Small business selection...Ricoh and Canon

[Guest]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this board but have benefited already in reading the discussion on here. I am with a small business and we're ready to replace our worn out Lanier. Our main business is Printing, Faxing and scanning. We are exclusively black and white printing. We're looking at a machine that is capable at about 20K per month. Our main goal is dependability...downtime is lots of lost revenue for our business.

We've had the Ricoh dealer (National) and also a local dealer that sells Canon. We've worked with the national guys and have had no problems with the service. We were referred to the local dealer as we've heard good things about them as well.

The Ricoh dealer gave us a quote for a new MP4001 machine. We asked the local rep for a comparable machine and he quoted us a Canon 3245. It was substantially less money. We're fairly comfortable with Ricoh as the interface is familiar to our Lanier users. My question is, does anyone thing that the Canon 3245 is a comparable machine to the Ricoh MP 4001? Did the rep give us an accurate "competitive" model?

Any opinions on these two machines?

[rthonpm]

Re: Small business selection...Ricoh and Canon

I don't know about the Canon, but 20,000 a month seems a little high for the MP 4001. If your volume is going to be that high consistently or potentially grow you may want to look at the next size up in Ricoh machines: MP 6001. It's a beefier machine and the 4001 and its predecessors have issues when you go past their recommended monthly cycle which used to be around 10,000.

What model would either of these be replacing?

[dprocket]

Re: Small business selection...Ricoh and Canon

What model would either of these be replacing?

We are replacing a Lanier LD122.

I was a bit inaccurate on my initial statement regarding copies per month. We are currently running 8-10K per month however we are growing and anticipate that increasing a bit. However, we are also implementing a system for electronically receiving faxes (our business is fax heavy so that should drop the number) and we plan to keep the old Lanier around in the billing office where it will see some lighter use.

[charm5496]

Re: Small business selection...Ricoh and Canon

the IR-3245 can easily handle the 20,000 pages per month. The optimum range for this machine is 10K - 55K with a max of 170K per month.

[dprocket]

Re: Small business selection...Ricoh and Canon

the IR-3245 can easily handle the 20,000 pages per month. The optimum range for this machine is 10K - 55K with a max of 170K per month.

Does it make sense that the IR-3245 would be quoted to me at almost $2K cheaper than the Ricoh?

[charm5496]

Re: Small business selection...Ricoh and Canon

I have no experience with the Ricoh machines and what price your provider can sell them for. Each market and vendor agreement is different so it would be difficult to compare.

are they both new? what accessories had to be installed on each to fit your needs?
I'm sure there is more to look at, but nothing else is coming to mind at the moment.

[rthonpm]

Re: Small business selection...Ricoh and Canon

The LD122 is still a pretty good machine. You may want to look at the MP3351 which is the replacement for that model. Also, if you're looking at a range of 8-10,000 pages a month then the MP4001 may be a good fit.

I don't know about the Canon, but if you're getting a 4001 with full print and scan you are getting quite a few features (colour scanning, Java enabled for custom applications, full network faxing) so there is quite a bit of utility to the box.

[copiman]

Re: Small business selection...Ricoh and Canon

Does it make sense that the IR-3245 would be quoted to me at almost $2K cheaper than the Ricoh?

Yes it does. Ricoh machines are known for higher cost. Why is it? I really don't know. You might want to look at your maintenance cost as well as preventive maintenance schedule. Ricohs like to eat parts.