Review: Xerox 700 Digital Color Press

While it was the iGen4 and the ConceptColor 220 that collected Xerox column inches at drupa, the machine that drew in the most customer enquiries was the new 700 digital colour press. The 700 is a 70ppm machine that is positioned between the DocuColor 260 and the DocuColor 5000 in the fast-growing colour light-production market. According to Alan Clarke, Xerox Europe production colour business manager, this sector of the market (defined as being 41ppm and above with machines that have a base price of less than $100,000 or around $AU115,000) has doubled year-on-year in the past three years, growing 50 per cent this year alone.

Sales are coming from copy shops and commercial printers, some of whom are seeking to replace earlier light-production machines such as Xerox’s DocuColor 12 and DocuColor 3535 models and others taking their first steps into digital colour.

The 700 digital colour press is designed for printers with demands for an all-in-one machine that can handle a wide range of stocks, produce high-quality output and offer advanced finishing options.

In particular, Clarke claims that it is ideal for commercial printers that want to dip a toe in the water of digital production with the least financial risk.

While the 260 proved popular, its comparatively poor sheet-to-sheet registration and limited finishing and stock options meant it was not suitable for all applications. On the other hand the all-singing, all-dancing 5000 was too expensive for many firms looking for a first machine.

Best of both worlds

So, as a result, Xerox has launched the 700, which builds some of the features from the 5000 into a version of the 260, with a machine that plugs the gap between the two.

The most noticeable thing about the 700 is the new optional oversized high-capacity feeder, which is available in one- or two-drawer versions with capacities of 2,000 and 4,000 sheets respectively.

This heavy-duty SRA3 unit is based on the feeders from the 5000 and includes air blowers to aid sheet separation and registration when working with heavy and coated stocks. More than of the 200 plus European customers to install the machine since drupa have chosen this option.

The 700’s imaging unit is an upgraded version of the 260’s and within it lies another technology transfer from the 5000: a new sheet-registration device.

Although it is not as advanced or robust as the 5000’s, it improves sheet-to-sheet and front-to-back registration from 3mm to 1mm, which, according to Clarke, is sufficient for production colour. There are also new tools to fine tune image positioning on the sheet.

The imaging unit also features an improved laser assembly with more accurate dot placement than the 260’s, which improves image quality and colour accuracy.

Quality advantage

Like many of Xerox’s latest machines it is a 2,400dpi device with one-bit per pixel resolution. This is higher than rival machines and should help ensure consistency and offset-like results.

Xerox’s new emulsion aggregation (EA) toner, which has a lower melting point, has been introduced. This helps the 700 to handle faster throughputs with heavier stocks than the 260.

The 700 runs at 70ppm for uncoated stocks from 64-176gsm, slows down to 51ppm for 177-256gsm and then to 35ppm up to 300gsm, Coated stocks from 106-176gsm run at 51ppm, and 177-300gsm at 35ppm.

The EA toner produces a lower-gloss finish than older toner technologies meaning the output lacks the distinctive glossy and slightly raised digital effect and more closely matches the finish of the underlying stock.

Some might question the need for the 5000 now there is the 700, but although its headline speed is 70ppm, the 700 is a sprinter while the 5000 is more of a marathon runner. It has a higher-volume rating of 35,000-150,000 A4 sides per month compared to the 700’s 20,000-75,000.

With the introduction of the 700 at Drupa the 5000 was upgraded to the new 5000AP version to keep its edge. The 5000AP pumps out 50ppm regardless of stock type and handles weights from 64-300gsm.

Clarke believes that as the users of the 5000 are more likely to be handling both heavier stocks and higher volumes, it is an important distinction.

Like the 260, the 700 features on-the-run toner top-up and a twin black toner configuration. This doubling up of black means users can run black-and-white and colour on the same machine. Clarke says this is an option that has been slow to catch on, but is gaining currency as customers try to cut the number of machines they operate.

Another enhancement based on the 5000 is the de-curler that has been added to the imaging unit. This makes the 700’s imaging unit about 150mm longer than the 260, but helps ensure the sheets it produces are much flatter, to help the heavy-duty finisher to handle thicker and coated stocks.

The 700’s finishing interface allows it to connect to a heavy-duty 5,000-sheet high-capacity stacker and the Advanced, Professional and Light-Production Finishers. The Advanced Finisher system comes with stacker, stapler and hole-punching, while the Light Production configuraion adds the option of C- and Z-folding and bookletmaking (the Professional Finisher has all of the features as standard). All of the configurations come with an improved stapler that can handle 25 sheets of the highest weights and both coated and uncoated stock.

Target audience 

The breadth of work the 700 can produce – from leaflets with C- and Z-folds to flyers and booklets – means the target audience for the 700 includes quick printers, central reprographic departments (CRDs) and commercial printers.

Clarke recognises the trend towards personalisation as 20 per cent of his customers already handle some degree of variable data and the figure is increasing. Xerox is also working on a photo kiosk console.

These walk-up touch-screen consoles are designed to be placed in shops and other high-traffic sites for users to create photobooks, greetings cards, calendars and other photo-based products.

There are several different digital front ends (DFEs) for the 700. Xerox’s own FreeFlow print server, two servers from EFI, an embedded version for corporate environments and EX print server, a Fiery for production sites and two CX servers from Creo. All workflows also have different options to handle personalisation and enhance colour reproduction.

Xerox sees the main competition for the 700 coming from KonicaMinolta’s 6500e and the OEM versions from Océ, the CS620 and CS650 Pro. The Ricoh C900 has also caught Clarke’s interest. It is a 90ppm machine that was launched at drupa and its UK debut is planned for Total Print! Expo at Earls Court in October.

Right now there is a limited competitive landscape in a growing market which all means that Xerox faces the enviable task of struggling to meet demand for the 700. An affordable light-production machine with plenty of features is proving a popular proposition for printers who have decided to dip a toe in the digital waters.

SPECIFICATIONS

Speed (A4ppm)
- Uncoated stock 64-176gsm 70ppm, 177-256gsm 51ppm, 257-300gsm 35ppm
- Coated stock 106-176gsm, 51ppm, 176-300gsm 35ppm

Sheet size
- Max 330x488mm,
- Min 140x182mm

Resolution
- 2,400dpi

Capacity
1,900 sheets in three trays as standard, 5,900 with high-capacity feeder

Monthly volumes
- 20,000-75,000 A4 sides

Workflow options
Xerox FreeFlow Print Manager, EFI or Creo


Source: ProPrint