Okidata/Intec printers vs. iGen4, Konica Minolta, Canon, Xerox etc.

I currently have a Konica Minolta C652 (with Fiery & booklet finisher & punch) that we are using as a digital press paying per click for 8.5x11 & double for 11x17. The print quality is okay but it could be better. Previous to this and before a couple of Canon C3220's, I had an Okidata C9200 that we bought outright brand new with no service contract and paid for our own consumables (drums, toners, etc.). The quality of that little machine was VERY VERY GOOD rivaling near press quality prints the entire time we owned it until a print head went out.

Now I am considering the Okidata C931e/941e for the same quality reasons. I can get a re-branded version from Intec with a booklet finisher & Fiery controller. They are marketing their machine as a "digital color press" capable of 240 line screens and variable data.

I read an article that the US National Print Owners Association test drove the digital press for 90 days reporting the print quality to be equivalent to that off a $300,000 iGen4. This really peaked my interest. Here is a link to the article if you are interested; NPOA - Independent review of the CP3300

I like the idea of not having a click charge but the consumables for that machine (as well as was the case for the C9200 I use to own) are about 3 to 4 times or more the cost of Konica Minolta or Canon consumables from what I have seen online from reputable sources. Can anyone explain why their consumables are so highly priced for drums and toners that have similar usage ratings?

When I break the cost down per impression (of what the consumables are suppose to yield) it just seems to high to me considering I print more than 5% coverage which is what the rating is based on. It seems to me that they are selling these machines cheap in comparison to other manufacturers but are more than making it up on the consumables side of fence. Any one got any input here?

 

Hi.. Yes, you are correct, the whole industry is based on this formula, then more expencive printer you buy then less expncive per page it will cost you to print on it. With todays technologies achieving a good print quality isn't a huge deal so yes printers that cost less then 10k can give you excellent print quality but cost per page will be higher. I was trying to calculate cost per page on OKI CX3641 and if realistic coverage is about 50%, cost per LTR page is about 11-12 cents while on bigger machines, don't go as far as Igen, take KM bizhub Press c6000 for example, around $50k unit, you can have a click charges 7-8 cents for page any size and that is 13x19, worry not about coverage and anything else...