I've been reading over the thread on the Fantasia vs. Formation.  I have the
following comment:
 
Examine your usage very closely.  I haven't priced the C30 or C40 printer
lately,  When the C30 printer came out it had a price tag of about $25,000
(loaded with duplexer, input stacker, and output stacker).  We were looking
to replace an LJ2000 at the time.  Our cost per page would allow us to
replace the LJ2000 because of the overall cost of ownership (purchase price
+ maintenance + consumables)
 
Printer        Annual Volume  Tot. Costs     Cost / Page
 
LJ2000         504,837        $8,678.10      0.017
LaserJet 4 Si  504,837        $6,580.11      0.013
HP5000C30 504,837        $9,110.19      0.018
 
Volume is important for both the maintenance and cost.  Our volume just
isn't high enough to justify the larger printer.  I got a graph from HP when
the C30 came out that should a cost cross over at about 75,000 pages per
month.  Under 75,000 you should get the LJ4Si.  Over 75,000 get the C30.
 
As far as the actual Pro / Con for Fantasia vs. Formation.  We looked at
them a few of years ago and chose Formation because (at the time) we were
concentrating more on forms than typesetting.  My opinion was that Formation
was better at form management and development (2 or 3 years ago).  Now, I'm
not sure.  Fantasia would be nice for the typesetting features since we
knocked out the forms and now the users want documents to be fancy.
 
That's my $.02 worth
 
Rick Feldmann
Computer Systems Manager
American Type Culture Collection
12301 Parklawn Drive
Rockville, MD  20852
 
Phone    : (301) 231-5621
Internet : [log in to unmask]