I just went through this purchase decision and I took the advice of another printer and actually tried all the machines. I asked each vendor to allow me to trial their equipment for 2 weeks. I know what you are thinking, I am crazy for taking that much time to learn 3 different products and have them come in and out and invest essentially 6 weeks doing this. I tested the Konica first, then the Xerox, thrid Ricoh. Well, I also got to run equipment for free, with no click charges/lease costs for 6 weeks either. But also, I was making a 4 year business decision, or more depending on your business model.
C6501 - tested decent, the color was nice but not saturated enough and the delta sheet to sheet varied way too much. Not much color control to be able to tweak jobs. I had trouble running coated stocks 12pt, though it is supposed to be able to duplex these no problem, I think that spec should be re visited. This was outfitted with a booklet maker, it only holds like 20 booklets which was a pain to have to baby the machine. Compared to some of the other products, not being able to change out the fuser was a big down because I ran a large 17" job and it cut into the fuser a bit and was being shown on a 12x18" job the next day. Had to wait for service to come in, they were quick and all but obviously a pain for production. Also had some issues with curling and the registration was a bit of a guessing game.
X700 - Loved it. The color was fantastic sheet to sheet and it held well throughout the 2 weeks while I trialed the equipment. I have now had it installed 7 months, and it is holding up really well, of course I do have to routinely calibrate, I do it daily because I am anal about color. No problem running coated media through here, great with some synthetic stocks as well - run polyester fairly regularly and I have a nice 14pt stock, which technically is rated too high for the device but it takes it no problem. On another note, now that we have had this installed for a while we have pushed the envelope a bit and the machine will duplex most stocks its not rated to do, we can push a 100/110lb cover through here no problem - I had one issue and just did that one manual. Another great thing was being able to swap out the parts, Ricoh suggested this was a negative having to do maintenance yourself! Hello, we are printers, have you ever seen a press, you have to play with it sometimes. Total flexibility with all the components, highly recommended. Probably the biggest reason we love this is the post sales support from analysts to service to 2nd level support. A friend of mine in the business doesn't utilize his service/support network enough, but I am telling you, that is what keeps this going and keeps you printing.
Ricoh c720 - stay away...holy cow. This machine performed extremely well in the demo, and that is why I had it come in third because I thought that was the one I was going to keep. It did not perform well at all in the shop, this machine was a nightmare with color from day to day. It handled media decently, but curling was a major issue that they need to resolve, the stock was very hard to cut afterwards. The service team did not have many others in the area, so they did even know how to work it very well and the one day we were down with parts. for quite a while. Same issue with changing out parts. I think this machine from Ricoh is a decent first shot, and they may be a bigger player in the future, but for the time being don't jeopardise your business and your reputation.
In the end, did I pay more for Xerox, sure I did. The machine was about $200 more per month (lease) and the clicks were over a penny more, so pretty much it costs be $18 a business day to work with Xerox. That is $18 well spent, double or triple that and I am still in - I am in the business of printing, and I need to be printing, quickly & consistently and I got it from Xerox. The machine, which needs to be satisfactory, is only one component; the continued operation of the device hitting those colors, and the service/support network was unmatched by a long shot.
Sorry for the long ramble, when I saw this post I had to comment because it was so close to home.
Joe Ronaldi
President
Creative Media Services
