Test Driving DI Presses Next Week

[Muddy]

Next week I'll be testing a few different DI presses and I'm wondering if it's moral/ethical/doable for some of you to provide me with test files that I can give to the companies to show me what their machines can do.

I'm looking at Ryobi. Heidelberg (used) and Presstek. All of you know the trouble spots and what best to test these devices with so it would be a great help if I had these files. I can dig around our archive but it may be more effective to have something that you know is going to rear it's ugly head and how the device copes with this.

I'm sure you all know what I'm looking to accomplish.

I would be happy to provide you with an FTP address or an email if the file size is OK.

Can ya'll help a brother out?

 

[Mechanic]

Dude, the Ryobi and the Presstek presses are EXACTLY the same presses. There is NO difference wharsoever. STAY AWAY from the heidelberg press. Ryobi/Presstek comes in 2 formats , 46 and 52 cm wide. The 52 cm is better in many ways. There is the solution of the Screen DI press, its not waterless though.

 

[Muddy]

Thanks Mechanic. I completely understand the relationship between Presstek and Ryobi. Your input is very much appreciated. I'm gonna try 'em all 'cause you gotta kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.

 

[Mechanic]

Why DI, If I may ask?

 

[Muddy]

Why DI, If I may ask?

I really like waterless. I really like the 300 lpi capabilities. I really like FM screening capabilities. I really think buying a traditional offset press doesn't differentiate me from any of my competitors. In my market, waterless and 300 lpi / FM screening does.

 

[Mechanic]

Ok, buddy. Ryobi/presstek is your machine then. Dont go near a Heidelberg, i'm dead serious. The only thing you have to consider is the after-sales service. Choose carefully between Ryobi and Presstek, assuming that there are 2 different dealers. Dont let the salesmen talk you into anything, ask to speak with techicians or/and printing instructors, and let them talk about the press. That way you will find out who has the best service.

 

[CD102]

Explain

Explain

Mechanic,

Could you explain your issues with the Heidelberg press? I've seen articles in American Printer magazine where the folks in some shops have loved the Heidelberg DI presses. So far you are the only person replying to the original poster's questions, but you aren't giving any reasons for your position. Just in case I end up working on a Heidelberg DI, I'd like to know what problems to expect in the machine.

Thanks

 

[Mechanic]

Stick with the CD 102, which by the way is a proper "heidelberg" and leave the crapy old QM aside. Crapy electronics/ electrics , poor inking capabilities, only 3 ink forms, very expencive consumables, IR Dryer is an extra, only PRO has front and side lays, high power consumption, old generation laser heads, stripes and ghosting every day,
b class printing quality, countless rertofit actions, nightmare of every technician, major selling and desining flopp. Plus, you will never find an article in American Printer, or Greek Lithoschmasher or wherever, ripping on a press model. Especialy a Heidelberg model.

 

[CD102]

Thanks

Thanks

Stick with the CD 102, which by the way is a proper "heidelberg" and leave the crapy old QM aside. Crapy electronics/ electrics , poor inking capabilities, only 3 ink forms, very expencive consumables, IR Dryer is an extra, only PRO has front and side lays, high power consumption, old generation laser heads, stripes and ghosting every day,
b class printing quality, countless rertofit actions, nightmare of every technician, major selling and desining flopp. Plus, you will never find an article in American Printer, or Greek Lithoschmasher or wherever, ripping on a press model. Especialy a Heidelberg model.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. As an unemployed press operator, I hope I can get on another CD 102 or maybe an XL 105, but in the current U.S. labor market I don't think I'm going to get to be the chooser. It's possible I'll never work on a printing press again.

 

[Happyprinter]

With all due respect to the mechanic, we have had a QMDI plus for about 2 years. When we purchased it, it only had 3 million impression on it. I was a bit skeptical, having heard others say to beware of the Heid. DI but so far we have been very happy with it's quality and performance. Granted, if I had several hundred thousands more to spend on a Ryobi or Presstek I would have seriously considered one. But in my market, for the price, the QMDI was the only answer, to own a DI press and more importantly to make the payment. As the mechanic stated there are some differences, but, for the most part a QMDI will get you into the market at a reasonable price. As far as consumables, I have spoken with many other Presstek and Ryobi owners and I fail to see were the QMDI is more expensive to operate. You can manually advance the plate material on each cylinder which adds up to big savings and the rest of the consumables is the same as the others. As far as power I also have addressed that issue with other owners and from what I can tell, no huge difference. Bear in mind you can purchase a QMDI fairly inexpensively, shop around, which will allow you to enter the market with great quality, and then later on upgrade, when the business is there. Try calling QMDI Press Services at (201) 264-1553 and talk to Anthony, he installed ours and pick his brain on whats available.
Hope this helps

 

[Muddy]

With all due respect to the mechanic, we have had a QMDI plus for about 2 years. When we purchased it, it only had 3 million impression on it. I was a bit skeptical, having heard others say to beware of the Heid. DI but so far we have been very happy with it's quality and performance. Granted, if I had several hundred thousands more to spend on a Ryobi or Presstek I would have seriously considered one. But in my market, for the price, the QMDI was the only answer, to own a DI press and more importantly to make the payment. As the mechanic stated there are some differences, but, for the most part a QMDI will get you into the market at a reasonable price. As far as consumables, I have spoken with many other Presstek and Ryobi owners and I fail to see were the QMDI is more expensive to operate. You can manually advance the plate material on each cylinder which adds up to big savings and the rest of the consumables is the same as the others. As far as power I also have addressed that issue with other owners and from what I can tell, no huge difference. Bear in mind you can purchase a QMDI fairly inexpensively, shop around, which will allow you to enter the market with great quality, and then later on upgrade, when the business is there. Try calling QMDI Press Services at (201) 264-1553 and talk to Anthony, he installed ours and pick his brain on whats available.
Hope this helps

Happy Printer, thank you so much. This is exactly the type of logical thinking I like.

I think I'm sold on DI but I really need to give it some challenges to see if it performs as well as I've been led to believe. I really like waterless and 300 lpi. Because it's different than a conventional offset there is a story there to tell in our marketing efforts. As well, we'll be able to show comparison images printed in 175 lpi with the same image printed in 300 lpi. I believe that for the most part your customers really don't care what it's printed on just as long as it's done well. If I chose a 5 color SM52 my customers won't care because it won't do anything any different that 20 other printers in my area, myself at present included. With a DI we can show the quality benefits as well as point to the efficiency in terms of make ready time and skipping the offline CTP process. Efficiency = Time Saved. Customers love to hear that you can give them more time. So it addresses the quality issue and the timing issue.

Long semi rant to say I think there is a DI in my future. I just need to test drive one.

 

[prepressing]

QMDI Press Services website:
QMDI Printing Press - Technology by Heidelberg

If you need parts QMDI Press Services also sells parts for the DI machines. Depending on the age of the RIP software or what apps and os you will be sending from you may also need a new RIP:
Kodak, Prestek, Heidelberg Quickmaster, Ryobi, Xerox DI Printing Press RIP Software, DI Postscript 3 RIP Software

They are all good machines. Depending on if you use a MetaDimension or Harlequin RIP you can probably get the best results on these machines at 1270 dpi with an EllipticalP dot.