Laser printers

[Big Jon]

An old topic, I know, but what are people using out there today for printing maps. I'm looking at A4 laser printers (or alternative technology) for orienteering maps, I plan to use Pretex waterproof paper. Cost is a n issue, but quality of print is most important aspect to me.

[Duncan]

I know nothing about the technical details of this sort of stuff, but I believe last year CLOK bought a Xerox Phaser 8280 DN printer for map printing at Level C / D events. Cost around £300. Print price around 10p A4.

[Big Jon]

Thanks for that Duncan - I've heard good reports from other sources about Xerox printers, so it looks a reasonable bet to get one.

[seabird]

The cheapness I'll vouch for, but after 18 months regular use I still have failed to find a way of getting the print to seal satisfactorily on pretex using the Xerox solid ink technology. It's ok for Level D but I would always go for professionally printed maps for level C.

Would welcome any suggestions as to how to resolve the issue of printing coming off in race conditions.

[Big Jon]

I've gone for a Zerox laser printer 6140. I received some printed samples from both laser and a solid ink and found that the solid ink flaked off substantially more when paper was crumpled than the laser. Shame as the deal was very, very good on solid ink printer!

[seabird]

Rather belatedly I tried the rather obvious "Colour Fast " setting on the Xerox solid ink printer for an urban/cross country race tonight.

The colours were rather muted - but the detail was clear. There was no ink loss!!

[PG]

Biritish Orienteering contacted all club secretaries for me late last year asking which printer they used and I compiled a spreadsheet of all the responses with an analysis of cost of printing several thousand maps. The result has been sent to all respondees. If anyone else would like a copy please PM me and I'll try to remember to log on to Nopesport more often than once a fortnight. Please provide real name, Club and BOF number - I'll only respond to genuine enquiries.

The conclusion was that if you expect to print more than 3000 or so maps then a cheap printer can be a false economy as the cost of ink will be much higher. Spending £700 plus initially is likely to result in better quality and lower cost of ownership if you are printing more than 1000 maps a year, though costs can be reduced if you are prepared to take the risk of using toner that is not from the printer manufacturer.

We are hoping that that the A3 OKI C810n that we bought turns out as well as we expect.

Peter Gorvett, SYO

(Jon - sorry, I PM'ed you before reading that you had already gone ahead)