Help choose a graphic design printer

August 3, 2006 9:11 AM

My graphic design office needs a new printer, and we're trying to decide between a Xerox 7400DN color laser (actually LED) and an Epson 4800 Pro inkjet. We print primarily (maybe 90%) 8.5x11 and 11x17, about evenly between color and black and white, with a few 13x19 pages. The Xerox is limited to 12x18, which means we would have to re-work some templates to get them onto 12x18. The Epson prints up to 17" wide, which I'm sure we'd use once in a while. Duplexing (printing both sides at once) on the Xerox would be nice. The Xerox lists for more money, but we can get it for about the same as the Epson ($2500). Any general thoughts between color lasers and inkjets in general? I know the inkjet has the ability to print higher quality, but is much slower than the laser. Anything else?
posted by letitrain to computers & internet (14 comments total)

It's slower and the ink runs when it gets damp/wet. Loading paper with ink can also cause the paper to wrinkle, so if you've got a supersaturated area on a printout it'll have a wavy effect.

OTOH, color laser can be 'shiny' in some ways, which can be offputting on demo pieces.

Overall, I prefer color laser though. Don't forget to research the cost of expedables and maintenance. Maintenance on inkjets is lower, but the EOL can be much sooner as belts and other elements wear. Lasers are generall designed for the enterprise with a five-year amortization life, and many more of those repair parts are available.
posted by SpecialK at 9:17 AM on August 3, 2006

Are you concerned about consumable cost? Generally inkjets have higher operating costs than lasers. (Though I'm basing this on consumer models)
posted by defcom1 at 9:18 AM on August 3, 2006

Yes, the consumables are a factor. Our current inkjet eats ink like crazy, and the ink cartridges are very expensive.
posted by letitrain at 9:25 AM on August 3, 2006

Having just picked up a 7400DT after exploring various inkjet solutions, I'll just second SpecialK's comments. We saw dampness and banding on almost every inkjet printer and were appalled by the speed with which printer went through cartridges.

If you're after proofs that are color accurate and reproduce images well on a variety of materials, laser is the way.

I love the DT, by the way.
posted by boombot at 9:41 AM on August 3, 2006

Laser is the way to go. I recently decided to cheap it and go for the inkjet, and really hate the epson I bought. If you were printing photos I would say go inkjet, but the laser will provide you with what you need as a designer.
posted by helvetica at 10:13 AM on August 3, 2006

We've got a smaller version of the Phaser and the quality is great. One thing you should be aware of is the cost of consumables other than toner (scroll down to "other supplies"). At about 30,000 pages you'll have to spend over $500 for replacement imaging units.
posted by SteveInMaine at 10:16 AM on August 3, 2006

We went with the Xerox 7750 because the color seemed more accurate, it was WAAAAAY faster than inkjet, and high coverage print jobs aren't soggy. Seems like most everyone agrees.
posted by ScottUltra at 10:29 AM on August 3, 2006

I'd get the laser, for the above listed reasons. Each mark against the inkject may seem negligible, but they combine and can add up to a lot of frustration if you're using one as the office workhorse.

If you ever need a photograph-like print, you can just buy a consumer Epson 6-ink photo printer for a mere $150, since you'll probably only need that once in a blue moon. Laser printers are much better at being a workhorse, and that's what your design office needs.
posted by -harlequin- at 10:36 AM on August 3, 2006

Absolutely get the Phaser. We had two older versions (when they were still made by Tektronix) and they were my all-time favorite in-house printers.
They blend seamlessly into a color-managed workflow and put out very accurate prints.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:00 AM on August 3, 2006

Seems like most everyone agrees.

Yes, I didn't expect it to be this unanimous.
posted by letitrain at 11:24 AM on August 3, 2006

I work at a design firm and we have both a Xerox and an Epson printer in comparable models. Go for the Xerox.

My experience with the Epson is that it's print quality is better. However, it constantly has problems with loading paper, paper jams, ink banding, etc. When you can get it to work the printing takes forever.

We've had the Xerox for a couple of months and it works flawlessly. I hit "print" and the page is processed by the time I walk over to the printer. Don't underestimate the value of this when you're on a deadline. The output quality isn't as high as an inkjet but it's more than adequate for a client to review.
posted by quadog at 1:45 PM on August 3, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

you didn't say what you'd be using it for. proofs? short-run production? photo printing?

we have a phaser 7300 (an earlier model of your 7400) in our 3-person office, and between proofs and the odd production run, we probably spend the price of the printer again in consumables every 6 months.

I don't know how inkjet stacks up. We've been unable to find a source for remanufactured 7300 toners - if you find a solution that does offer good remanufactured/refilled ink solutions, you could probably cut your consumable costs significantly.

Other complaints we have about the 7300, which may have been fixed for the 7400 are the poor performance of the multi-purpose tray, the incessant jamming regardless of stock, the difficulty in clearing jams (you have to pull out 4 large cartridges every time), and the fact that after jamming, the printer takes a good 5 minutes to warm up again.

but for all of that, it does generally have really nice output.
posted by chrisege at 4:25 PM on August 3, 2006

you didn't say what you'd be using it for. proofs? short-run production? photo printing?

You're right, Chris, I didn't. We'd use it primarily for proofs and comps of logo work, print layouts and photo edits. We typically will print a project several times to review internally before preparing a proof for the client. No production runs or especially high-volume, but there are four designers and an office manager that will use it day to day.

We've chosen the Xerox, based on some print samples, the advice of the local dealer, and the advice in this thread. We'll also be retiring our ancient Apple Laserwriter 16/600 once we get the new Xerox, so it's going to replace two printers. That means it will be used for printing black-only emails and word docs, too.

I've got a little bit of buyer's remorse after reading about your problems with it jamming. This is the second time I've read that jams and the warm-up time afterward are an issue. How bad is it?
posted by letitrain at 11:34 AM on August 4, 2006

Well, we're loving the new Xerox. Sooooo fast (coming from an inkjet user) and very good output.

I'll post more if we run into any issues or problems.
posted by letitrain at 2:57 PM on August 7, 2006