Printer suggestions for Antarctica

[McMurdo-PCShop]

Hi there!
I'm looking for some guidance as to what printers to buy for McMurdo Station, Antarctica. We currently have 15+ models of printers (HP/Canon/Xerox), over 100 in all. Supplies are brought in once a year on vessel, and it takes over a year from purchase to delivery. Since a copier repairperson can't save us when we’re in a pinch, the goal is that these printers will hold up for a long time with as little maintenance as possible. In general I’ve liked the HPs more than the Canons or Xeroxes. I've recently replaced some of the old Canons with the HP 775 and 725 and am trying to plan the next moves.

We have several printers in the 3k-4k month duty cycle range, which is at the high end of the range of cheaper HP MFPs (ie the HP M480 ($900 for 900-4800 pages/month) or the HP M428 ($450 for 750-4k/month)).

So far I like the HP LaserJet M725 but it is $3500 (for 5-20k pages/month). Is it worth it? I could buy three M480s or six M428s for the price of one 725. Should the 725 last many more years without maintenance? How do cheaper models hold up 5 yrs down the road? We have older Xerox MFPs in that page range and they haven’t held up too well.

THANK YOU so very much for any input you can provide.
McMurdo PC shop

[copier tech]

Hi there!
I'm looking for some guidance as to what printers to buy for McMurdo Station, Antarctica. We currently have 15+ models of printers (HP/Canon/Xerox), over 100 in all. Supplies are brought in once a year on vessel, and it takes over a year from purchase to delivery. Since a copier repairperson can't save us when we’re in a pinch, the goal is that these printers will hold up for a long time with as little maintenance as possible. In general I’ve liked the HPs more than the Canons or Xeroxes. I've recently replaced some of the old Canons with the HP 775 and 725 and am trying to plan the next moves.

We have several printers in the 3k-4k month duty cycle range, which is at the high end of the range of cheaper HP MFPs (ie the HP M480 ($900 for 900-4800 pages/month) or the HP M428 ($450 for 750-4k/month)).

So far I like the HP LaserJet M725 but it is $3500 (for 5-20k pages/month). Is it worth it? I could buy three M480s or six M428s for the price of one 725. Should the 725 last many more years without maintenance? How do cheaper models hold up 5 yrs down the road? We have older Xerox MFPs in that page range and they haven’t held up too well.

THANK YOU so very much for any input you can provide.
McMurdo PC shop

For a start why have so many different brands? 15+ models of printers (HP/Canon/Xerox)

Stick to 1 brand & only a few models that way you can ensure you can keep a good site stock of toners & parts.

I would recommend the new IMC range of Ricoh mainly because they come well in poor environments & the drums, transfer & fusers are consumable items so the workers could replace them.

[SalesServiceGuy]

I supply copiers and printers to oil rigs off the coast of Nova Scotia so I am familiar with working with ships chandlers to support these installs.

The main difference being turnarounds for me can be one week via helicopter and your situation is (Yikes!) one year.

Clearly you need to focus on locating one office equipment dealer located nearby your ship's chandler that you can rely upon that they will deliver product two weeks in advance of the ships departure and packaged securely so that the product will not become damaged in transit.

From what port does your supply ship depart? New Zealand? Are you paying for product in $USD? Via credit card? If so, expect a 3% surcharge for the merchant fee.

Is there any DND personnel at your base and what are they using or do you supply the same?

How do you deal with empty toner cartridges and supplies? Incinerate or recycle back to the mainland?

While there are great deals on quality rebuilt used HP printers to be had, I am not sure how well packaged they might be and you really cannot wait one year to fix a purchasing mistake you might make in the previous year.

Printers are relatively simple devices so no need to quibble over this brand or that. If you like HP, great! Eventually get rid of all the other brands as the product dies or the consumables run out. If you pick HP, you only need two models. An inexpensive desktop and a workhorse printer. Make sure whatever you select offers uptodate Windows 10 and Apple Big Sur print drivers.

Do not worry about printer repair too much. If you need 10 printers, buy 11 and use one as a hot spare.

I suspect according to Wikipedia that your electrical power is coming from a nuclear generator!, so you should think about procuring a good surge suppressor for each printer like the ESP Digital QC. Your office equipment dealer should be able to source good used ones from an equipment broker.

Are you able to plug in devices with a standard North American three prong plug or something else?

I suspect that the people using these printers are creating lots of scientific data in small point sizes and maps. This implies colour laser printers which can greatly expand the range of consumables and parts that you need to stock.

Many printers vendors now offer identically keyed consumables for both the printer and MFD versions of the same product.

Do you have any 11" x 17" paper size requirements?

Do you need any label printers?

There is a global shortage of printers right now caused by the COVID-19, microchip shortages and shipping challenges, so maybe you want your office equipment dealer to deliver two months in advance to your ship chandler. You cannot rely upon seven day shipping within the USA right now because the product may not be in stock for months.

Is air freight available to you?

Whatever brand you settle upon, make sure you select models that are new in 2021 so that you do not get stuck with searching for a bunch of discontinued hard to get consumables.

I am biased but I suggest you should reach out to Toshiba Australia and they could manage your account for all of your printing needs including HP.

[DRichard]

Hi there!
I'm looking for some guidance as to what printers to buy for McMurdo Station, Antarctica. We currently have 15+ models of printers (HP/Canon/Xerox), over 100 in all. Supplies are brought in once a year on vessel, and it takes over a year from purchase to delivery. Since a copier repairperson can't save us when we’re in a pinch, the goal is that these printers will hold up for a long time with as little maintenance as possible. In general I’ve liked the HPs more than the Canons or Xeroxes. I've recently replaced some of the old Canons with the HP 775 and 725 and am trying to plan the next moves.

We have several printers in the 3k-4k month duty cycle range, which is at the high end of the range of cheaper HP MFPs (ie the HP M480 ($900 for 900-4800 pages/month) or the HP M428 ($450 for 750-4k/month)).

So far I like the HP LaserJet M725 but it is $3500 (for 5-20k pages/month). Is it worth it? I could buy three M480s or six M428s for the price of one 725. Should the 725 last many more years without maintenance? How do cheaper models hold up 5 yrs down the road? We have older Xerox MFPs in that page range and they haven’t held up too well.

THANK YOU so very much for any input you can provide.
McMurdo PC shop

Just curious as to what decision(s) were made?