Went and tested this machine(Varioprint)...it prints great. We threw all kinds of cover, feltweave,vellum,etc. and it printed on all of them very well. The blacks are not as "black" as the xerox puts out, but it looks like an offset black and some of our customers prefer that. The interface seems easy to use and the tab features work extremely well for the project I tested. Some of the cons are scratching. When I lightly ran my fingernail across the sheet, it showed the scratches easily which worries me since we run most our sheets through finishing equipment. Another was the back-up was way off on first run, like about 1/2 inch or so. It can be brought in and they said once you set up the kind of paper you don't have to worry about it again...but I wished it was closer right off the bat.
Then I went to Xerox and ran the Nuvera with the same files and paper. Couldnt handle half of the stock. Image was flaking. The vellum, feltweave, and other hard stock we brought in had lines and splotchy print. We figured this would be hard paper which is why we used it to see the limits of the machines. Oce handled it with no problems. The xerox guy said his machine needed to be serviced and would bring me samples later on.
When he brought the samples, they look better but the harder stocks couldnt print. The Xerox rep said the Oce couldnt print on those stocks either, so I pulled out my samples with the same image and he had nothing else to say. Also, on regular stock 80#text and 80# cover, the xerox ran a nice solid black, however all the halftones plugged. He said he would go back and see if he could adjust it.
In short, the Oce blew the Nuvera away. I loaded all those stocks in one tray on the Oce and hit print and it ran all fine without any adjustments in one pass. The xerox guy is STILL trying to get me samples that are usable. If we can get the scratching issue resolved, its a no-brainer in my book.
