Recommend Laser Printer Large Format

GB
Posted By
g_ballard
Oct 5, 2006
Views
370
Replies
10
Status
Closed
I need to buy a large format Laser printer for printing pretty vector files, tiff photos to pretty good color on heavy glossy and matte stock out of Adobe apps (PS, iLL, Indd, acrobat, pdf, eps).

Can anyone recommend a great workhorse professional printer?

True Adobe Postscript 3.

Is 12×18 the largest out there in the $8,000 or lower range?

Thanks…
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GB
g_ballard
Oct 5, 2006
Xerox PHASER 7400 is looking like a safe bet…

HP doesn’t seem very desirable
GT
George_Thomas
Oct 15, 2006
Check out the Ricoh line of color lasers. I did some comparison testing before I bought mine and was really surprised at how bad the quality of some name brands are.

Check out printershowcase.com. They carry most of the major brands and have a service where, for a small fee (about $35), you can submit a file to be tested on three different printers of your choice. They also have full specs online for every printer they sell.

There is _no_ requirement that you buy the printer from them although you can if you want to. Their prices are very competitive but once you add freight on for large printers you’ll do better to buy locally.

It’s an invaluable service which saved me from making a costly mistake.
R
Ram
Oct 15, 2006
Thanks for the <http://printershowcase.com/> link, George. Very useful.

I only wish the information about whether a printer model offers true Adobe PostScript Level 3 were more readily accessible in their comparisons. It appears only many of the Xerox models do.

After many years of frustration with PostScript "emulation", I wouldn’t want to touch that again.
P
Phosphor
Oct 15, 2006
It’s pretty tough to go wrong with Xerox, generally speaking.
SW
Scott_Weichert
Oct 15, 2006
FYI.. From the mouth of the authorized Xerox/Okidata tech that used to service my Oki C9300… Xerox printers are merely Okidata printers marked up and re-branded (same for the consumables). Get an Okidata printer and save yourself some money.
GT
George_Thomas
Oct 15, 2006
It’s true that it usually is pretty safe to go with a name brand such as HP or Xerox from the standpoint of overall quality. In fact, before I bought the Ricoh I had pretty much decided on buying another hugely popular brand — until I saw the comparison test results.

And don’t forget, one also has to factor in the cost of consumables which can be very expensive.
R
Ram
Oct 15, 2006
Based on a continuous experience of 15 years with several dozen HP printers [laser, b&w] on a network, I would strongly recommend against HP, especially for a Mac user. HP drivers for the Mac are a nightmare. I also found problems with the HP "emulation" of PostScript.

I’ve shied away from Ricoh and Okidata because the few models I’ve seen lack true Adobe PostScript, so I’ve never actually used either of those two brands.
GT
George_Thomas
Oct 15, 2006
You are so right about HP drivers for the Mac. I bought a HP inkjet based on its performance on one of our PCs and touted as Mac-compatible. On the Mac side it’s a joke, slow and inefficient — therefore it is seldom used now.

As for the Ricoh I bought (CL4000DN), it _does_ have true Adobe Postscript 3. I researched that issue before I decided on a printer.

Some models of any brand may have emulation which is why one needs to do careful homework before buying.
P
Phosphor
Oct 15, 2006
I was just looking at the OKI C9300 via Google & Froogle.

It DOES have true Adobe PostScript 3.
R
Ram
Oct 15, 2006
Thanks, George and Phosphor. That certainly makes the Ricoh and Okidata printers very attractive.

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