Running Harlequin but have option to buy Nexus. Thoughts?

Started by rickself, April 30, 2015, 09:20:27 AM

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rickself

Hey all -
I currently run, and am most familiar with the Harlequin RIP Workflow system. There is an auction next week at a large print shop that has unfortunately gone the way of a lot of printers. The boss sent me a picture of the Nexus ver 8 manual, supposedly thinking this is something we can incorporate into our business. (He doesn't know Word from InDesign).We are a folding carton plant, not a glitzy coffee table book printer. We have a Komori 6 color press. That's it. I don't know enough about Nexus but don't believe it would do us any good to purchase.
Thoughts?
Thanks!
Rick Self, Prepress Oldie
Mac Mini M1   G5 Quad-Core Intel Sierra  HP DesignJet Z6 44in   RICOH Pro C5200S
Fiery BCE5  Xitron Navigator v.13   Screen 8000II   Azura Plates   Komori L640

Joe

Not knocking Nexus as I'm sure later versions handle transparency better now. We stopped using Nexus back at version 8 as it had trouble with transparency at times and I can't imagine it's gotten any better with newer releases of software from Adobe, Quark, etc...

I would also be concerned if Esko will let you license it too. We were told in pretty strong terms we could not sell our dongle when we stopped using it because they don't allow license transfer. I would definitely find out if you can before purchasing it.
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

rickself

Thanks, Joe. I have no desire at my age to learn a new (old) RIP workflow, especially when we're running only one press. And I'm sure upgrading to the newer ESKO line would cost an arm and a leg. Why change when we have something that works already?
Rick Self, Prepress Oldie
Mac Mini M1   G5 Quad-Core Intel Sierra  HP DesignJet Z6 44in   RICOH Pro C5200S
Fiery BCE5  Xitron Navigator v.13   Screen 8000II   Azura Plates   Komori L640

Farabomb

Because of ever evolving software. There will be a time when you get a file that will not RIP. I ran into it with apogee but since moving to prinergy we've been pretty safe so far.

Until Adobe pushes some new bullshit.
Speed doesn't kill, rapidly becoming stationary is the problem

I'd rather have stories told than be telling stories of what I could have done.

Quote from: Ear on April 06, 2016, 11:54:16 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on April 06, 2016, 11:39:41 AMIt's more like grip, grip, grip, noise, then spin and 2 feet in and feel shame.
I once knew a plus-sized girl and this pretty much describes teh secks. :rotf:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
         â€”Benjamin Franklin

My other job

mattbeals

That old of a Nexus system is going to be a money pit. Spend the money on upgrading the Harlequin RIP and server. Maybe add it LucidDream's iTrap. Money better spent on that than v8 Nexus.
Matt Beals

Everything I say is my own personal opinion and has nothing to do with my employer or their views.

pspdfppdfxhd

we recently upgraded our harlequin rip to the latest, much better on trapping and transparency, i mean its not perfect but its a real workhorse on the type of jobs we do. I think its version 9, 64 bit and overall, its been pretty solid. We started out on Agfa Taipan then to Apogee X but found, for a small shop, the upgrades, service, too expensive.

Farabomb

Hell, I have a ancient Apogee here holding up my network switches. It still works but I'd never want to use it again.
Speed doesn't kill, rapidly becoming stationary is the problem

I'd rather have stories told than be telling stories of what I could have done.

Quote from: Ear on April 06, 2016, 11:54:16 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on April 06, 2016, 11:39:41 AMIt's more like grip, grip, grip, noise, then spin and 2 feet in and feel shame.
I once knew a plus-sized girl and this pretty much describes teh secks. :rotf:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
         â€”Benjamin Franklin

My other job

andyfest

Quote from: Joe on April 30, 2015, 09:28:35 AMNot knocking Nexus as I'm sure later versions handle transparency better now. We stopped using Nexus back at version 8 as it had trouble with transparency at times and I can't imagine it's gotten any better with newer releases of software from Adobe, Quark, etc...

I would also be concerned if Esko will let you license it too. We were told in pretty strong terms we could not sell our dongle when we stopped using it because they don't allow license transfer. I would definitely find out if you can before purchasing it.
Yes, your memory is correct Joe. Nexus v8 had a lot of issues with transparency, most of which were fixed in v9. v10 seems to be rock-solid, but it's the last available version (10.1.3) as Nexus will no longer be updated. If v8 is the only option, I would steer clear of it, but that being said, Nexus is a great workflow system for digital prep of folding cartons.
Retired - CS6 on my 2012 gen MacBook Pro

PrepressN00b

Current Nexus does a great job. But Like Joe mentioned, Esko is not going to let you activate that dongle without a large cost involved. With out paying you will not be able to upgrade Nexus to the newer version.
Peter Kincaid
Hybrid Software

pspdfppdfxhd

Quote from: pspdfppdfx on April 30, 2015, 04:16:25 PMwe recently upgraded our harlequin rip to the latest, much better on trapping and transparency, i mean its not perfect but its a real workhorse on the type of jobs we do. I think its version 9, 64 bit and overall, its been pretty solid. We started out on Agfa Taipan then to Apogee X but found, for a small shop, the upgrades, service, too expensive.


Now we are up to version 10 Harlequin, not finding too much that chokes it up these days...... haven't used anything but Harlequin for the past 5 years now and overall, i would give it about a 9 out of 10. It even works a lot better with flattened pdfs which we still get a lot from clients these days.