Xante Ilumina Digital Envelope Press

[JustinB]

I got to see some output from the PSI 3655 and it looks nice and all, but I'm having a hard time justifying spending a boatload more compared to the straight shooter. The company hosting the demo made mention a few times that the printer itself has been modified from original to make it more friendly for envelopes. i.e. it runs cooler, etc. PSI itself claims their toner is better quality and "high definition" compared to the regular oki toner. Sounds a little fishy to me...

Does anyone have any commentary on this?

 

[damfino]

Psi

Psi

I own a PSI and there are no modifications to the printer (unlike Xante) nor any proprietary toner that I am aware of. What Oki does for them is install a custom RFID chip in each toner cartridge (same for xante) so you are forced to buy from them.

Very problematic feeder and lousy service. Buyer beware.

 

[digital4life]

envelope solution

envelope solution

I have been looking to add an envelope press to my shop and have been studying them for several months
I am going to go with Xante I believe because the price and quality are more reasonable than the other ones I've seen and studied
One of my friends just put a Xante in their plant and they say it prints more than envelopes, the registration is great and with the demand I need this unit, I'm sick of having to turn away short runs, I will be making a decision very soon, Xante so far is the best option and the press is easy to operate

 

[digital4life]

I looked at PSI but I heard its jams alot, I definately find the top feeder is better because the media goes in a straight path, I am going with the Ilumina I think, everyone I have talked to that has one enjoys it

 

[MSLDoug]

Anyone heard of Intoprint?

Anyone heard of Intoprint?

There is a third player in this market. It is called the Intoprint. They use the same Oki print engine but have configured their product with a modified Streamfeeder envelope feeder. This feeder is bulletproof as it has been on the market for years. The key difference between PSI and Intoprint is that PSI is building their own feeder and this is the first version, same with Xante. You cannot load the Xante until it is empty, both PSI and Intoprint can be run continuously by top loading a bottom feeder. Probably the biggest advantage for the Intoprint is the infeed modification that they have made. The envelope is center driven into the Oki. If the envelope comes out of the feeder crooked it will straighten out in between the guides every time and be in register. PSI uses solid rollers to feed the envelope into the printer and if it is not straight you get a bad envelope. Another great feature is an electric eye on the delivery conveyor. The conveyor doesn't run until a piece exits the print engine. This really helps when doing variable data when you need to keep the pieces in the proper order. The Oki print engine has to delay periodically to catch up on fuser temp which will cause gaps on the conveyor. They offer a less expensive variable speed conveyor. If you are only doing static envelope printing it probably doesn't matter but these machines are great for variable data. The better system with a Fiery RIP gives you all kinds of control of print without going back to pre-press. The RIP also lets you easily do variable data without special software. My experience is that everything digital is expensive, initial cost and operationally. The advantage is supplying an on demand product to your customers and also figuring out ways to use variable data to create value to what you are selling. These things are not designed to replace high volume and spot color printed envelopes. They are to service people that want short run full color envelopes and do things that cannot be done on offsets or other print engines.

Doug

 

[Happyprinter]

Just a piece of advice. We installed a Xante Ilumina and were not at all happy with the quality output or technical service (lousy). We sent it back and bought a Oki 9650 and will be adding a straight shooter soon. A lot less money, Consumables cheaper to purchase, print quality great on envelopes and other stock. Tech support directly thru OKI has been wonderful.

 

[jotterpinky]

Does anyone have an average cost per envelope (real world pricing not the bs from the manufacturer)

Also in regard to the straight-shooter has anyone tried running open end booklets through this thing. We need a feeder for our mailing tabber and want to use it to feed booklets of about 4-8 sheets of paper folded in half and tabbed on the open end

 

[Hightower]

Cost per envelope would be very interesting..

Cost per envelope would be very interesting..

Does anyone have realistic data about this?

 

[oliverseemless]

We have one for sale. Anyone know where the best place to post for sale of used Xante Illumina Envelope Digital Press. 2 year warranty still left. Practically brand new.

 

[Hightower]

Xante

Xante

Why are you selling? Any idea about cost/page, anyone?

 

[oliverseemless]

Less than a year old. We original purchased for a client's monthly job but no longer needed and barely used. Purchased brand new, directly from Xante.

 

[postnetnc133]

Why not just take out Xante, PSI etc etc. All everyone hears is they use an OKI engine etc etc. Just buy an Oki 9650 from an Oki dealer. Get the printer, with envelope feeder and conveyor exit tray all for around $9K I believe I was told That is like half or so of what I was told for the other units.

 

[John Green]

i bought the Xante llumina Digital envelope press, running it on Mac laptop snow leopard.
I need information how to set up the MP tray, it runs 4 or 5 then says jam. It is not jammed
One will be about 2" in the press.
Is their a book on how to set these machines up, this one when running runs about 20 per min.

Thanks,
John Green

 

[John Green]

Can anyone help with set up on the lluminia Dig. Env. Press, running with Mac. OS X 6.0 lepord
I set it up and every time it stops or says jam it goes back to default. settings.

Thanks,
John Green

 

[DRK]

Xante Ilumina Digital Envelope Press

I have one of these. The concept is great. The product is so, so. Doesn't feed very well. Customer service is not so hot. But most importantly mine uses so much of there over price proprietary toner that it is almost impossible to make any money. If you have a small corner card imprint you're ok, but I just finished a job of 5000 envelopes that I bid at $800 but cost well over $900 in toner.

 

[OutSourceD]

I hate to hear that DRK. There are several companies who make proprietary products that behold you or every drop of oil, every nut, screw and speck of toner. These business models work very well for Xanté, HP Indigo, RISO and their ilk. They are getting wealthy off the backs of small time operators like you and me. You and I are their guinea pigs, their paying R&D, their golden eggs laid by their perfect little schemes.

A lemon law will assist you if you are unlucky enough to purchase a piece-of-crap automobile. Purchase a piece-of-crap printer and you can never come up with enough money to sic a lawyer.

Those reading this, consider yourself forewarned; watch out for Xanté, RISO, HP Indigo.

 

[Happyprinter]

Well said OutsourceD. I believe that most printshops that operate these machines with the chipped toners etc. have no idea what it costs them per piece to do so, other than what the company CLAIMS the cost will be. (which is generally on the very low side) When you factor in the drum, their toner, fuser unit, belt etc. I guarantee that to produce 5000 envelopes is as DRK stated. PRICEY!!

 

[Taneum]

We offer the Taneum Envelope X-Press color envelope printing system. And yes, we also use the Oki C9650, along with the Straight Shooter feeder/conveyor system. Our package includes "PSLenvelopeMaker" VDP software for the design phase of variable images and text, and the fast merging of variable address fields, up to 25,000 records per minute. For installed Xante, Xerox 7400, and Oki 9XXX printers, we have a package that includes the "PSLenvelopeMaker" and feeder/conveyor to extend the life of these models.

 

[RNRPRINTINGNMAILING]

I to ask who in their right mind would make such an investment in a machine where tech support is worthless. The consumables are so expensive. I had the Xante CL 30 and had problems with it. And I got the run around from Xante.
I now have the Oki C9300 and the 9650 and they work great.
So the long and short of it is your better off looking at an older 4 color digital press.

Stay away from Xante products

 

[Happyprinter]

Last time we called about a month ago the cost was around $5800.00 approx.