Xerox announces new logo

[ReproElectroProspero]

These are really the types of printers I'm referring to. Any system like the Riso ComColor, Kyocera Taskalfa Pro 15000c, or the iJet envelope printers all use low-quality, high speed memjet-type print heads with aqueous dye/pigment inks. The quality is only good for transactional forms, envelopes, and school classroom handouts. They aren't meant to compete with the quality of toner and offset presses.

I'm referring to systems like the Konica Minolta AccurioJet 3000, the Ricoh Pro Z75, and the Canon VarioPress iV7. These all produce very high quality prints that can compete with offset, and can print on a wider range of substrates. They are all in the B2 size. However, Canon recently announced the varioPrintiX1700 which handles smaller sheets (14.33" x 26").

I'm in shopping mode right now so I did a little research on all the machines you mentioned to see which I might be able to afford:

• iJet envelope printers (~$30,000)
• Riso ComColor (~$65,000)
• Kyocera Taskalfa Pro 15000c (~$200,000)
• Canon varioPrint iX1700 (~$750,000)
• Konica Minolta AccurioJet 3000 (~$1.5 million)
• Ricoh Pro Z75 (~$1.5 million)
• Canon VarioPress iV7 (~$2.0 million)

While looking all that up I learned that _actually_ the Riso & Kyocera's use their own proprietary piezo print tech and not the memjet stuff.

 

[Stickman42]

While looking all that up I learned that _actually_ the Riso & Kyocera's use their own proprietary piezo print tech and not the memjet stuff.

Kyocera's piezo heads have been in production inkjet machines for well over a decade now. Ricoh, Canon, Screen all use them. I've got them in my current Canon/Oce continuous printer. They're rated to work for a lot longer than the Memjet heads (life expectancy expressed in liters of ink printed, I believe). I'm just about ready to sign for a new machine. The Kyocera heads in this one are 1200 dpi. While I'm getting a monochrome machine, the color samples on coated and uncoated stocks that I've seen from the same line of equipment look outstanding.

 

[kslight]

I'd argue they've never been great. When your solution to making terrible parts is just making them user replaceable then your machine is poorly engineered. Even 20 years ago the first tech support option was "replace the drum". You'd think after 20 years they'd just make a well made drum.

I worked at a shop owned by Xerox diehards until 2020, and my takeaway is: no wonder their service was (honestly haven’t shopped them since then) so much more expensive than the competitors - the Xerox machines seemed to need 10x more parts and tech visits to keep running. I feel like we were changing drums, corotrons, belts, fusers, developer / housings constantly on the Xerox stuff to get past image quality defects. On Ricoh most parts aren’t getting changed until the machine starts crying for it, and the intervals on parts are very high…drums have a million impression life. Without exaggeration drums were lasting 10-30k at best on the Xerox equipment we had.

 

[tngcas]

I worked at a shop owned by Xerox diehards until 2020, and my takeaway is: no wonder their service was (honestly haven’t shopped them since then) so much more expensive than the competitors - the Xerox machines seemed to need 10x more parts and tech visits to keep running. I feel like we were changing drums, corotrons, belts, fusers, developer / housings constantly on the Xerox stuff to get past image quality defects. On Ricoh most parts aren’t getting changed until the machine starts crying for it, and the intervals on parts are very high…drums have a million impression life. Without exaggeration drums were lasting 10-30k at best on the Xerox equipment we had.

Xerox told me that their drums are only rated for 100k ish impressions. Canon sales-people already know Xerox's weakness and made that their first pitch to us (the one million drum lifcycle). When drums have a short life cycle and you have multiple machines running, not having drums to swap drums constantly was a powerful pitch. Xerox started being stingy about drums and then drums were failing at 30% of their already short life ( this was when they were being manufactured in Mexico). We had three Xerox boxes at the time so 12 drums to replace constantly was such a bother.