What’s the Best ID Card Printer? 2015 Edition

What’s the best ID card printer you ask? Well I have a question for you- what’s the best cell phone on the market? Most of us have had this debate with our friends or family at some point. Personally I like my Android Galaxy S3. I haven’t made the leap to the newer version because I think its too big in my pocket. But my girlfriend pretty much NEEDS the S5 Active so she doesn’t break her phone daily. (She actually did manage to break it once by dropping it off a two story balcony. True story.) And maybe you like your iPhone. Point being, there really isn’t a one-fits-all pick for cell phones or card printers.
There are lot of features that are right for some companies and not a great fit for others. Some need speed and some need lamination. The best way is to always speak or email with a member of our sales team and they can usually narrow down your options in only a few minutes. But for those who want some guidance on where to start, I am going to do my best to recommend the best ID card printers in a straight to the point way. I am going to select 3 common ID printer categories and choose only one printer as the “best” for each category. Here goes nothing.

Best Entry Level ID Card Printer

Winner: Magicard Pronto

Why is it the best ID card printer?

The Magicard Pronto is the 2nd least expensive printer that we sell, but it doesn’t come to any expense of quality. It has a hand-fed design that eliminated some manufacturing costs that consumers can reap the benefits of. The Pronto also features the patented Holokote feature for added security without any extra cost. If you are printing less than 1,000 cards a year and typically issue only a handful of cards at a time, this may be the ID card printer for you.

Best High-End ID Card Printer

Winner: Magicard Helix

Why is it the best ID card printer?

Yes Magicard wins 2 out of 3 categories, but deservingly so. This printer is only available for preorder right now, but still makes the list which speaks to its quality. Check out the video below and you will see why. Our Youtube channel may die thanks to that color LCD display that communicates errors with illustrations on fixing the issue. And to put the ribbon yield in perspective, 1,000 prints is twice the size of the popular HDP5000 retransfer printer. No one likes changing ribbons out and we sending printing jobs. We saw the Helix at the ISC tradeshow earlier this year and were very impressed on how many new features there actually are. What they hint at in the video, but dont come out and say is that a lot of the high end retransfer card printers today are just renamed OEM versions of the same technology. There isn’t much differentiating between them all. I am looking forward to the Helix’s shipping launch later this year to get a little more hands-on that what I could at the tradeshow. We will update this posting as more info becomes available but makes sure to make your way to the Magicard Helix page for the latest info.

https://youtu.be/MxgRLmlBTeI

Best Large Format or Oversized ID Card Printer

Winner: SwiftColor SCC4000D

Why is it the best ID card printer?

It’s a common problem I have tried to solve for many customers over the years. You need to print oversized (larger than standard CR8030 credit card size) cards on demand for an event. There have been very little truly flexible solutions over the years, but the SwiftColor printer has answered a lot of people’s problems. By far it is the most flexible large format card printer and can print anywhere from a standard CR80 card to an enveloped sized card. Other solutions only offer customization with the credit card sized area or just a little extra length, but not width. Many major sport organizations have switched to the SwiftColor including professional and collegiate sporting teams and championship series. I won’t list them here to avoid a lawsuit since I can’t remember the confidentiality agreements for those. :) The SwiftColor SCC4000D can handle any ID that needs to be scene from afar for event credentials, law enforcement ID’s, and many other applications. See our Oversized ID card printer page for other large pvc card solutions.