Hello,
I have the ImagePress C800 and I'm pleased with it. My configuration is: Fiery F200 server, Multi-Drawer Paper Deck B1 with double feed detection, Saddle Finisher-AM2 and the X-rite Publisher i1 Pro2.
I haven't seen prints done with the competing machines and because of this I wil not make any comparison. My previous printing machine was an ImageRunner C5030i. I will not compare with this either because the C800 is in a different league.
1) Color Consistency. It is very good. I printed jobs with ~2000 A3 pages duplex and the color was perfect and the same trough-out the lenght of the job. The same job printed days later had the same colors as the previous job. Linearization was used for the specific media before each job. This behaivior is consistent independent of the paper type, size and coating. I have to mention that on some thin stocks the back side may have a small color difference when compared to the front. This can be corrected with some menu tweeks. The solids are very good and uniform. It can, on some colors/tones, have visible small banding; for me it's OK. You should check this out yourself. I had 3 firmware changes until now and this problem seems to be hardware related (my opinion). Color Consistancy is bad with "maximum density" ON from the CW print menu.
2) Color Accuracy. The printer profiles provided with the printed are very good, except those for the coated media. I won't go into details here, but on plain and uncoated media you can use the provided profiles and create your own profile after combining the apropiate profile with the specific paper linearization. The coated media profiles are crap ! I had the same green tint. I created my own (just one) profile and have good results on all thicknesses of glossy and matte coated media. Anyway: red is red (not orange) and blue is blue (not plum). Spot color matching in CW is licensed only for EFI i1 Pro2 and therefore doesn't work with my X-Rite Pro2. EFI ... it's not a nice way to do business ! The machine is supplied with an expensive gray-scale chart one can use in conjuncture with the scanner to achieve neutral grays in custom profiles.
3) Page Registration. The specs say duplex registration precision should be <1 mm. It is true, it the machine can be adjusted (hardware + menus + software) to come within these tight tolerances. The drawers were adjusted (took 3h for the servicemen), each paper type can have a particular image positioning and scaling, each tray can have its own alignment, image shift from EFI Command Workstation. Alignment trough-out the jobs is identical, no significant or observable shifts. As I use a large variety of papers I didn't do all of the above. If I would have done it all I am sure it can be made to match 100%. If I have an important job, I take 5 minutes before the print to make sure the print is within my (strict) tolerances.
4) Paper feeding. In the specs it says "up to 300gsm". I printed on ~400 microns textured paper from the B1 Deck, and it works. The sounds from inside of the machine are painful. No pain, no gain !
. I printed envelopes (80, 120, 140 gsm) in DL, C5, C6 formats with good results. It comes with an envelope attachment and a tab feeding attachment for the small trays. I printed on media for digital and for offset. If the cut is precise (for the offset paper), the paper is correctly entered in the machine, it wasn't damaged and the tray blowers are at Max you will not have paper jams. Jams are easy to recover from. The printed paper has no curl (or it can be easily adjusted). It can't print double sided on paper heavier than 300gsm or stiff media; I do this manually. The banner printing option (330x762mm) is not available for me; it is only for the By-pass tray with no finisher ! If they can make an attachment to feed 330 x 900 mm I will buy that in a heartbeat... but it's only in my dreams.
5) Price. The click price lets me be competitive within 250-300 copies. I bought it at a discount being a trade show machine. The BW click charge on my office machine is a little better.
6) Productivity. The productivity is good, maybe not "80 ppm" as advertised, but good. It prints fast, makes color adjustments after a number of pages, makes a transfer belt refresh after another number of pages, cleans the fusing rollers and in between it prints fast
. I guess that without the "speed brakes" color quality would have to suffer. All the automatic adjustments have frequency settings, general and/or paper defined. The Saddle finisher is also good. Tray B easily stacks neatly 30-40 cm of paper. If you have small or weak hands, call for help or take smaller stacks. The saddle stitch function doesn't slow down the machine; once you adjust for its quirks you can get full-bleed brochures at full speed. If I will have a higher printing volume I guess on-line or offline trimming and/or finishing will help me save time and labor.
7. Server. It is actually my least favorite part. Frankly, the software (Command WorkStation) is poorly designed. My EFI F200 is frankly a little bit of an overkill. The G100 would suffice. I would like to see JPG and other non-PS formats supported in the basic configuration. Hot Folders work fine. Command Workstation has a thick-headed, old, inherited way of doing things. I mean that speaking from the interface design standpoint, The Paper Catalog is made by an idiot: you have no other way but to define each paper in the machine and in the software by each size I use. Lets say I use 15 types of media in at least 3 sizes (A4, A3 and SRA3 or 33x48,8 cm). That means the paper catalog and printer menu will be populated by 45 new media, each with it's own settings. The Paper Catalog can be streamlined ! The printing menu has NO help and the settings are seldom clear. I found a manual on-line explaining all the buttons, but it can't be this way.
I can only compare this machine with the ImagePress C6010VPS. The C800 is on par or excedes the bigger (and older) brother. I think it is faster on shorter jobs, higher quality on textured paper, lower power consumption (220V vs 380V), compact, cheaper and no smell. It has a higher click price and it's less future proof expandability-wise.
What I think it would be cool to have: clear toner and/or white/metallic/gray/pantone toner, longer sheet feeding, higher user serviceability, heavier paper support (even at the cost of slower print speeds). Also I would like to see the availability of the scanner without the ADF; it unlocks a couple of features at the printer level and in CW. Or at least make us buy a Lide scanner that we can attach
. A man can only dream ....
Hope it helps !
Silviu
