Issue #0828/3 – At the same time as launching its new fast A4 colour laser printer, Oki also launched a new advanced A3+ colour laser printer, the 36ppm C9850, which comes in hdn and hdtn versions. At this level, there is only one other competing printer, the Phaser 7760 from Xerox.
Both printers are targeted at high level colour output, with professional marketing and the graphic arts in mind. In addition to Oki’s models, the only other A3+ colour laser printers on the market are the Phaser 7400 from Xerox and the magicolor 7450 from Konica Minolta but these are less than half the price (competing with the Oki C9650), targeting a slightly different market.
Oki C9859hdnOki’s A3+ colour printer range is the widest on the market. There is the C9650, C9650XF (UK only - Graphic Arts-specific model, no list pricing available), C9800 and this new C9850. List prices range from £2,885 (C9650n) to £7,493 (C9850hdtn) in the UK and from €4,283 (C9650n) to €9,043 (C9850hdtn) in Germany (all prices including tax).
Needless to say, both the Oki C9850 and Phaser 7760 A3+ printers are very fast, rated for A4 printing at 40ppm and 45ppm respectively in mono and 36ppm and 35ppm in colour. Although figures are not quoted for the Phaser 7760 in A3, Oki’s C9850 is rated at around 20ppm in both mono and colour, even for A3 printing.
|
Professional/Graphics Arts A3+ Colour Laser Printers |
Oki C9859hdn | Xerox Phaser 7760DN |
|---|---|---|
| List Price (inc. tax) | €8,090.81 | €8,566.81 |
|
Purchase Price (inc. tax) (Low Street Price – Germany) |
€6,616 | €6,554 |
| Print Speed A4 (Black/Colour) | 40/36 ppm | 45/35ppm |
| Print Speed A3 (Black/Colour) | 21/19 ppm | Not quoted |
| Duty Cycle (Maximum) | 150,000 pages | 150,000 pages |
| Duty Cycle (Average) | 5,000-15,000 pages | Not quoted |
| Standard paper input capacity | 760 sheets | 650 sheets |
| Standard paper sources | 2 | 2 |
| Maximum paper input capacity | 2,350 | 3,150 sheets |
| Maximum paper sources | 5 | 5 |
| Finishing options |
4-tray finisher 5-tray finisher 2-hole punch unit 4-hole punch unit |
Professional finisher (2,000 sheets) Advanced finisher (3,500 sheets) Both with stapler, stacker, 2/4-hole punch and fold/booklet capability |
| Duplex printing | Standard | Standard |
| Controller | EFI Fiery® System 8e | Not quoted |
| Hard disk | 40GB standard | 40GB standard |
| Page Description Languages |
PCL5c, PCL XL emulations Adobe PostScript 3 Direct PDF v1.7 |
PCL5c emulation Adobe PostScript 3 Adobe PDF-Direct |
| Interfaces |
Parallel USB 2.0 10/100/Gigabit Ethernet |
USB 2.0 10/100/Gigabit Ethernet |
| Toner capacity – black | 15,000 pages @ 5% | 32,000 pages @ 5% |
| Toner capacity – C/M/Y | 15,000 pages @ 5% | 25,000 pages @ 5% |
| Toner shipping capacity – black | 7,500 pages @ 5% | 32,000 pages @ 5% |
| Toner shipping capacity – C/M/Y | 7,500 pages @ 5% | 25,000 pages @ 5% |
Performance is epitomised by the use of an EFI Fiery controller in the Oki model – these are expensive and finely-tuned controllers that are reserved for high-end devices where colour accuracy and high performance are critical.
Xerox Phaser 7760DNOften the devices at the upper end are offered with a Fiery controller as an option for those needing the ultimate in colour from their printer. The inference of Xerox’s lack of communication regarding the controller used in the Phaser 7760 is that it is a proprietary Xerox Phaser controller (still very high quality, so no problems there) rather than a Fiery bought in from EFI.
Perhaps the other aspects of specification that indicate the level that these machines sit in the market are the use of a hard disk as standard, the flexibility of paper handling and finishing options and the use of Gigabit networking – still not widely used for printers.
Notice the very high toner yields on the Phaser 7760 in comparison with the toners used in the C9850. By all accounts, Xerox even ships the 7760 with full toners whereas the C9850 is delivered with-half full cartridges – very unusual in the current climate but should be expected at this level of printer.
What this means in practice is that the toners delivered with the Phaser, at a comparable hardware purchase price, provide a hefty 24,500 extra black pages and 17,500 colour pages before the first purchase of replacement cartridges is required. This amounts to some eight month’s-worth of mono pages and two-and-a-half month’s-worth of colour pages (at a page balance of 30% mono to 70% colour pages)!
However, the wider implications are to be found in the Total Cost of Printing. Because there is so much less toner in the Oki cartridges, even when full, the background costs and overheads are that much higher than they are for Xerox’s high capacity cartridges.
This results in a higher nominal Cost Per Page for both mono and colour pages and, of course, this rolls through into a considerably higher long term Total Cost of Printing.
Total Cost of Printing - A3+ Colour Laser Printers
Note that for this level of machine, the mixed mono/colour CPP over three years shown in the accompanying table is calculated on the basis of 10,000 pages per month; 30% pages in mono and 70% pages in colour; is based on the use of maximum capacity supplies; takes into account any standard, or starter, supplies shipped with the device; and also includes the cost of purchase. All prices are low street price including tax, sourced in Germany.
To be equipped with the Fiery controller potentially puts the Oki C9850 ahead of the Phaser 7760 but the cost of supplies, together with a slight disadvantage in the paper handling, negates the advantage unless the Fiery controller is critical to the customer’s business and if Total Cost of Printing is of absolutely no significance.
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