Xerox 550 vs RICOH Pro C550

[DigitalIron]

Looking to enter into the digital market for offset transfer and am considering the Xerox 550 and the Ricoh 550. Both have Fiery's and are similarly equiped. I dont know much about Ricoh in the production arena but Xerox is pretty well known. I have talked to a few people that have the Xerox 700 and they have mentioned an issue with Fusers and since the reports at GraphExpo talked about this being a smaller version of the 700 is there the same problem with holding image consistency to the edge of the card stock?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[kalindd]

XC550 uses the same type fuser, "half latch" like 700DCP.
Trained tech can adjust the fuser unit to your specific media type.

 

[X33]

The fuser problem in the Xerox 700 arose when it was first launched to market a couple of years ago. The problem was corrected shortly after with some software patches and a new fuser. You should have no problems with either the Xerox 550 or Xerox 700 today.

 

[DigitalIron]

I have a list of four companies I have been outsourcing to that have 700's and about 1/2 of them cant maintain solids to the edge on any stock from 80lb cover and higher. Not sure what the guys are doing wrong or the other two are doing right but I know that depending on the job and how critical my customer is I have to avoid the other guys. One has an Ikon machine of some sort that puts out really nice blacks but the Ikon guy is now a Ricoh guy and they dont sell that ikon machine any more so that's off the table for consideration.

 

[digital-domain]

So, the 700 and 550/560 have similarities but a few differences. The 550/560 is really a breed that combined a few technologies from Xerox models. It shares heavy trays and finishers from 1000 color press; shares EA low-melt toner formulation as the 700 but also office MFP/USB/scan etc. As mentioned, and beyond the changes since the initial 700, the 550/560 has a couple other items that help---for example, a spare heavyweight fuser which has proved useful with tough papers or papers not up to par. You may want to take a long look at the 550/560–Maybe have a couple of your typical jobs run for you at the Calgary office (xerox employee). Hope this helps you!