Ryobi 520GX

[barryk]

Hi I am considering upgrading to a new press. I presently run a Presstek (ryobi) 34 DI. The DI has been a great press for us over the past few years. As our volume has increased I am finding that my hard costs on plates is starting to get up there when compared to conventional presses. We do a fair amount of short run work so my thoughts are to stick with a 2 up format. With a press like a Ryobi or Heidelberg I can still compete at some longer runs as the presses run much faster than my DI. As well I can compete more on multipage work with the lower costs of plates etc.

I have had good success with my DI so I believe Ryobi makes a good product. I would also consider the Heidelberg SM 52 but I know the machine will cost more. I would be looking at a 5 colour plus AQ coater.

I am used to running waterless and my clients like the 300 line quality we produce so I would be looking to do the same on a conventional press.

Any thoughts on how the Ryobi stacks up against the Heidelberg?

Thanks

 

[jotterpinky]

barryk,

We just got rid of a 524gx in favor of a sm-52 anicolor. We were quite happy with the quality of print from the Ryobi, it was an excellent machine for us. We were only running a 200 line screen but as far as smooth solids and excellent halftones this was a great press. The feeder seemed finicky to our press operator, constantly making tweaks especially when switching stocks which you do a lot of on short runs. I think you'll be happy with it coming from a DI press. As for the SM-52 I can't speak for yet but our main reason for switching was the short ink train with the anicolor which allows us to be even more competitive on short runs. We had the 524 for several years but just had too much work that was quick turn and we were loading it up on our digital printers but had to make concessions with quality to run it digital. We're hoping the anicolor inking unit will be answer to this. Based on what we're making plates on right now though (Screen PTR 4300) we should be able to print a large number of our jobs in the time it takes to image a set of plates. I'll keep you informed as we'll know more in about a month.

 

[totitotek]

Hi
We are also considering upgrading our press to Ryobi 524gx or SM52. Do you have any updates on your posts?