MP c03 vs 04

[Timmytronic]

Hiya folks. I was wondering what the general opinion of the MP c4504 / 5504 etc family is compared to the MP c4503 / 5503 family is. I have a few 03 models and that need upgrading due to time at the customers. Didn’t know if these were a good option or stick with 03’s. I always thought the 02’s were better than the 03’s anyway. Used less toner and no transfer belt issues as I use to have unless I cleaned the sensors every 50k. Also I find the 03’s not as well built.

Many feed back on the 04’s would be great.

Happy weekend.

Tim b

[semi]

Wait for the new model..........MF3

[Timmytronic]

Wait for the new model..........MF3

MF3? Is that correct? Can you elaborate? Thanks.

[semi]

RICOH IM C6000/C5500/C4500/C3500/C3000/C2500 / デジタルフルカラー複合機 | リコー

[copier tech]

XX04 very similar to the xx03 the xx04ex have postscript emulation so if you have Mac users thats is a good free feature. Also xx04 has the fuser smoothing roller to reduce paper curl you also get the SOP panel which has wifi etc.

Not huge differences but on the whole a few improvements, PCU are cheaper which is the main "improvement"

You can also fit the xx04 black PCU to the xx03 they are about £100 cheaper in the UK.

[copier tech]

RICOH IM C6000/C5500/C4500/C3500/C3000/C2500 / デジタルフルカラー複合機 | リコー

Whats this? Ricoh are reusing old model numbers? surely the next series would be xx05 !?

[anothertech]

XX04 very similar to the xx03 the xx04ex have postscript emulation so if you have Mac users thats is a good free feature. Also xx04 has the fuser smoothing roller to reduce paper curl you also get the SOP panel which has wifi etc.

Not huge differences but on the whole a few improvements, PCU are cheaper which is the main "improvement"

You can also fit the xx04 black PCU to the xx03 they are about £100 cheaper in the UK.

is the xx04 pcu a direct fit to the xx03 machine? or do I have to modify the pcu to work? I'm all for saving money on pcu's.

[copier tech]

is the xx04 pcu a direct fit to the xx03 machine? or do I have to modify the pcu to work? I'm all for saving money on pcu's.

Yes a direct fit black xx04 fits as colour in xx03

[Klydon]

I think the 4 is a good upgrade of the 3 series. There was a lot of new stuff tried and done with the 3 series and while a lot of it worked, a lot of it didn't. There have been a ton of bulletins applied to the 3 series along with tons and tons of firmware updates.

Think of a 4 series along the lines of machine that has "corrected many of the mistakes made with the 3 series with some experience thrown in". In addition, the 4 series also has some more features as people have mentioned over the 3 series and the SOP is far more better integrated on this model than it ever was on a 3 series.

I disagree that 2 series were better than 3 series. Maybe in the early days when the 3 series first came out and there were issues, but in general, if you have a pile of 3 series vs a pile of 2 series, you should be a lot less busy with the 3 series. The 2 series is the ultimate version of what started with the 0 series. They all used the same basic drum units and mechanically the machines were pretty much the same with a few twists here and there. Drum life on 2 series is nowhere in the ball park of a 3 series and neither is fixing film or even transport belts. I had a major customer that had an entire fleet of 3300's. I knew those machines forwards and backwards. They ran good for the most part and were fairly simple to understand. The customer upgraded to 3003's. The issue I find with 3003 is they can have some really funky issues that can be difficult to figure out, but if you get them running right, they blow away 3300's and 3002's for that matter. (I have another large customer that has a lot of 3502's. Weather turned cold and so it is time to replace drums like crazy and of course I go through fixing films a lot more often on those machines). 3003 can also be very fickle and if you have one kicking your butt, it is hard to get it to behave right compared to earlier machines.

Just my overblown nickels worth.

[ricmartinho]

Whats this? Ricoh are reusing old model numbers? surely the next series would be xx05 !?

They are reusing just the numbers! The Models change from MP and SP to IM (Intelligent MFP) and IP (Intelligent Printer).

The IM C2000 to IM C6000 Series is a colour MFP series for the Office segment. This is the first model in our Intelligent MFP (IM) series, and introduces the Always Current Technology concept.
The series is available in 13 different models, with print speeds ranging from 20 to 60 ppm and a choice between an ARDF or SPDF.

Model name / Design name / Design code
IM C2000(A) / Metis-MF3y / D0BJ
IM C2500(A) / Metis-MF3z / D0BK
IM C3000(A) / Metis-MF3a / D0BL
IM C3500(A) / Metis-MF3b / D0BM
IM C4500(A) / Metis-MF3c / D0BN
IM C5500(A) / Metis-MF3d / D0BP
IM C6000 / Metis-MF3e / D0BQ