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Mimaki or Roland

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printmaster

New Member
Hi all,

Just entering the large format digital printing industry, we are currently looking
at either a Mimaki JV33 or a Roland VS640.
People have told us:
MIMAKI: better print, faster, longer life of print.

ROLAND: better print and cut system, less smell from eco-sol inks,
less than 3 years of print life.

What is your opinion?

Thank you in advance
 
threeputt

threeputt

New Member
I think the vote will go to Roland because of superior tech assistance and the machine itself is a richly engineered workhorse.
 
P

printmaster

New Member
Thanks guys,

I also lean towards the Roland, but have you experienced issues with the
print durability or had any complaints?
 
Dice

Dice

New Member
Make sure you look at the Epson Gs6000 before committing.

All Three are great printers, Jv33, GS and the Rolands.
 
tomence

tomence

New Member
Maybe EPSON is good printer but it is still new printer and i really dont know how support is and what is really the cost per sqf. Is it more to operate this printer or is it at the same level as ROLAND, MUTOH, MIMAKI etc. I hear lot of people liking this printer but some have troubles with the take up reel. So i guess it has its own ups and downs but i would still buy Roland.
 
SOA

SOA

New Member
we have the new VS-640, before that a VP-300, both awesome machines, no complaints!
 
SOA

SOA

New Member
We've had it 2 weeks now, we've barely had time to play with it!! its printed tons of vinyl & some fabric stuff (kinda like canvas), abit of banner & were gonna do some paper today. The metallic is amazing, it only runs on high quality, as does the white, but the quality its unreal, no banding at all so far!
As for drying time, its seems the same as the old vp-300.
 
P

printmaster

New Member
I was about to abandon the idea of including metallic in the configuration
cos some people mentioned that it is almost impossible to get it to dry even after 3 days ! and they say a lot of waste is involved with white and metallic.

Our first thought was CMYK LC LM W Metallic

what do you think
 
J

jmcnicoll

New Member
I would also take the time to consider the Epson GS 6000. Great print quality, very little maintenance! Only fault so far that I see is the take up system.

Jim
 
Letterbox Mike

Letterbox Mike

New Member
For what it's worth, we looked at the Roland Versa-Art 640 before buying our JV33. I know it's not quite the same as the VS640 you're looking at but the build quality is fairly similar. We went with the JV33 because the Roland just seemed toy-like compared to the Mimaki construction. We've had a JV3 for several years and it's a tank. While demoing the Roland I noticed it struggled a bit on banner material, and it's takeup reel didn't look up to the task of rolling up full rolls of heavy media, specifically banner. We can run full 64" rolls of heavy banner through our JV33 without it breaking a sweat.

The JV33 obviously doesn't contour cut, but overall I'm going to guess it's going to be heavier-duty and more production oriented than the Roland. If you need contour cutting in one machine, Mimaki does have the CJV30 line which is basically the JV33 with built-in contour cutting.

Ink durability also swayed us to the Mimaki. I was utterly unimpressed with Roland's durability. I still have samples off of it run on gloss vinyl and gloss banner, both of which I can easily scratch the ink off, and a cloth lightly damped with alcohol easily picks up the ink. The Mimaki SS21 ink has a higher solvent content than Roland's ink so it bites into the media more and is a lot more durable once cured. The ink smell should be a concern either way, both Roland's and Mimaki's inks are not necessarily good for you, and while Mimaki's ink smells a bit more (really not much, it's not as bad as you'd think), if you plan on spending a lot of time in the room with the printer (i.e. having it next to your desk or in your house), you should look at an air scrubber or at least some way to ventilate the fumes outside and pull in fresh air.
 
J

Jack Knight1979

New Member
I have a roland 745ex. When it works it works great.
I do a lot of work with it so I probably should have went with a AJ instead of on SJ. That being said. I love my Roland.

I also have a gx500 cutter. Love that too.
 
P

printmaster

New Member
Will the ink durability really be such an issue though, when 80% of the jobs
will be laminated?

I saw the Roland compared to Mimakis at the IPEX exhibition and I cant say
the Mimaki looked more heavy duty, in what way do you mean?

Btw the mimaki + cutter comes out around 6000 euros more expensive in my country, if anyone think that makes a difference ?
 
Letterbox Mike

Letterbox Mike

New Member
By heavier duty I mean the Mimaki seemed to have a much beefier media handling system than the Roland. The Roland take-up reel seemed light duty, and the fewer pinch rollers seemed like they would cause problems with heavier media and banner material. Remember, my only experience with this is the Versa-art, not the VS unit you're looking at so they may be significantly different. I have used and seen in operation several first and second generation VersaCamms (VP540 and SP540) and can say without hesitation that they are tin cans compared to the Mimaki. But again, the same may not hold tru for the current generation VersaCamm units.

They're certainly not bad machines at all. I'm a fan of the Mimaki machines mostly because they are more in line with the Roland SJ series at a much more attractive price. You can get a JV33, a good high-end plotter, and a good Rip for about $22k-$25k, which is considerably less than the Roland XC540 and in my opinion it's just as much printer if not more so, and it's a more productive workflow being a separate printer and cutter.

If you're just starting out and you want a bundled all-in-one solution, the Roland VS may be the best option in the end though. As your volume grows, especially print cut, it may become a bit of a hurdle, but at that time, you can always add a second plotter or printer to make up for it.
 
SOA

SOA

New Member
the waste isn't bad, it circulate the ink rather than dumping it like the old XC's . We print some metallic & white decals of our logo 3-4 times a week just to keep it fresh if we haven't printed any in a few days.
As for the drying, you have to lam any metallic or white print as it will rub off. but we printed some stuff,left it over night & lammed the next day & no problems. the print quality is truly awesome!!
 
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printmaster

New Member
The new VS640 has upgraded flanges and seven pinch rollers, but I dont know how it compares to the Mimaki.

Doesnt the lamination, especially matt, affect the metallic glow ??
 
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