Magicard 300 Review

PRICE

Starting at just £699 for the base model, this printer is certainly priced for budget conscious individuals.  

What’s unique about this machine is that at the point of purchase, users can choose to upgrade to dual-sided printing completely free of charge.  This is normally a chargeable upgrade which carries a price tag typically somewhere north of £100.

So, at first glance, the 300 seems to offer exceptional value for money when you consider the rich feature list, the technology and the reputation of a such a stellar brand behind it.

FEATURES

Print Quality

One of the latest updates on this model is the introduction of a wider colour spectrum, in simple terms, this means that the cards you print will have photorealistic quality, deep colours and crisp detailed text. Printing at 300 x 300DPI, this claims to print the best-in-class photo ID Cards.

Although this printer claims that it offers edge-to-edge prints (as do many others), it simply is not possible to get true edge to edge prints with a direct to card printer. So, this is something to keep in mind when evaluating this machine.

Speed

As an end user, you want the quickest and most efficient solution for printing id cards and with the new 300, card production is 60% faster than its predecessor. This is quite significant considering the Enduro was one of the fastest ID card printers in its time. Each full-colour single-sided card with HoloKote takes just 23 seconds to print while a simple monochrome card takes approximately 6 seconds.

The Magicard 300 is capable of printing up to 160 full-colour cards per-hour.

Security

The Magicard 300 boasts some of the most advanced security protocols in the printing space. Chief among them is Magicards highly regarded Holokote technology, which allows for the printing of custom holographic watermarks on your card.

The Magicard 300 comes with 3 holokote designs as standard and allows you to add 3 custom designs to watermark your card. This feature is typically only found on much more expensive machines.

An all new feature is the Digital Shredding —unique to Magicard, this characteristic adds an additional layer of security to your printed cards. Once the print job has been completed, the data used is fragmented and rendered irrecoverable. This feature was developed in response to the recent introduction of all new GDPR requirements.

Efficiency

The high-tech printer firmware constantly analyses the colours sent by the driver, matches it with the currently fitted film and prints the panels in sequence. This results in a much more efficient print process as the film panels ae not waste. Efficiency: Printer firmware analyses the colours sent by the driver and the film type fitted and print the panels in sequence, so the film panels are not wasted.

Connectivity

Improved connectivity means that integration is now easier than ever. High speed USB 2.0 & Ethernet are standard on the 300 which means the printer can integrate seamlessly with most third-party applications. Ethernet is usually a premium upgrade on card printers so it’s nice to see it included in the standard package

The Magicard 300 is backed by a robust 3-year warranty which includes damage to the printhead and direct access to the global Magicard support line. This is one of the most comprehensive after-sales warranties available in the market.

CONCLUSION

All things considered, the 300 plastic card printer Is a fantastic addition to the Magicard printer line up.  The long list of all-new features complimented by the exceptional print quality make this printer a formidable foe for competitors in the space.  It’s ease of use will likely appeal to a wider market who are not technically inclined. I look forward to seeing what Magicard Printers have to offer in the future.