A gel printer is a new type of printing system. So far they have not received much distribution, but perhaps in the foreseeable future they will replace many modern peripheral devices that specialize in the implementation of workflow in a particular organization. It is the choice of such a solution, technical specifications and features that this review will be devoted to.
Technological features
At the junction of laser and inkjet documentation output methods, a device such as a gel printer appeared. The technology in this case is more similar to the latter.
Inkjet printing systems form text or a picture on the surface of the medium by injecting ink from the nozzles of the print head. Moreover, in monochromatic mode, only black ink is used, and in color, in addition to black, three or five colors are added. By combining them, the text on the medium is obtained. The advantages of this group of peripheral devices include high print quality, energy efficiency, low cost and cost-effectiveness. But the minuses include speed, or rather its absence.
The laser method of page output is based on the fact that the toner powder is “burned” into the surface of the sheet. Before this, its distribution is formed using a special electromagnetic field on the surface of the drum. In black and white, black toner is used, and in color, again three more are added to it: blue, red and yellow. To its advantages, experts include speed and profitability. But here energy efficiency and quality in this case leave much to be desired.
In turn, gel technology should combine the advantages of laser and inkjet methods. That is, her quality should be like that of the second, and speed should be like that of the first.
The solutions under consideration are very similar to inkjet ones. But only instead of ordinary ink, they use gel. It is by applying them that the image on the page is formed. Moreover, the quality is comparable to inkjet devices, and the speed is comparable to laser ones.
Company Information
At the moment, only one company produces such peripheral solutions - this is Ricoh. A gel printer is only one of the devices manufactured under this brand. Also in the assortment of this Japanese company there are other printers, MFPs, fax machines and other peripheral equipment. Moreover, its solutions use both laser and inkjet output methods.
The company itself was founded in 1936 in Japan. Initially, she specialized in photography. But in the future, the range of its products has expanded significantly. Now it mainly produces printing systems.
SG 3110DN Specifications Overview
The Aficio SG 3110DN Gel Printer is one of the most affordable models based on this output technology. Its cost is about 85 dollars. For this amount, the owner receives a ready-made documentation output system. The manufacturer included 3 cartridges in the delivery, which should be enough to print 2200 pages. Again, when developing them, you need to purchase a new such kit. The largest number of pages that such a solution is capable of displaying over the course of a month is 10,000 sheets.
The highest pixel density on the media for this printer is 3600 X 1200. Of course, it does not reach the level of photo printers, but such a resolution is quite enough to obtain high-quality images. The density of the pages on which the hero of this review is able to display information can be 60-250 g / m 2 . That is, such a printer is capable of printing even on photo paper. It is also capable of displaying up to 29 pages per minute. Moreover, this value is true both for monochromatic format and color.
The Ricoh Aficio SG 3110DN Gel Printer prints all formats that are smaller than A4. The latter is the main one for this peripheral device.
The list of interfaces for this printing system includes USB and RJ-45. Also in some cases, this list is supplemented by a Wi-Fi transmitter. Then the marking of the device model takes the form of SG3110DNW.
GX-E2600 Printer Settings
The Ricoh Aficio GXE2600 Gel Printer has nearly identical specifications. Its main carrier format is A4. The speed for any mode is 29 sheets per minute. The density of the carrier should be in the range from 60 to 255 g / m 2 .
The key difference in this case lies in the reduced communication list, which includes only the USB port. Therefore, from the operating point of view, it is most optimal to purchase the SG3110DNW with an integrated WiFi transmitter. Although such a device costs 300-400 rubles more, it will be more convenient to use.
Printer Communications
The gel printers considered in this review are equipped with the following main communication ports:
- Network RJ-45, with which the workflow system directly receives information from the computer network. At the same time, the functions of the print server are assigned to this peripheral device.
- An alternative to the RJ-45 is USB. In this case, the printer is connected to a computer on which control software is installed. Also in this case, the latter acts as the print server.
In some cases, this list is supplemented by a wireless Wi-Fi interface. In this case, as noted earlier, the letter W appears in the device’s marking. It is most optimal to use this transmitter for switching to a computer network because there is no need to additionally pull a twisted pair cable or USB cable to the printer.
Briefly about cartridges. Features of the gel ink supply system
In principle, the gel technology considered in this review does not have cardinal differences from modern inkjet devices. Such an output subsystem consists of a set of cartridges, capillaries and a print head with nozzles. Only now, in classic inkjet devices, ink is supplied on a liquid, water basis. In our case, helium comes in their place.
In the first case, it takes time to dry the ink deposited on the surface of the ink carrier, and this reduces the speed of the printer or the MFP. The use of a gel base does not require delay, and the speed of such a printing system increases significantly.
Currently, in the process of working, such devices use 4 cartridge models:
- Black GC31K with a resource of 2500 pages.
- Magenta GC31M with a declared limit of 2,200 sheets.
- Blue GC31C, which is also capable of printing up to 2200 pages.
- Yellow GC31Y with a capacity of 2,200 sheets.
Cartridges cannot be refilled so far. Also, CISS are not currently developed. The appearance of any of these components will make such workflow systems competitive with inkjet or laser ones.
Setting procedure
Any modern gel printer is switched and programmatically configured as follows:
- We remove this peripheral system from the packaging simultaneously with the rest of the delivery elements.
- Install all the feed trays. We remove transport fasteners from the device. We install it at the place of operation.
- We connect the power cord to the power supply network, and the USB cable to the computer.
- We install cartridges in the corresponding slots.
- Turn on the PC and peripheral system. We install on the first of them all the necessary software. We reboot the computer so that all changes will take effect correctly.
- We print a test sheet.
Cost
A fairly affordable printing device today is a gel printer. A review of price offers indicates that the older model can be purchased for 4800-5000 rubles. The younger is estimated by the Japanese manufacturer at 2900-3200 rubles.
The key downside to this printing system is its expensive consumables. In the first case, the price is 3000 rubles, and in the second - 1800-2200 rubles.
Therefore, from an economic point of view, it is still more profitable to purchase conventional inkjet MFPs in combination with CISS. In this case, the price of the workflow system will be almost the same, but here the costs of consumables are minimized.
Possible use cases. Selection Guidelines
Now we will figure out where to use such a gel printer. The new technology that is used in such devices imposes significant restrictions on its possible applications. First of all, it is necessary to highlight the rather high cost of such solutions. In addition to this, such document management systems have very expensive consumable components and there is no possibility of installing a CISS. Therefore, competing with inkjet printing devices on an equal footing with such solutions is extremely problematic.
For home use, such a peripheral solution is not entirely suitable. But in the case of creating an office workflow, such equipment can be fully used. But again, with a relatively small number of pages displayed per month. At the same time, the requirements for their quality are as high as possible, as well as for speed.
Reviews
Reviews gel printer of any model from the standpoint of advantages is characterized as follows:
- High performance. In this parameter, the devices in question are not inferior to laser MFPs or printers. In some cases, the speed may be even higher.
- Excellent quality of documentation displayed on it, which corresponds to the inkjet method.
- A simple setup procedure, which even a poorly trained specialist can handle without problems.
- Extended communication list.
- Sufficient equipment, in which the manufacturer has included all the components necessary for the first start of the printer.
The minuses in this case include the following:
- Expensive consumables and materials.
- Lack of CISS and refillable cartridges.
Conclusion
At the moment, the gel printer is still an “exotic” printing system. Such devices are extremely rare. But the combination of the strengths of laser and inkjet peripheral solutions makes them promising, and they have everything they need for success from a technical point of view. But economically, such printers and MFPs still cannot compete with standard inkjet devices. The latter have a lower price, and there are no problems with consumables.
It is most optimal to use such printing systems in the office. At the same time, the volume of workflow is relatively small, and the requirements for the quality of the displayed pages are quite high. It is preferable to buy the SG3110DNW model, which is equipped with an integrated WiFi wireless transmitter. This minimizes the configuration process, and in this case there is no need to further extend the communication wires.