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Printmaster 52 press
Heidelberg now has three machines competing in a market in which it already has a strong position. Time and market forces are certain to kill one of them
By Rod Hayes
When Heidelberg launches a new press the world sits up and takes notice. Its latest press the Printmaster 52 is little more than a variant of the Speedmaster SM52 but it still attracted a great deal of attention on making its debut at Graph Expo in Chicago.
I got a good chance to run a close eye over it while in Chicago. It's in an eclectic grey, with a minor embellishment on its demure side panels, prompting me to think back a great many years ago to my school uniform and how then we all looked the same.
So well designed
Try as I might, I did not manage to stick a careless finger or two somewhere in the press, possibly because the machine is so well designed. Due not so much to my own cleverness but to the fact that it is almost idiot proof, even down to my level.
So there you are. Does that mean that I would buy it?
If it were down to safety issues, certainly. If it were down to how well it prints, probably. If it were down to issues like service reliability, spare parts undoubtedly. If it were down to the quality of the build, maintenance, ease of access and general all round performance issues, yes I would buy it. But...
Of course in any purchase there is always a but or two and this machine has a few more than one or two, with none of them particularly related to its ability to print. Some of the buts are related to the type of market it is designed to serve. Other buts are whether other models could do a job just as well, but offer a better return on investment.
To a fair extent those decisions are yours rather than mine, but...