Bucknell Blazes a Digital Trail

Bucknell University's Office of Publications, Print and Mail has become one of the first in-plants to install the new Xerox Color 800 digital press. The 80-page-per-minute, 2,400x2,400-dpi printer debuted at On Demand this past spring.

"We love it," enthuses Director Lisa Hoover. "The quality is fantastic."

The Xerox 800 replaces the Lewisburg, Pa., in-plant's Xerox DocuColor 7000, which had come to the end of its lease. Also new at the 23-employee operation are a Xerox DocuColor 252, a Xerox 4595 monochrome device and a Nuvera 100—a slight downgrade from the shop's previous Nuvera 120, due to the decreased need for black-and-white printing.

Among the most impressive features of the 800, Hoover notes, are the fact that it uses no fuser oil, and it can run at its rated speed for all weights of stock. The 7000, she says, used to slow down for heavier stocks. The 800 can also run textured stocks, which the shop uses for items like invitations.

"Before we had this machine, we had to do them on the press," she notes. "And that's a lot of work setting up a traditional printing press for a couple hundred invitations."

Then there's the quality of the 800's output.

"Between the 7000 and the 800, there definitely is improvement in quality," Hoover affirms.

The machine uses low-melt EA Dry Ink, which has more consistent toner particles and produces a smooth, offset-like finish.

"We see better quality, particularly in large screened areas," she says. "The screens are much smoother. No banding."

Color print volume at the shop has jumped noticeably since the 800 arrived. Previously, the in-plant printed a monthly average of 36,000 color digital impressions.

"Within the first month, we ran 125,000," Hoover reports, though she acknowledges that was during the busy period at the start of the semester.

The in-plant has used the 800 for several variable data jobs already, such as a recent run of 22,000 fund-raising pieces.

Tough Choices

Hoover says the decision to become one of the first in-plant users of the Xerox 800 was a difficult one. At first the shop looked into an iGen4, but quickly realized it wouldn't fit. They also checked out a Xerox 7002 and a Canon 6000VP.

"We were in the midst of deciding what to look at, when the 800 was introduced," Hoover says.

Xerox gave the in-plant a presentation on the new printer and also brought Hoover to Rochester to look at it. When it was unveiled at On Demand, a group of 11 from Bucknell spent a very long time crowded around the machine. (This editor passed the Xerox booth on three occasions and the Bucknell group never budged.) Still, Hoover had reservations.

"We were a little concerned with it being so new," she reveals. So she and her staff brought their own files and paper to a user site in Philadelphia and spent half a day testing it.

"We were impressed," she admits. The rest is history. The Xerox 800 was installed in early August.

"It's working very well," Hoover says. "We're really pleased."

The shop plans to hold an open house in the spring to show the new equipment off to customers.