Since drupa members have written to get our thoughts on the which digital press is the best investment. Cary Sherburne has written up some recommendations. We share them here as a reference.

It would depend on when you want to purchase the press and the applications you wish to produce. Delphax elan is closer to being commercially available, has an extremely competitive price point, and years of digital--albeit monochrome--experience behind it.

Although Mr. Landa indicated his presses would be available in 18 months or so, most believe it will take much longer for these presses to get to market, and it is not yet clear what the business model will be. Although we were able to see samples at drupa which were pretty impressive considering where they are in the development cycle, this is a brand-new technology and it remains to be seen if it will live up to its promises. Mr. Landa is not one to count out, for sure, as the Indigo experience certainly shows.

There were a number of other B2 presses announced at the show. I was just making a list of them for an article I am writing. Most of the new ones are likely to be available in late 2013 or early 2014. The HP Indigo 10000 might be the first to be actually commercially available, and while pricey (somewhere between $1.2 and $1.5 million, plus consumables), it is a proven platform with a lot of nice features. Both Fujifilm and Screen already have B2 sheetfed inkjet presses on the market.

If you are not doing variable data, or can live with variable data being applied by inkjet in B&W, the Presstek 75DI is also worth a look.

Watch for my article in a few days on WhatTheyThink, and let me know what you are thinking about in terms of volumes, applications and timeframes.