Used 3302 or Xante?

[fishnprint]

Any thoughts on which machine for small work? Envelopes, LHs Business cards, Remittance Envelopes, Announcement Envelopes, Invitations etc....

We have two 3302s already and looking to get more out the door faster.

Most of our small press jobs are 1 or 2 color some 3/c occasional 4/c process. Fussy about PMS color. Run lengths vary from 250 to 5,000 some 10,000+. Some heavy stocks for the cards.

The pressman in me wants another 3302 but trying to keep an open mind. We also have 4/c Heidelberg MO and 2/c Komori Sprint.

Thanks for your input and advice,
Al

 

[Keith]

Don't get a Xante. Unless you like toning in the background and the excitement of whether or not it's going to cooperate with you and print well. It'll be great at first and then you go to buy your first round of consumables and your wallet cries. But there have been some good times. It'll print on 18pt without breaking a sweat. It is pretty cheap to run full color envelopes on... and you can address them at the same time. It's great for little odd jobs that my Xerox won't due, like print on a 3x5 card.

 

[fishnprint]

Thanks Keith, we're going to a demo next week and I'm sure the Xante will look great then. The consumables are what is making me skeptical. The rep keep saying it depends on the coverage. We have a Xerox 700 that does a lot of 4up postcards with addressing and all the consumables fusers drums are included in the service contract.

 

[Keith]

Your welcome. I've had my Xante for almost 5 years, I opened my shop with it. It was great because it has a low acquisition cost but now that my volume is up, the high cost to operate has exceeded any lease payment. If your looking for an envelope solution, Rena will be releasing the Mach 5 in April. I'm looking into it as a replacement for my Ilumina.