Are New Sharp Copiers any good?

[OMD-227]

These are just my thoughts and it is easy to see by previous posts that I am in a minority with those opinions.

Not necessarily......

I agree that the first series MX had their issues. Dont even start me with everything before that in color.......

BUT....

There have been ALOT of improvements, modifications, bulletins and firmware fixes since then. They are pretty much bullet-proof now, and work great.
The longer they are out there, the more people tend to like them.
As Zootech said, they have got BLI line of the year twice now, so that says alot.

Things have changed alot now with the MX & MXM machines. You would really like working on them nowadays.

[glewisme]

Amen !!!!

[glewisme]

Yeah they're light years ahead of the good old ARBC series.What a piece of crap that series was !!!

[Pete Gossett]

I should probably chime in here since we just picked up Sharp as a second line about a year ago. We've been a Konica Minolta dealer for a number of years, and I also have a lot of Canon experience, some Ricoh and Xerox...and just about anything else that passes paper.

I've worked on enough of the older Sharps already to know I don't care much for them, but the new models are much, much better. I still feel Canon has the most tech-friendly and useful service modes(sims, whatever you choose to call them), as you don't really need to know where to look for something, since the menus are so intuitive. I find Konica Minolta to be second, and Sharp 3rd. Again, the new MX and MXM series do allow you to browse the service menus somewhat, but your really need to know the Sim number to be efficient.

From a nut & bolt construction/design standpoint, I haven't really had to tear apart the Sharps enough yet - which may be saying something right there, although we don't have that many in the field, and only a couple running any volume.

[fernendo]

Anything in the MX and MXM series machines, are the best thing Sharp has ever done.
I completely agree with everyone, that you must not automatically think of, or remember anything Sharp did before these machines came out, because you will have the wrong opinion before you even see the machine.
Alot of R&D obviously went into these machines and they have proven to be an excellent box. For entry level, to semi-color production, through to full B/W production on the Herc's, they are brilliant across the board. The newest series is based on the same engine design as the first MX series, so that says something right there.
Very easy to service and support. Long life consumables, most of which easily perform alot longer than specified.
The MXC Frontier series are OK, but a little on the cheaply built side. The same design principle is there from the MX machines, but try not to install these in a mid to high use environment. They should only replace a desktop color laser situation. But for everything else, flog them 'til they die.

I was thinking of getting a MX3100N for the office. We do about 7000 prints per month. Do you think this would be a suitable option or are we printing too much for this to cope?

Thanks

> Lewis

[blackcat4866]

I haven't worked on the latest lines, but I have to agree with Coptech. The Dragons had some serious flaws that were never addressed, or took literally years (like the modified fusers). Who builds a 55-70 copy per minute machine without some sort of fuser cleaning system? Why Sharp did. Loading firmware was a crapshoot at bestup until the Pastel series.

At a meeting I was once asked what I was doing on firmware upgrades to prevent downing the machine, sometimes 4 or 5 machines a week were down as a result of a failed firmware upgrade for some techs. My answer was simple. I upgrade firmware when I have a damn good reason, and only then. Our tech rep was a great friend of the sales department, and rarely stepped into the service department.

I really hope that things have changed at Sharp in the last few years, because it was an unpleasant experience for me. =^..^=

[OMD-227]

I really hope that things have changed at Sharp in the last few years, because it was an unpleasant experience for me. =^..^=

Of course it has mate........ Things are sweet now!

[blackcat4866]

Sorry wazza. I didn't intend to march on your toes. =^..^=

[OMD-227]

Sorry wazza. I didn't intend to march on your toes. =^..^=

What you said 'really' hurt my feelings Blackcat................... ouch!

In all reality though....... I completely agree with you on the Dragon & firmware issues. Things are better now. That is what was asked in this post. I'm happy, my day is alot easier for sure.

[OMD-227]

I was thinking of getting a MX3100N for the office. We do about 7000 prints per month. Do you think this would be a suitable option or are we printing too much for this to cope?

Thanks

> Lewis

It will handle it perfectly fine. Either get the 3100 or the 4100 which has a slightly longer maintenance counter on most items.