Oki 900DP repa=lacement for Docucolor 250

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We are looking at replacing our Doc 250 which is a partial backup to our Konica C8000. We are interested in gaining the ability
to print envelopes and getaway from the monthly maintainance fee plus click charge on the 250 ($130 plus .078). We do less than 5K
clicks on the 250. Qualitywise is this feasible and what are current all up costs running for Oki users these days.

 

[damfino]

I'd recommend you get your feet wet with a used Oki 9800 - can be had for $1000. or less. If you like the results, go for the 900 series that replaced it. Note, however, that Oki reduced the life of the drums significantly in this new incarnation. Neither is a production machine, except for envelopes, where toner usage and drum wear is extended by the smaller 'sheet' size.

 

[easiprint]

I went from an OKI to a DC250 a few years ago and would never, ever, ever, ever go back to an OKI. They are not production machines. Quality is ok when drums are brand new, but goes downhill fast. None of the consumables will last anywhere near as long as OKI say they should. Colour is all over the place. They don't like coated paper. I could do on, but if you are print shop, you will regret ever putting an oki in there in my opinion. To keep them printing to an acceptable quality, you will be replacing drums when they are only about 20% through their life, and no-one can make money doing that.

 

[MailGuru]

This is a big myth that many shops fall in to that have both production machines (like the C8000) and office machines (like the 250 or the OKI). Just because there's no click charge on the office machines, does not necessarily mean that it's less expensive to run them. We have some HP office machines, (LaserJet 5500), which produce pretty good color, and, people thought that if they run jobs on them instead of our production machines (Xerox DC8002, KM C6500, etc.) it's cheaper. In reality, when you figure in the cost of the toner cartridges, drums, delevoper, fuser, transfer chargers, etc. and then divide that total cost by the rated life of each of those consumables, you'll find that your cost to produce those peices is actually about twice what the average click charge is on your production machines.