Replacing my Kips

[bermudaman]

Looking for some advice. We're considering making the switch to the Pagewides. We have 2 Kip printers doing a combined 200-250,000 sq ft per month. We would put in a xl8000 for the bulk of the work and back it up with a xl5000. The main question is service. Do I need a service contract or should I go time & materials. I have been quoted $1200.00/month for unlimited square feet for the 2 HPs. And we pay for all inks, printheads, etc. Thanks for any help!

[cmwade77]

I would not do $1,200 per month for a maintenance plan, even if it included paper, ink, etc. At 200,000 Sq. Feet per month, I would estimate (assuming CAD Drawings) that you will need to replace some of the print cartridges no more than 5 times per month and that would be quite a bit less if you use the HP paper that reduces ink usage.

Compared to you, we are low volume, over the past year and change that we have had it, we have put on about 186,000 Sq. Ft. and finally have to do a maintenance kit, which I have been told in our case is more related to time than Square Footage in this case. Also, I know others have gone far longer without maintenance kits being required, sometimes into the millions of Square Feet. The nice thing is the printer will tell you when something maintenance related is needed. The maintenance kit is about $600, which if it is more time based, we will use a year for ease, then you will have saved about $14,000.

Really, for all intents and purposes, these are just giant inkjet printers. Yes, they are impressive, yes the print quality is amazing, yes, they are quite a bit cheaper to run than Laser printers. Overall the biggest cause of issues is if you don't run it for months at a time, then it runs into the same problems with clogged printheads, etc. that all inkjet printers are susceptible to.

One thing to keep in mind on service is HP requires you to buy your Ink, Printheads, Maintenance Kits and Service from whomever you buy your machine from, so make sure it is someone local and that has good customer service. I wish they would eliminate that policy, as I would like to be able to shop around more.

[bermudaman]

Thanks for the response cmwad77. We're going to skip the service plan. I just have to get used to the idea of going without one. We've had Xerox & Kip boxes over the last 20 years and I never would have considered going without a service plan. I'll be able to purchase the Pagewides and all supplies for less than what the Oce's cost just to maintain...

[cmwade77]

In all honesty, we have never done the maintenance plans, even on the KIPs we have had, we always found it more cost effective to pay when repairs were needed.

One thing to keep in mind is the printheads are $510 each, but my guess is that the maintenance plan wouldn't include these anyway. We have had our machine a bit over a year and just had to replace one printhead, although after pulling it out, it does look like we may be able to clean it and reuse it later, but not sure yet.

Also, for us the ink waste collector said it was almost full about a week after the machine was installed, we just replaced the box yesterday, so don't panic if that happens to you.

[cfrepro]

How Has your Experience been with the Pagewide? I have had mine for 9 months and m very pleased.

How has the service experience been?

[cathiss30]

Thanks for the response cmwad77. We're going to skip the service plan. I just have to get used to the idea of going without one Rachat de crédit hypothécaire. We've had Xerox & Kip boxes over the last 20 years and I never would have considered going without a service plan. I'll be able to purchase the Pagewides and all supplies for less than what the Oce's cost just to maintain...

I am sure you will find how to arrange the tables, especially since it is a first experience for you.