Mystery Digital Press... anyone know what this machine is?

Discussion in 'Other Digital Presses' started by Dev, May 7, 2013.

  1. Dev

    Dev New Member

    Joined:
    May 2013
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    Location:
    East Africa
    Greetings everyone,

    Let me start by letting you all know that I am a total noob (I've been learning as I go for just about one year but it's tough going when a couple hours on the internet makes me the regional expert - no one here, including the distributors of Canon, Xerox, Kyocera, Oce, Konica Minolta, and others have ever heard of an ICC profile).

    I run a small print and publishing business and I am suffering from a protracted struggle to properly calibrate my Kyocera 4550ci (I admit I only sprung for the ColorMunki and not the Isis or something better so that could be a large part of my problem). I was finally told, by the local Kyocera dealer, that Kyocera's color performance just isn't that good. I'm starting to believe them. Honestly the performance shouldn't be as bad as it is, it shouldn't be as difficult as it has been to get adequate color accuracy, and I'm on the verge of giving up.

    But I digress...

    The real point of this post is to help me discover the make and model (does that apply to digital press lingo as well?) of a MYSTERY DIGITAL PRESS, the proverbial "white whale" of these parts.
    There is a competing business that has a machine whose output is consistently superb (colors are accurate, gradients are smooth, photos look like photos, etc...).
    Everyone agrees that the quality of their work is the best around, and everyone also agrees it is because of the machine they are using. I think they may actually have a calibrated workflow but again, I digress.
    The company keeps it a huge secret and only employees are allowed in the room where the machine is located. Even the employees (or at least those I've been able to flip) don't know what the machine is (every identifying logo and/or mark has been completely covered over with stickers). I was able to get someone inside the room to take a picture of the machine (hopefully it will be attached) but it's a poor photo and you only see the back.
    What I have been able to gather (and presume is correct) is that the machine was purchased in Germany (at least three years ago). It prints 100ppm (I assume this is A4 b/w), can handle paper up to 450gsm, and is A3+ capable.

    Can anyone identify this machine for me?

    Thanks a ton!
    Devin

    p.s. I'll buy a drink for the first person to correctly identify this machine :)
    [​IMG]
     
  2. OkiTech

    OkiTech Senior Member

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    Dev hi - Digital press is a little bit of overstatement - it is office color copier, most likely Konica Minolta Bizhub C353 or newer.
     
  3. Dev

    Dev New Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Thanks UnlimitedBT, I am pretty ignorant about this stuff. I guess 100ppm and 450gsm are fantastical embellishments if we're talking about a 35ppm office copier.
    Either that or maybe the misdirection is beyond stickers over logos and there's another machine hiding somewhere else.
    Thanks for your help!
     
  4. OkiTech

    OkiTech Senior Member

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    It will take the box 3-4 times bigger to push card that heavy that fast.
     

  5. OkiTech

    OkiTech Senior Member

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    Anyway - I think KM is the only one that makes cover that dark, even bizhub c6500 which is about twice as big can't push half of that speed with cardstock and 450gsm - forget it, think bigger.
     
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