Help me choose BANNER color laser or LED printer

[Richard Galli]

I need to print book jackets 10"h X 22"-24" wide. For reasons of speed
and ease of production, I want to use a laser / LED instead of inkjet. I
have not found many quality laser printers that will print to banner
paper. Here are three:

Xerox Phaser 7400 - up to 12.6 X 48

Lexmark C920 - up to 11.27 X 36

Oki C9600 - up to 12.9 X 47.24

Obviously, the Lexmark will let me print only one per sheet, with a lot
of waste paper produced.

The other two printers will let me print two per sheet.


In the online resources -- including the manufacturers' sites -- there
is hardly any mention of the oversize "banner" printing capabilities.


I am interested in the best color images I can get; the dust jacket
contains photo art.

The paper will be more or less standard (if I can find some) probably
equivalent to the 28# paper they use for tabloid printing at FedexKinko.
The paper will not be special purpose photo paper or anything else that
thick and stiff.

I know I could send the job to a press, get hundreds of better dust
jackets and save tons of money -- for but for personal reasons I need to
print these things in small lots, subject to change from time to time.

Wouldn't it be nice if someone made a laser / LED that would print to
10" or 11" wide roll paper? I guess they don't project a big market for
that, for some reason...


Can someone PLEASE help me to pick the best printer for this project?

Please let me know your experience with the above printers; and feel
free to suggest alternatives and provide links.


Best wishes.

Richard Galli

http://www.richardgalli.com

 

[Tony]

I need to print book jackets 10"h X 22"-24" wide. For reasons of speed
and ease of production, I want to use a laser / LED instead of inkjet. I
have not found many quality laser printers that will print to banner
paper. Here are three:

Xerox Phaser 7400 - up to 12.6 X 48

Lexmark C920 - up to 11.27 X 36

Oki C9600 - up to 12.9 X 47.24

Obviously, the Lexmark will let me print only one per sheet, with a lot
of waste paper produced.

The other two printers will let me print two per sheet.


In the online resources -- including the manufacturers' sites -- there
is hardly any mention of the oversize "banner" printing capabilities.


I am interested in the best color images I can get; the dust jacket
contains photo art.

The paper will be more or less standard (if I can find some) probably
equivalent to the 28# paper they use for tabloid printing at FedexKinko.
The paper will not be special purpose photo paper or anything else that
thick and stiff.

I know I could send the job to a press, get hundreds of better dust
jackets and save tons of money -- for but for personal reasons I need to
print these things in small lots, subject to change from time to time.

Wouldn't it be nice if someone made a laser / LED that would print to
10" or 11" wide roll paper? I guess they don't project a big market for
that, for some reason...


Can someone PLEASE help me to pick the best printer for this project?

Please let me know your experience with the above printers; and feel
free to suggest alternatives and provide links.


Best wishes.

Richard Galli

http://www.richardgalli.com

Richard
I have no personal experience with the Xerox Phaser 7400 and little experience
with the Lexmark C920 so I will let others comment on these models.
I have lots of experience with the OKI range and have found them to be
intuitive to operate, extremely reliable, economical to run and at least where
I live the imnporters provide superb service which I believe is a reflection of
the OKI ethic. OKI specialises in LED printers and do not make inkjets, I
believe that this is one of the reasons they are very good at what they do.
The photo quality is very high, especially for a "laser" type printer, this
partly results from LED technology which has one less moving part than laser
technology (the laser scanner) this is noticeable in comparison tests, they
also handle quite thick card if needed because they have a flat paper path with
a rear exit door when required. They use 4 drums so you only need to replace
each drum as it fails and all consumables (toner, drums, transfer belt and
fuser) are user replaceable reducing servicing costs. OKI have a very high
market share, and at least in some geographies their share is the highest of
all colour "laser" type printer manufacturers, this is not accidental. I have
printed many banners for advertising and promotion with several OKI colour
printers and the results are extremely pleasing.
Tony

 

[Elmo P. Shagnasty]

I need to print book jackets 10"h X 22"-24" wide. For reasons of speed
and ease of production, I want to use a laser / LED instead of inkjet. I
have not found many quality laser printers that will print to banner
paper. Here are three:

Xerox Phaser 7400 - up to 12.6 X 48

Lexmark C920 - up to 11.27 X 36

Oki C9600 - up to 12.9 X 47.24

Obviously, the Lexmark will let me print only one per sheet, with a lot
of waste paper produced.

The other two printers will let me print two per sheet.


In the online resources -- including the manufacturers' sites -- there
is hardly any mention of the oversize "banner" printing capabilities.


I am interested in the best color images I can get; the dust jacket
contains photo art.

The paper will be more or less standard (if I can find some) probably
equivalent to the 28# paper they use for tabloid printing at FedexKinko.
The paper will not be special purpose photo paper or anything else that
thick and stiff.

I know I could send the job to a press, get hundreds of better dust
jackets and save tons of money -- for but for personal reasons I need to
print these things in small lots, subject to change from time to time.

Wouldn't it be nice if someone made a laser / LED that would print to
10" or 11" wide roll paper? I guess they don't project a big market for
that, for some reason...


Can someone PLEASE help me to pick the best printer for this project?

farm it out to a Xerox iGen3.

 

[Richard Galli]

Thanks for the info on Oki. Couple of questions:

What kind of paper would you suggest for this project -- book covers
aka dust jackets. Any partiular brand or supplier?

When Oki specifies banner paper at 47.24 inches, do they mean that's the
maximum print range... or does someone actually sell paper that is 47.24
inches long rather than 48?

Best wishes.

Richard Galli

 

[Tony]

Thanks for the info on Oki. Couple of questions:

What kind of paper would you suggest for this project -- book covers
aka dust jackets. Any partiular brand or supplier?

When Oki specifies banner paper at 47.24 inches, do they mean that's the
maximum print range... or does someone actually sell paper that is 47.24
inches long rather than 48?

Best wishes.

Richard Galli

Richard I am sure that is the maximum length, the actual printable length will
depend on the amount of memory the printer has and the content of the printed
page. I have always used OKI paper see
http://esales.okidata.com/IWCatProd...ection_Id=74&Product_Id=1100698&localecode=US
this is 12.9 x 35.4" and was long enough for my needs. I would think that
laser compatible paper that is longer than that is available but I haven't
needed it. Since you will not be using coated paper any quality paper should
work well.
Tony

 

[DaveG]

Thanks for the info on Oki. Couple of questions:

What kind of paper would you suggest for this project -- book covers
aka dust jackets. Any partiular brand or supplier?

When Oki specifies banner paper at 47.24 inches, do they mean that's the
maximum print range... or does someone actually sell paper that is 47.24
inches long rather than 48?

Dunno about a supplier, but 47.24" is 1.2m or 1200mm so sounds like a nice
round number in most of the world and why it's not 48" ;-)