QMDI - 3404 Reliability

We are currently considering either a QMDI (classic) or a Ryobi 3404 either 2002 or 2003. We feel any of these will work production wise.

Just looking for advise on the maintenance side. Could anyone give me first hand feed back on the reliability of each? Does one tend to have more down time, maintenance issues?

 

I ran a QMDI plus for 4 years and now operate a 3404. Pick the 3404, maintenance is easier and less time consuming. The majority of the components are also more accessible.
I am about ready to write up a review to compare the two. Look for it soon.

Cheers,

Tracy

 

2ampress - Other than the differences from an operator stand-point, how would you say the quality differs between the two machines? Is it significant? Or can a good operater get similar quality from the two machines?

 

Quality wise as far as ink on paper, the 3404 has an advantage of an extra form roller per unit, plus it makes impression every other revolution, so you get much better ink recovery for heavy coverage.

Resolution all depends on what year/model you are looking at.
My '99 QMDI Plus used a Harlequin RIP and could do 2540 dpi at 175 line screen. Very good for most applications. This '08 3404 also uses the Harlequin RIP but can not only do 2450 dpi at 175, 200, 300, but also FM Stochastic screening. At 300 or FM screening, it is difficult for the human eye to see the dot.
I've got a good eye for screens, so I can tell the difference while most of my customers could not.

Cheers,

Tracy

 

Thanks for the info!

I'm looking at a 97-98 QMDI, or a 2003 Ryobi; but not sure if I'll get the Ryobi as its a fair bit more.

My thought is to get the QMDI to get us away from our current digital printing; and the upgrade down the road.

Is the quality going to be better than digital? We currently print on a Konica Minolta c6500; which is a glorified copier.

I don't want to spend a pile initially, so maybe we should get a QMDI, and then upgrade to a newer DI that can do 300LPI?

 

Yep, if you can get a Plus instead of a Classic, you will appreciate the few upgrades it has.
You will definitely be happy with the quality, but don't expect to be able to match previous samples off of your Konica. Most of those toner based machines are far from being color accurate, plus the fact that they never stay in calibration long enough to do any good, as you may have noticed as your toner and drum life get low, the color is different than it is when you have fresh drums and toner. What you will notice with the DI is more consistent color each time you repeat a job, so long as you keep the densities within each of their ranges. You'll need to buy a densitometer to measure densities, or you'll never be able to keep consistent color on your jobs. You should be able to find a decent one under $1000 on ebay.
Plan on 10% spoilage for setup, maybe a little more for starting out, until you get to know the personality of the press. I try to keep setup costs down by using my setup sheets multiple times, meaning that if I run some setup sheets through until I get it to density, I save those sheets for the next job and send back through the second side. I also save all of my envelopes used for setup, as you can usually get a few passes through before they are too cluttered up with printed images.

Cheers,

Tracy

 

Thanks for the info!

I'll probably be going for a classic, because with the price of the PRO model, I might a well get a Ryobi.

Fortunatley we have an eye1 pro already for our current large format operation, so I'm sure we can use that on the press.

And no - I wasn't planning to colour match the Konica, but merely hoping that the quality would be better on the press than on the Konica, even if we go with the Classic model. Do you think it will be?

 

Overall yes. One thing you may notice about your Konica is the lack of ability to print nice glossy coverage on gloss stock. Toner from the Konica always seems to dull down the substrate and defeats the purpose of printing on a glossy stock. Plus if you have finishing, such as folding, cracking is way less of an issue with offset printing.
While the Konica has higher resolution, the inconsistant gradients and halftones are not near as good as the quality on the DI. I was trying to find out what the max resolutions are for the Classic, but couldn't find anything from my initial search. I know that my Plus allowed up to 2540 dpi at 175 line screen. I actually calibrated my press as a standard to print 1270 dpi at 175 line screen. This gave me the imaging speed of the lower resolution while providing a finer line screen which resulted in a nice overall appearance. To me, printing at 1270 dpiat 150 line screen is not very good in today's standards, as the dot is quite noticable, so if you up the line screen to 175, it will reduce the harsh dot patterns you get with 150.

Cheers,

Tracy

 

Hi ScotJ

Sounds like we are in the same position as you. We run 6500's on short run color and do some 4-color work on our 3302. We were considering a 98 QMDI and a 2003 Ryobi, after researching each I preferred the Ryobi (for a number of reasons) but did not want to pay almost double for it.

So I expanded my search for a Ryobi until I was able to find one that better fit our budget. Looks like it will be installed in the next couple of weeks. Really can not wait to get this Press in and see what it can do for us.

 

What did you end up paying if you don't mind my asking?

 

Email your contact info to chad-at-austinmmp.com, if you would like to discuss