Need more information – Ricoh Aficio GX3050N User Manual

Page 2

Better Buys for Business is the nation’s leading independent authority on
document imaging equipment(copiers, printers, faxes, scanners and duplicators).
To assure its independence, Better Buys for Business accepts no advertising.

Need more information?

For subscription information on independent guide ratings for all vendor models,

please call 800 247 2185, visit us at www.BetterBuys.com or mail at 370 Technology Drive Malvern, PA 19355

No Advertising. No Bias. No Compromise.

offer up to 250 sheets (with the 100-sheet multi-bypass tray).

All three machines have a optional 100-sheet bypass tray that

can handle various paper stocks and sizes including

envelopes, postcards, transparencies, glossy paper, and ban-

ners, and up to 68lb. stock. This tray can handle sheets up to

51" in length for banners. The standard maximum paper size

is 8-1/2" x 14".

Ricoh will distribute these machines through its regular

dealer network, but also will increase its market penetration

by selling them (and their supplies) through retailer CDW

(www.cdw.com). That’s a significant change for Ricoh,

which typically has only sold its consumables through Ricoh

dealers.

As the “Gelsprinter” name implies, these machines use a

thicker, gelatin-like ink that is conveyed by the machines’

print head as droplets via two rows of nozzles. Since the

droplets are larger than those of a conventional ink jet

machine, they fill in images better. Since these machines

don’t need to heat up the gel to convey it to the paper and

therefore run “cold,” their print quality isn’t compromised by

the wet prints, smudging, or paper misfeeds that can result

from the heating process associated with many ink jet

machines.

The company is trumpeting the machines’ permanent print-

head as an innovation that will contribute to their long life

and minimal maintenance. Ricoh claims these printheads

will never need replacing, and due to the durability of their

nozzles, their quality won’t decline over time.

Ricoh hasn’t announced consumables prices, but we esti-

mate black pages will run around 2.2¢ apiece, while color

pages will cost about 13¢ each. They compare favorably with

those of color laser desktop machines this family’s price

range.

In fact, these GelSprinter machines stack up very well

against similarly priced competing color laser printers, such

as the $399 OKI C3400n, which prints at 16ppm in color

with consumables costs of nearly 18¢ a page, or the $299

Hewlett-Packard Color LaserJet 1600, which prints at 8ppm

in color and costs 15.5¢ per color page for consumables.

The ink is noteworthy for being a step above much of the

conventional ink used by ink jet printers. The GelSprinter vis-

cous ink dries fast, doesn’t smudge, blur, or bleed, and is

waterproof.

Ricoh has achieved something truly special with this fami-

ly of printers. They offer outstanding value for the money,

with excellent speed, crisp quality, and consumables that are

at least in line with similarly priced, slower color laser mod-

els. They get our Editor’s Choice Award.

Excerpted from The Color Laser Printer & Business Ink Jet

Progressive Business Publications, Inc.

This manual is related to the following products:

Aficio GX3000