In Short: The Xerox Versalink C9000 and C8000 replace the successful Phaser 7800 and 7500 series in the tabloid color laser printer space. The new Versalink C9000 and C8000 weigh a little over 200lbs in their base configuration but the setup of our C9000 was simple once the printer was unboxed. In the Versalink C9000 and C8000, Xerox combines a fast and capable controller with an engine that produces great print quality and can handle a wide range of media types and weights. The result is a great performing color laser printer that can print on heavier stock up to 300gsm from the internal trays or the MP tray.

In our testing the C9000 produced consistently good output and scored at or near the top in most print categories. The Xerox did a great job with fills, gradients, and also excelled at printing line art and color text. The color accuracy out of the box was also good and Xerox includes a variety of preset color profiles to choose from. The few instances where it did not score well featured larger areas with heavy coverage. This was exaggerated when using darker colors. That’s the only time we saw any banding or ghosting. To be fair, this is one of the most challenging tasks for any large format color laser printer to pull off.

The C8000 is rated at up to 45 PPM while the C9000 is rated at up to 55 PPM. The paper handling on the Xerox C9000 and C8000 is also great. Both models ship with two 520-sheet paper feeders and a 100-sheet Bypass Tray. Both models can also print up to 12” x 18” from their internal or bypass feeders and on various paper types up to 300gsm (100lb cover). Dual offset stacking and auto-duplex are also standard. Many paper handling options are available including a two tray module, high capacity feeder, a 2000-sheet office finisher/stacker, a booklet finisher, and envelope tray.

The Xerox Versalink C9000 and C8000 both ship with a 1.6 GHz processor, 4 GB memory, PCL, Adobe PS3, 1GB Ethernet, and USB 3.0. Additionally the C9000 includes an internal 320GB HD and Xerox Precise® color management software, both are optional for the C8000.

The Bottom Line: The Xerox Versalink C9000 and C8000 are both top performing large-format color laser printers with excellent print quality and paper handling. The C9000/DT or C9000/GX printers are well suited for design and graphics intensive applications. The C8000 is ideal for offices that need to print on multiple paper sizes and on heavy or varied Media. The higher operating cost makes the C8000 less attractive for higher volume environments. Both the C9000 and C8000 work with most all current operating systems including Windows and Apple OS.