints.

We recently purchased a Rena Mach 5 which uses the Memjet Technology. It seems to print quite well on porous envelopes. I wasn't part of the sales pitch that was given to our buyer, but apparently we bought it with the intention of printing our own postcards and letter cards for mailing on glossy paper and applying a UV coating to make the card really stand out. We have not been able to find a glossy cover stock that the print looks even close to being acceptable except to a blind person. I did bring some regular photo paper from my home to try it out. The printing was perfect on that Epson paper. However, it is glossy only on one side and Epson does not have double-side glossy paper according to their help desk. Any ideas about some glossy cover stock that don't look like s**t?

 

[arossetti]

We recently purchased a Rena Mach 5 which uses the Memjet Technology. It seems to print quite well on porous envelopes. I wasn't part of the sales pitch that was given to our buyer, but apparently we bought it with the intention of printing our own postcards and letter cards for mailing on glossy paper and applying a UV coating to make the card really stand out. We have not been able to find a glossy cover stock that the print looks even close to being acceptable except to a blind person. I did bring some regular photo paper from my home to try it out. The printing was perfect on that Epson paper. However, it is glossy only on one side and Epson does not have double-side glossy paper according to their help desk. Any ideas about some glossy cover stock that don't look like s**t?

I would contact Rena or the distributor who sold it to you. I would think they have a list of recommended media.

 

[Razor53]

We have been in contact and they have sent us a list of acceptable papers. None of them are thick enough to make cards for mailing. Even at that we have some them on hand. We test printed and the print still leaves much to be desired. I think we were sold a bill of goods or someone misunderstood about the capacity of this printer over and above printing on porous paper. Thanks for your help, tho.

 

[arossetti]

Give this a try? 86lb. Pecos River Double Sided Glossy Photo Inkjet Paper

 

[Razor53]

It might work for postcards. I will try. Thanks. It will not work for letter cards. They have to be 0.009" thick. Maybe they have thicker paper.

I went and checked out the paper. Wow!! The 8.5 x 11 sheets are over $1.25 each. Cost prohibitive.

 

[Shawnd]

Yea, why Neopost and Rena sell this thing as a postcard printer is beyond me, the only way I would use it for that is printing on C1S 10pt shells and using the memjet to print on the uncoated variable data side. Never have seen an acceptable printed card on gloss stock. Now for envelopes it does a decent job, especially window envelopes.

 

[Razor53]

We have found that to be the extent. Boss lady really thinks she has purchased an inkjet printer that will print well on glossy and then UV coat for protection against moisture. She has had us looking all over the Internet for some compatible paper. The seller is of no assistance. I think they are hiding in the shadows.

 

[Captain Kirk]

The "boss" thought it would replace our offset/envelope printer because we do a fair amount of variable data on envelopes. I agree with everyone here that says the quality is poor. If the envelope gets a microscopic drop of water...it runs. The ink is pretty spendy, and it will not run when the ink levels get down to a certain point (appx 30%). The machine is great for medium/small variable data envelopes, but garbage for just about everything else. BTW....it was picked up yesterday and replaced with a loaner until they can fix it. I wouldn't recommend this machine to anyone.

 

[SHORTRUN GURU]

The "boss" thought it would replace our offset/envelope printer because we do a fair amount of variable data on envelopes. I agree with everyone here that says the quality is poor. If the envelope gets a microscopic drop of water...it runs. The ink is pretty spendy, and it will not run when the ink levels get down to a certain point (appx 30%). The machine is great for medium/small variable data envelopes, but garbage for just about everything else. BTW....it was picked up yesterday and replaced with a loaner until they can fix it. I wouldn't recommend this machine to anyone.

Really tough to say on a couple of these posts- the machine should never need a tank replacement at 20-30% left. There are a couple problems with this idea. #1, a lot of times the toolbox will let you know that the ink is out (Yellow is empty or missing, for example) sometimes, all that you need to do is take a wet tissue and clean the terminals for where the tank integrates into the dock. Another thing to keep in mind is that the ink calculator, which operates by measuring the amount of ink that has come through the print head, and the levels of ink on the homescreen of the toolbox are COMPLETELY independant of eachother. There is a light prism which is used to measure the amount of ink left in the tanks. When the machine says there is 20% left in the tanks, but is void of yellow, take the tank out and shake it. it could be empty. A lot of users gets discouraged here, thinking that they have only gotten 80% out of their tank. When, in fact, thats not true. The accurate measurement is the one of the cost calculator. The measurement of ink left in the tank is an ESTIMATE in every sense of the word.

This brings up another great point about this machine. it is best learned to buy a machine from a company with SUPPORT and not a drop-off vendor.

 

[Captain Kirk]

Purchased directly from Neopost. Getting a service tech here is not a problem, he's here frequently. "The machine should never need a tank replacement at 20-30% left". Lol...indeed.
We have been informed by the technician that this is to ensure that the tank does not run out, which causes all sorts of other problems. We are fully aware of the "ESTIMATE" issue, and how this works as well.
This printer -imho- is useful for short run variable data, if image quality is not an issue. We learned the hard way that customers who are used to our press quality image were not very impressed. These jobs previously were printed on the press, then our mailroom would print the variable data. We were also informed after the sale, that the envelopes "really need to be run portrait" to ensure good feeding. This cuts the speed down dramatically, which was one of the big selling points from the vendor.