Konica Minolta Magicolor 7450 II grafx

I have a small personalized stationery business and have been using the Xerox Phaser 7760 for output. Unfortunately, the Phaser has a number of issues (paper curl, misalignment, label creep) so I am in the process of trying to find another printer that will fit my needs.

I print mainly note cards, note pads and address labels in short runs of 24-48 pieces. I'm pretty picky so I want a printer that can do high resolution with bright, vibrant colors. The Phaser barely handled 80lb cover so it would be nice to find something that could run heavier cover weights without major curling.

I also need a printer that can accurately handle labels. With the Phaser, I would end up adjusting individual labels a point or two in Illustrator in order to get them to print somewhat centered on each label.

I've researched quite a few printers and came across the new Konica Minolta Magicolor 7450 II grafx. Has anyone used this printer or seen what it can do? When I purchased the Xerox 7760, I thought I was buying a high-end graphics oriented printer. The last thing I need is another expensive printer that won't perform. Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Ellen Mrazek
http://www.bestfriendsstudios.com/

 

Same boat

I just recently purchased a Xerox 7760 myself for exactly the same purpose of printing cards and stationery. I must say I am a bit dismayed to hear about the issues you have with it - I am just getting started with it.
I did a lot of benchmarking of print quality before choosing the Xerox 7760, including comparing directly with the (version 1) KM 7450 grafx. The KM was not a bad machine, but I much preferred the print quality of the Xerox. The best resource I found for comparing these machines is printershowcase, they are retailers for all the tabloid machines, they have great online reviews and will even do a head-to-head comparison with your test files for around $30. I bought mine just before the version 2 of the 7450 came out, so I can't say if it would be any better. I don't think any of the machines have an appreciably better paper handling mechanism, you are going to get curl and registration issues with anything at this level. Let me know what you find out.
What stock are you running?

 

For stationery & cards, I run an 80lb cover called Starbrite Opaque. I've tried numerous other stocks but this gave me the best results on the color end. I can handle the paper curling issues for cardstock as most of my products need to be trimmed and are easily flattened out. But when I run text weight (I've tried every stock known!) for note pads, I get curling and an odd waviness on each sheet. It's nearly impossible to make a nice looking note pad with this happening.

The other big issue that I mentioned in the original post is the 7760's skewing of labels. It's one thing if all of the labels on the page are off a tad...fairly easy to move the entire document over a bit so the graphics are centered on each label. With the 7760, there is no rhyme or reason on how the labels are centered. One or two labels may be dead on, the others are off center by different increments. It's enough to drive a person mad. Again, I've tried 5 different brands of labels with the same results.

Xerox has been rotten to deal with and tried to blame the problems on the fact that I was running labels, which they claim are not recommended media for the 7760. They said that the fuser had a premature failure because I ran labels on it. Mind you, I have only run 6,000 pages on this machine...the fuser should be good for at least 100,000. I complained so much that they replaced the fuser, which did not fix the problem. I've filed a complaint with BBB and have forwarded all my emails to an attorney because I they won't make good on this.

When you did your benchmark tests, did you have them do the Phaser 8560 (solid ink)? On another forum (Let's Talk Stationery), almost everyone seems to use the 8560. Most of them have wedding invitation businesses so my needs are a little different. I was also worried about the flaking issue with a solid ink printer. Anyway, I will check out the printershowcase...thanks for the tip. Let me know if you have any other questions about the 7760--I know too much now! Ellen