Hello Roger,
Always a pleasure to see you here.
I did a fast survey to see what the marketplace has to offer to fill
your envelope printing needs and distilled the results down to these
for you:
http://www.skywell.com/Envelope_Printers/Bryce/bryce.htm
This company - Skywell Systems - specializes in these products. Some
of the criteria you requested was not listed on their pages and I had
a difficult time deciding which printer of their line to recommend to
you. So I called them at their 800# and spoke to John Gannone in sales
who was very helpful.
It seems the number one criteria for deciding on an envelope printer
is the volume you wish to print. As you asked for one that had a
capacity to hold 50 envelopes, I assumed you needs would be in the
hundreds, rather than thousands at each printing. Another decision
factor was what needed to be printed on the envelope. Address only or
indicia, bar code or other needs. And then, does it work with most (or
all) Windows applications.
Based on this, we distilled their product offerings down to the Bryce
5k-LE. Note, the model at their site is the 5 KL and it has been
updated and improved.
It is 38 lbs, will handle almost any size including 9" x 12" envelopes
and up to 1/8th inch thick. It will print on most areas of the
envelope, not just the address area. It works with Windows
applications such as Word and uses a standard HP inkjet cartridge,
available almost anywhere. Even in Dublin! And they will accept credit
cards and ship directly to you.
It will print about 3,000 envelopes per hour realistically and does
tie up your computer a bit during the process as it has resident
memory that only holds about 100 records. So your computer is
constantly feeding it address information as the queue is fed.
Here are a few more specs on the OLDER model. The newer is 600DPI
resolution, for example. If you care to order or chat with John about
this, he can be reached at jgannone@aol.com
"The 5K-L is our entry-level envelope printer, from Bryce, that offers
the occasional, small volume mailer the opportunity to quickly,
easily, and professionally print addresses at up to 5,000 envelopes
per hour. Graphic images and barcodes can be printed anywhere on the
mailpiece at print qualities of 150, 200 or 300 dpi. The 5K-L has
three internal type faces, which are scalable from 8 to 30 points and
can be combined with the internal attributes of bold, italic, outline
and variable-width.
These combine to create 2,760 different fonts for each character! No
other address printer company offers so many internal fonts. The 5K-L
is a PCL5 graphics printer that can interface with any PC, mini, or
mainframe. Windows 95/98 and NT drivers are included."
http://www.skywell.com/Envelope_Printers/Bryce/Bryce_5K-L/bryce_5k-l.htm
This printer sells for $4,000. I also spoke to Mary at SECAP about
this printer, who happens to be the manufacturer. She says this lists
for $5,200, so the Skywell price seems reasonable. She also mentioned
a less expensive model at $3,500 list called the Desktop Junior. This
only handles standard envelope sizes, has less fonts and is 300 DPI.
Skywell does not sell this model.
Continuing my search, I find Bryce may just be the most popular
devices available. So I contacted another vendor for their opinions
and prices.
http://www.americanmailingmachine.com/
I spoke to Murray - mailto:Murray@American-ADL.com
He feels there are competitors, but none better than these two Bryce
machines for your anticipated volume. He also will ship to Ireland and
quotes the following prices (plus shipp9ing costs):
Desktop Junior - List $3,495 - sell $2,775
5K-LE - List $5,200 - sell $3,595
The Desktop Junior Specs can be found here:
http://www.americanmailingmachine.com/products/Brycewebsiteinkjet.htm
Bryce evidently was also recently purchased by Pitney Bowes. You can
reach their UK sales offices here:
http://www.pitneybowes.co.uk/contact.htm
The decision between these two models should be based on speed, size
of envelope to print, and resolution.
I spoke to Xerox and HP to see what their offerings are and neither
had an appropriate solution for you. As a matter of fact, after
several more phone calls and extensive online searching, I was unable
to uncover even a viable third alternative for you. It seems these are
THE choices in low volume, entry level envelope printers.
As you probably know, most injet and laser printers handle envelope
printing. Most have a capacity of 10-15 envelopes in their in tray,
however. Though some have accessory envelope feeders to increase this
capacity. If you would like me to research this area as well for you,
just say the word. And, if the two models above do not provide a
sufficient choice for you, Roger, do let me know and I will attempt to
drill down a bit farther and find another alternative for you.
Do let me know if this research suits your needs.
Best regards,
-=clouseau=- |
