Review: MGI Meteor DP60 Digital Press

I was fortunate enough to be able to play with, and tear apart, a demo Meteor DP60 press in San Diego last week. As someone who has either owned or sold every major digital press since 1996 (Xeikon, Xerox, Indigo, NexPress) I was pleasantly surprised by the output and substrate options available with this compact press. It’s not to be confused with a Canon 7000 or Xerox Docucolor 5000 – there is nothing “fast plastic” about the design or its capabilities.

[private_VIP DP360 Member]From the outside, powder-coated steel construction with a pile feeder like a press. The pile can hold up to 2500 sheets of paper, and an air knife helps move the paper into the press. Inside, the press has an infrared heater, dry ink technology and the ability to print 4/4 on up to 256 gsm and 4/0 on up to 350 gsm (16pt stock), with a maximum paper size of 13″ by 40.15″ (seriously). It also prints plastic. And envelopes – duplex. The front end is a robust EFI Fiery running System 8, which means that it handles all variable data formats with ease.

Overall, the print quality looked just like higher end commercial printing, without the heavy oil look or the streaking common in fuser oil-laden machines. The resolution is 2400dpi, equivalent to a 200-line screen print. Fields of color were smooth and uniform throughout the whole print, and on the test run I did of 2500 sheets, the first page in matched the last page out. There was no apparent slow down for the heavier stock, either. Registration was spot on, although MGI will tell you it’s rated to a .02mm tolerance level.

Like the Kodak NexPress with it’s operator replaceable components, the MGI DP60 press operates the same way, with parts replaced by the operator as needed. Of the machine I visited, they hadn’t had a service call in three weeks with the press printing . Replacing parts is easy, and an integrated video console walks you through the steps to change them. Being able to replace parts yourself drives down the cost of each print, putting the average cost of consumables at around .035 cents an impression.

If you’re in the San Diego / Inland Empire area, the dealer for MGI is hosting an open house with product demonstrations on May 28th, 2009 from 10am to 3pm. To register, click on the link. (You can also request print samples from them; just indicate in the comments box that you would like them to contact you).

Recent news about the DP360 – Bound to Stay Books, who are printing around 25,000 canvas cover sheets a week; and Knight Press in Charleston, NC just announced they, too, have purchased the DP60 after an extensive review of other digital print technologies.

For more information on the MGI DP60 Meteor Digital Press, you can visit their website at http://mgi.celeonet.fr/v2/acceuil_uk.html[/private_VIP DP360 Member]

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Posted by Editor on 9:12 pm. Filed under Editorial, Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.