Ricoh C900

[Internal_R&D_Analyst]

Of course is not the duty cycle based on that !! . But if you see on all tech information about these three machines they are pretty close. Xerox has blown off the duty cycle and is the only machine that says the duty cycle is more than three times ampv - a lot of key parts have not the same duty cycle . On every Xerox DC8000 installation that I know this is not a fact but something on a paper. I even have a customer that says the performance and duty cycle on his first DC8000 is much better than the last one because of different print volumes and jobs. So my point is- the duty cycles is not the key factor to see how much you can produce on a device each mnth and if you produce over three times what xerox says is max volume on the device each mnth I am quite sure the duty cycle is history and not facts. And to calulate and compare you have do it within the specs over what is the max volume per.mnth and for all these engines it is 400 k max per mnth( on Ricoh we say average is 240 k). If you produce a million print each mnth on a DC 8000 without any tech support form Xerox I will say that printquality is not key selling factor for your business and your uptime is blown!! I will also say that if you want to produce with a good quality it is better and easier to do it with a fresh and tuned engine.

And remember if you want to compare this duty cycle against Hyundai you need to know if this duty cycle is within spec the next 5 years(or maybe 2 or 3) or are you quite sure you can produce 1.500.000 x 60=90 million prints on a DC 8000!!!!

So back to my point-I am sure Ricoh PRO C900 is a good alterative to consider for a customer who wants a reliable and great color engine. And if the PRO C900 is too small you can choose to go up to a Nexpress. And yes we also have trained techs - we even have tech people with background from Xerox and Kodak. So keep your options open - it is not dangerous to have alternatives to consider.

Reg Kire

We have digital presses from most manufacturers including some of the first indigo's not HP indigo's indigo's some of the first i-Gen's and some of the first Nuvera's along with many other manufacturers digital presses. And guess what they still all run, and run work which fit's within their capabilities. No one machine fits every need hence different models and manufacturers for different markets, medias, daily demands and monthly volumes.

We have single engines that do over 2 million a month, the Ricoh may be faster then NexPress 2XXX's, indigo 3XXX's/ 5XXX's, and DocuColors XXXX's and Canon XXX's. I'm just asking if the Ricoh C900 will be running and supported when it is over 10 years old like an indigo or Xerox?
In my opinion this machine just seams to have been built to preform now but not for the years to come.

So I guess we'll just agree to disagree, me as as user, you as a seller . Our volumes are to high for this device in many locations, even though the Ricoh runs physical faster per minute. For the other locations with low volumes the Light Production Xerox Docucolors and Konica/Oce 65 ppm machines will have to do for 1/4 to 1/2 the price.

You do make a good point though, the NexPress is there for Ricoh customers if they need more volume out of a device. I'm just not sure that printers beginning out will want to or be able to spend this much on a Ricoh C900. Let's say they start out small to test the market as they grow will they jump to a middle solution as apposed to adding a second entry level device which provides redundancy, or jump to the high production class device? I know we have traditionally skipped this middle section of digital presses.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[X33]

a lot of reading, and there's still no proud Ricoh C900 owner.

anyone that actually owns this machine out there and can provide some feedback?

 

[Craig]

I don't own a Ricoh C900, but I stayed at a Motel 6 last night!

 

[Internal_R&D_Analyst]

I don't own a Ricoh C900, but I stayed at a Motel 6 last night!

Craig,

I'm at a Hyatt, want to argue over that and Motel 6?


Ok I'm done now until one shows up at one of our locations.

 

[kire]

Hello guys, the forum to discuss what you have been doing on a hotel or motel is not here!!

 

[Craig]

No, but it was to discuss the ever elusive C900 that is taking over the industry, yet no one seems to have one installed. Maybe there like UFO's, people talk about them, have photo's and everything, but I'll be dammed if they exist.

 

[kire]

No, but it was to discuss the ever elusive C900 that is taking over the industry, yet no one seems to have one installed. Maybe there like UFO's, people talk about them, have photo's and everything, but I'll be dammed if they exist.

Who said anything about taking over the industry , I just posted some comments about the possibility to have some options to consider and that is a good thing is´n it?? But by all means you dont have to - its a free world! But a little advise from me, put this thread in your calendar and check it next year, maybe its more than talk!!!

 

[MIBUK]

The C900 has only been out for a few months in some countries and in others only recently. So, it's a very new market for Ricoh and no doubt the first of many launches into this market. They have a very high target of being a leader in this market by 2010. Xerox, Canon and KM have been in the industry for a while and so of course they have many units out there that people can give a review on.

As someone has said, comeback in a year and then you can make a real judgement on the impact of the C900....good or bad, but make no mistake, Ricoh have invested heavily for the long term and will make mistakes as a newbie, but they will make an impact. In terms of Duty Cycle, you can cascade a number of C900s in a cluster to increase the output, while having redundancy, instead of relying on 1 unit.

Regardless if it's a Xerox, canon or Ricoh, get the facts and arrange a visit to the local dealer. I'm sure if you ask nicely, you might even get to visit a real customer using one of the models you're interested in. Marketing is wonderful....where everything works, but in the real world, you'll hear/see the good and bad points of any technology just by talking to the print operator who works with these devices everyday.

 

[rcm355]

Well I will be the first to speak up, I am replacing 2 Ikon 650s with 2 Ricoh Pro C900s. They will be installed mid April so I will let everyone know how things go. For my applications it is a great move since I need a full booklet maker. I also run a bunch of 13x 19 100lb cover which I can duplex in the Ricoh and I cannot in the Ikons. I have thought about the Indigo 3500 or 5500, but I need the inline booklet making capabilities.

 

[Craig]

rcm. just curious, why not off line for the booklet maker?

Hopefully your transition runs smooth, let us know what you think. Ricoh is a great company, I have one of their B/W boxes that we run the crap out of, I'm sure they will take good care of you.

 

[rcm355]

I looked at that option, but each booklet contains variable data as well as variable contracts per booklet, so I decided to take as much of the "potential" human error out as possible and that is why we do them via the press.

 

[klh]

To rcm355 -

I'm in Dallas, Texas and am going to see a demo on the C900 next Tuesday. . . it's my understanding that the largest sheet size is 12 x 18, but you say that you are running 13 x 19?

I'll let you know the results of what we see. . .

 

[kire]

To rcm355 -

I'm in Dallas, Texas and am going to see a demo on the C900 next Tuesday. . . it's my understanding that the largest sheet size is 12 x 18, but you say that you are running 13 x 19?

I'll let you know the results of what we see. . .

Maximum sheet size is 13x19,2 and you can load 8000 sheets in that size. Max printable area is 12,6 x18,9.

Regards Kire

 

[CSimpson]

I seen a demo on the machine and it looked pretty impressive. I didn't print things I was familiar with, nor did I get too deep into anything specific because it was an open house demo put on by Ikon to show off their new toy. However, when I get serious and begin negotiating prices in the future and if they turn out to be a player then I will look at it much more intently. What I did see printed looked good, and it did print really fast.

The funny thing is that when I asked about price they told me that the machine I was looking at with the internal fiery which included Impose, Freeform, and a spectrometer was about the same as the KM with an external Creo. I was somewhat surprised by that because everyone here as been making out like it is a tremendous amount more money than the KM6501 or the Xerox 700. While it is more money it is hardly in a completely different price category if what they said is true. Of course, that could have been them just blowing smoke since it wasn't like we were negotiating the price for me to actually buy the machine at that time.

It looked good enough and sounded cheap enough that I would definitely look at it much more seriously before I ruled it out if I was considering a 700 or a 6501.

 

[jennypie47]

We saw a demo at an installed location! Shocker! Little was said by the user than "we're happy".

Besides being a new runner in the digital production race which always worries me, I was shocked at the amount of questions that were answered with "we can make it do that". This location had it on the floor for 3 months, but only had been sucessfully running for 3 weeks due to all the "tweaking" needed to make it meet their expectations. I mean I'm all for tweaking, and the ability to do so, but seems like alot.
Otherwise it has all the bells and whistles of the competetors and a good ole Fiery Rip. One thing that irked me was that they weren't very knowledgeable about their competition, and where they stand out against them, which seems odd. IE: Ricoh said empting the waste toner was a service call on the canon 6000 and xerox 700, which it is not.

They hung their hat on the fact they worked off of Ikon technology and had beta installs out in the industry for months before launching. Nothing that made me feel the confidence.

 

[rcm355]

Well, I can only speak from my personal experience with the local Ikon office in KC, they have been great and whenever there has been an issue with my 650s they are right on top of it, no questions asked. As for the Ricoh, I too am a bit concerned about it being the first year for this model, but I am not a "standard printer" so my tolerance for issues might be a bit different than a majority on this forum.

We ran some test stocks yesterday that were waaaay out of spec. for the press and it did wonders. I will update after the second run to make sure it was not a one time occurance.

 

[mailerdude]

My company has the c900 and we were one of the first to beta test and have had it for well over 8 months and this machine runs. The image quality is very good and the capablility of managing my color with the fiery is a big plus. I've run heavier stock then what was rated, i've run as thick as 14pt through this machine. At one point I ran 1,000,000 prints before I had to call for service. For the money and the production I get out of this machine, you can't beat the value.

 

[vwrome]

That sounds like a great review. Hopefully this machine will start earning some recognition.

 

[Ensudo]

The C900 is a huge success for Ricoh. In the 2+ months since it's been launched, Ricoh has sold 28. I also noticed on this blog that the negative comments on this product were all from before the product was launched for sale.

Now that it's out there, they've stopped???

Ricoh has also come out with the C900S (scanning version) 2 weeks earlier then expected, and Xerox, Canon and Konica are doing everything to try and stop Ricoh (will not work.)

So to answer the blog questions, yes, Ricoh has sold numerous C900's to satisfied customers who previously had Canon, Xerox or Konica, and Ricoh will sell a lot more in a very short period of time.

Ricoh could very easily dominate this market in a very short period of time.

Yea, this person doesn't work for Ricoh (lol). huh?

 

[InfoPrint]

Yea, this person doesn't work for Ricoh (lol). huh?

This post was about as useless as the quoted one

You can easily find in the profile information that ATM12765897 is a Sales Manager for Ricoh, so as it was the first (and only?) post I wouldn't comment too much on it.

Anyway, the post was analyzed and commented enough already.

I would be much more interested in real user feedback from installations after some weeks (or months) of use.