Need a new workgroup copier

November 10, 2009 8:58 AM

I'm working on researching workgroup multifunction copier/scanner/printers, the kind you find in a 10-50 people office. There's a whole bunch of these things out there. How can I compare apples and oranges?

I've been talking to lots of companies locally that are vendors for these systems made by Lanier, Kyocera, Toshiba, OCE, to name a few. I've been doing searches for reviews of these systems and not finding much.
The workgroup is a mixed-platform Mac and PC office, about 22 users. We've found vendors we like who seem to provide high quality service for their systems, meaning maintenance contracts. What I'm not finding is the equivalent of user reviews on the machines themselves.
Of course every vendor says their machine is the next best thing.
Our needs are not exotic. We're contemplating 30-40 ppm black and white systems with scan to file, and copying. Stapling and collating. Fax board as an extra, plus Mac compatibility. As an adjunct, we're shopping for a smaller capacity color system for small print runs or proofs.
We do about 7 to 10K pages a month, sometimes spiking to 15-18K.
As we still do some outsourced printing, we are also thinking how we can bring some of this in house using the color system for example.
I'm wondering if there are any specific sites that might do reviews of these type of systems, and if anyone has any favorite machines they like for a mixed OS office.

posted by diode to technology (4 comments total)

I'll just say that when one part is broken, the whole thing is broken, and a sweet maintenance contract really does you no good when you're having to use it all. the. time.
posted by rhizome at 9:12 AM on November 10

My two cents: love the Canon interface, easy for anyone to understand. Xerox not so much.
posted by Area Control at 10:20 AM on November 10

I worked for "X" for 3 years.

There are indisputable costs of operating laser printers. In the old machines, a service tech had to scrape the sludge out of the drum every 10,000 copies. In the new machines, there is a cartridge which collects the sludge, and the cartridge needs to be replaced every 10,000 copies. In either case, the "machine" cost per copy is about $0.03 per copy, either in the service contract or the cost of the cartridges. In the 50-60 page per minute machines, costs may go down to 0.02 per copy. In the humongous 90-100 page per minute machines, the cost is a penny a page.

If a salesperson attempts to steer you away from those facts, they are misleading you regarding the basic costs of the contract. Probably hiding the cost of replacement cartridges [which can be hundreds of dollars.] I recommend that the machines should be leased, with the supplies built in to the contract. That permits clean accounting for total cost.

The larger engine [40 ppm] will suit your office better. Copiers designed for 8-10K copies per month will be running at top capacity and that means more frequent breakdowns.

The "finishing" unit is the mechanical arm that sorts, collates, and staples the output. Stay away from stacks of racks, those are very unreliable. Also stay away from 3-hole punch built in to finisher, those are beyond unreliable. Better to use 3 hole punch paper in one drawer.

Make sure the copier can handle recycled paper or 20 pound paper. No fun buying coated 24# coated paper for a temperamental copier!!

As far as color, if laser printer output is good enough for your applications, there are some really good machines. The cost of toner is 4x the cost of B/W machines, because machines have 4 toner colors. The back end should be a cartridge, which contains all the sludge.

I'm very fond of "X" copiers, especially the 40-55 page per minute engine.
posted by ohshenandoah at 10:42 AM on November 10 [1 favorite]

Well, I found one answer today. This site does analysis of these types of systems.
posted by diode at 12:07 PM on November 10