Desktop Printer For Proofing.

[Rickey J]

Just wondering what kind of printers are being use for proofing and presentation of your artwork to your customers. I have the opportunity to buy a Xerox 8560 Solid Ink Printer with very low page count and a set of inks. What are your thoughts?

 

[MatthewTimothy]

epson workforce 1100 is my choice

 

[jhanson]

That's basically a Tektronix Phaser at heart... uses wax (crayon-like) ink that's melted onto the page. It produces relatively good image quality, if you stick to Xerox ink, but everything will have a waxy feel that's impossible to write on with a ballpoint pen.

If it's in your price range I would actually look at an Oki instead. Uses LEDs instead of lasers, polymer toner, and is as simple as they get. Also has great image quality.

 

[Rickey J]

That's basically a Tektronix Phaser at heart... uses wax (crayon-like) ink that's melted onto the page. It produces relatively good image quality, if you stick to Xerox ink, but everything will have a waxy feel that's impossible to write on with a ballpoint pen.

If it's in your price range I would actually look at an Oki instead. Uses LEDs instead of lasers, polymer toner, and is as simple as they get. Also has great image quality.

Any particular model of OKI?

 

[jhanson]

Pretty much any of their color printers, whichever one fits in your budget. The lowest I saw for their entry level model is about $286:

Google product search link

It runs up to 8.5" wide and up to 47" long (the Phaser only runs up to 14" long paper).

 

[SightLine]

We have a Phaser 7750GX which is a color laser that can run up to 12x18 (tabloid extra). Works as a good overall shop printer since it has multiple trays. Tabloid for proofs and layouts, cheapo letter for internal stuff, nicer letter for customer invoices, etc... Not a cheap option though. The 7700 series are expensive - current model is the 7760. You can find the 7750 models for under a grand though.

 

[jhanson]

At my previous job we had a few Xerox Phaser 8400 printers. When we got an OKI (the one we picked was the ProColor 930, which is a tabloid printer at the high end of their product line, about $10,000) the colors from it just completely blew the Xerox prints out of the water. Later on we started testing the smaller units, and even the $1600 C830 had better image quality than the Phaser units.

Not to say anything bad about the Xerox products -- they're workhorses -- but I just don't know why anyone would choose them when there are better options for the same or less money...

 

[MikePro]

i run a Konica Minolta Magicolor 7450 grafx. LOVE IT! ...shy of the $120 each tonerx4 and imaging units x4, but I only have to replace them after thoudands of prints. But I guess that's why we try to print as little as possible and run most of our presentations via .pdf files. "eco-friendly" as in "economically friendly"

 

[elsignshop]

i run a epson 1400, works great for a lot of office printing needs. plus it print up to 13" wide paper.

 

[SightLine]

That may be the case fopr many of the Xerox products but not the case for the 7700 series laser. They even have Pantone approved color charts, and some models come with a color profiling system - PhaserMatch. I have used a couple of their wax printers before - did not much like those or the color output from them as well as some of the other color lasers they make. The 7700 / 7750 / and now 7760 series are specifically targeted to the graphics design industry. Full loaded they also run up close to $10,000 as well. My point is really that not all Xerox models have poor color is all...

At my previous job we had a few Xerox Phaser 8400 printers. When we got an OKI (the one we picked was the ProColor 930, which is a tabloid printer at the high end of their product line, about $10,000) the colors from it just completely blew the Xerox prints out of the water. Later on we started testing the smaller units, and even the $1600 C830 had better image quality than the Phaser units.

Not to say anything bad about the Xerox products -- they're workhorses -- but I just don't know why anyone would choose them when there are better options for the same or less money...

 

[TwoNine]

We use a Brother 6490CW and LOVE it. Its a multi-use machine so that can be good. But the really nice features is that it will scan and print up to 11" x 17" (Tabloid). Good quality prints too, I think. Separate color cartridges too, which I think is pretty nice. The price is right too at somewhere around 300 - 400 bucks brand new. (We got our for 250 on sale on Black Friday a little over a year ago.)