Océ PlotWave 500 Printing System

Dear Desktop Engineering Reader:

The first office printer I knew was a '70s era line printer. Should have been called a lion printer, assuming lions have adenoid problems. Not only did printing take forever — seemed like it ran 600 words an hour — but the printhead chugged back and forth banging out a line at a time while screeching the whole time like some sound effect from a Hitchcock movie. It used pin-fed coarse yellow- and green-striped paper, and you ripped off the perforations from your output.

Printing things has changed drastically since then. On Monday, Canon Solutions America introduced the Océ PlotWave 500, the newest member of its Océ PlotWave line of large-format black and white document printing, plotting, scanning, copying and management systems. It sounds like a good fit for the engineering office. Here’s why.

The nickel tour is that the Océ PlotWave 500 is a multifunction, large-format technical document printing system for mid- to high-demand work environments. Multifunction means it prints, copies and scans. It also means that it can print and scan simultaneously. For good measure, the Océ PlotWave 500 is ready for cloud integration, so you can be multifunctional by printing and tending to jobs from your desktop, smartphone or tablet in the office or on the road.

Speed is always a consideration with a large-format printer, and the Océ PlotWave 500 seems to meet the need for speed. For one, thanks to Océ’s Radiant Fusing technology, it goes from sleep mode to first print out in just 30 seconds. Two, this black & white system can print ten D-size/A1 prints per minute or, said another way, 600 sheets an hour. It will print five E-size/A0 pages per minute. Resolution is 600 x 1200 dpi.

Scanning features include the ability to scan in both color and monochrome documents. A nifty feature about the Océ PlotWave 500’s scanning capabilities is something called Océ Color Image Logic technology. What this does is compensate for wrinkles and light colors automatically to produce better results from crinkled or faded documents. Also when scanning, the Océ PlotWave 500 detects paper width automatically. Scanner specs include 600 x 600 dpi resolution and speeds of up to 47.9 ft./min (14.6 m/min). Formats include TIFF, PDF, PDF/A, JPEG, CALS, multi-page PDF, multi-page PDF/A and multi-page TIFF. You can direct scans where you need them, say a USB drive, an FTP site or somewhere in your cloud universe.

On-site usability includes a 10.4-inch color LCD touchscreen interface with multi-touch controls similar to those on your tablet. You can swipe, spread and zoom in on drawing details, and you can use a live preview feature to check things like your document’s positioning. The Océ PlotWave 500’s built-in paper loading station conveniently holds new rolls of paper, and paper gets fed, cut and sized automatically. There’s a top delivery tray where the Océ PlotWave 500 can collate and stack up to 100 E-size/A0 plots.

On the office-friendliness side, the Océ PlotWave 500 is designed so that you can have it nearby. It generates little in the way of ozone emissions or heat. Measurements, including the top delivery tray, are a compact 60.1 x 31.6 x 58.9 inches (1527 x 803 x 1495 mm). And it generates less than 55 dB of sound when printing. To put that in perspective, a normal conversation generates about 60 dB of noise.

Supplied software includes Windows print drivers as well as job submission software for creating, printing, monitoring/tracking and managing print jobs. It also comes with web-based tools for iOS, Android and BlackBerry devices. A variety of hardware and software options are offered, including things like folding systems, expanded stacking trays and additional media drawers for two more media rolls, which would give you more than 6,500 sq. ft. of uninterrupted printing.

Today’s Check it Out link takes you to a web page focused on the Océ PlotWave 500. On the right-hand side of the page, you’ll find downloadable copies of the spec sheet and brochure as well as links to white papers. Make sure to download the “Large Format Printer Buyer’s Guide” for a good overview of the key considerations to keep in mind when you’re out shopping for a new technical document printing system. Also take a minute and seven seconds to watch the “Take a Quick Look” video to see what the Océ PlotWave 500 could mean for you. Good stuff.

Thanks, Pal. – Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood

Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering

Go here to learn more about the Océ PlotWave 500.