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Attention HP l25500 owners!

Latigo

Latigo

New Member
It's time for a new printer and we value your experience and opinion. Now that you have had your HP Latex printer for a while, what do you think about it now? What would you say are the real world pros and cons of these machines? We are currently considering buying an l25500 but are a little nervous about making the Latex plunge. Aside from printing on print films are you able to print on standard vinyl films such as metallics? Printing on these types of film is important to us and a few of our clients. Thank you for your time.

Latigo St.Marie
St.Marie Graphics.
 
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nate

New Member
Fantastic machines-- We own four, in addition to a LX800 (the big, big, brother). We're in the process of purchasing an additional four. Also, I'd recommend running them with Caldera. It's a perfect system.
 
S

SqueeGee

New Member
My point of reference is from using a JV3 for 7+ years in a fast paced shop that outputs on a number of different medias and frequently processes rush orders.

I went to a vendor open house to see a demo of the HP a few weeks ago. My impression of the media loading and unloading along with the media take up reel was that it was overly complex and time consuming. If we were more of a production shop then it wouldn't be that big of a deal but for us, I think these issues would be a pretty big hassle.

Although I didn't notice it, I've also heard that some owners are not happy with the sheen of the print. I've heard that it's too flat/dull.

I've heard rumors that a new model is due to arrive in a few months so if any of the above issues might be a concern for you, you might want to wait to see if any of them get addressed in the new model.
 
iSign

iSign

New Member
I'm watching this thread with interest too... I am very pleased with the prints from my JV3 mimaki, and as I told Pierre's son in law on the phone an hour ago, I wouldn't expect to be disappointed at all, if i bought a JV33... but I find myself considering the latex printing option as well. My printer still runs like new, but I don't want to end up where Pierre and lat have found themselves, with a backlog of work & a sudden fatal printer malfunction. Of course it could happen at any moment anyway, but closing in on my 7th year, I have to face facts that my printer will not last forever, and is no longer under warranty...

I did have Advantage sign supply, my most trusted vendor, send me some sample prints from the HP latex machine & although they were not glossy at all, the bulk of my work get's laminated anyway, so wouldn't that pretty much make them look a lot more like a Mimaki print, if hit with gloss lam?
 
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tattoo.dan

New Member
Would like to hear more on this as well. May finally pull the trigger on one first of week. Could get one for a little over 13k and am debating about the switch to latex. Latex may be a good fit for our shop. Looking for someone to talk me out of it! lol
 
slipperyfrog

slipperyfrog

New Member
Keep the comments coming as I'm reading this with interest. I am looking to jump to a printer late this year or Q1 of 2012. I have been holding off a bit to see what the generation 2 of the HP is like.
 
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jayhawksigns

New Member
We all know that manufacturers keep new models close to their chest but this is what my dealer was told.

Last week I was in Atlanta at HP's Graphic Arts Experience Center for sales meetings with their executives and the question about a new version of the L25500 came up. They obviously couldn't disclose too much, but they indicated that a new version "would not be a game changer" and there would be no additional sizes available. What they did mention is that an updated model would be positioned substantially higher in price without much benefit.

Take that for what you will. Our JV3 is going on eight and a half years, and I initially thought we would be getting a JV33, but fairly certain it'll be a HP or something else.
 
J

jayhawksigns

New Member
Does anybody running one of these printers notice an oily film on the prints when the exit the heaters?

Checking some reviews over on the Onyxtalk forums and a couple of members there mention this issue.
 
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airborneassault

New Member
I had my first experience with the "oily" film on a rush job this weekend but to be honest I'd have to account it to operator error, I feel like I need to tweak the heat/cure settings until I find that sweet spot.

We upgraded to the L25500 from our Roland SP-540v and I'd have to say we are more than satisfied. The big plus for us with the latex inks is the fact that they're dry right off the printer, we're able to laminate and finish the job much sooner than we'd felt comfortable with the solvent inks.

Color and quality wise the HP blew us away. Now obviously we are able to print much quicker than our 2 head 540v but we are also able to do it with higher quality and color that pops.

As far as the sheen off the printer I can't comment on SAV as it all gets laminated here, of course the lower sheen on our matte banner material could be accounted for by the fact the material is a matte finish, now on the gloss banner material I will say there's not much if any difference in the sheen compared to our eco-solvent unit.

As far as the loading/takeup it takes some getting used to. After having the machine for only about a week I will say swapping out the loading core every time you swap materials can be quite tiresome. This is such a minor complaint I will say for the quality & speed that comes off the machine, it's a small price to pay. Once loaded I'm very impressed with how well the machine feeds material out.

I feel the inks are at a good price point, the user-replaceable heads are convenient for us as we're able to troubleshoot & repair our machine without having a tech from 400 miles away make a trip over.

-Nathan
 
GP

GP

New Member
Thanks Aireborneassault for the well thought out and informative reply.

Much appreciated,

GP
 
Latigo

Latigo

New Member
Thank you everyone for the very informative info. One question we do not have an answer for yet is, will the L25500 print on standard 2mill metallic vinyl film? I have also read a post or two about wrap films becoming slightly more aggressive after printing. Is this true? Is it more aggressive than printing with eco-solvent inks?

Latigo
 
BigfishDM

BigfishDM

Merchant Member
Dont forget to come to me for your latex machine quotes, I sold many of them on here to you guys already so please pass the word around! I am the guy to talk to when it comes to this unit.
 
Latigo

Latigo

New Member
BigfishDM I'm sorry we didn't see your post earlier. We bought a L25500 this afternoon. The price was $13,575.00 with the loader and $1,000.00 worth of start-up films all delivered to our door. Tomorrow is the last day of the HP discount promotion and we couldn't imagine a better deal that that. If you had the same deal, then I'm very sorry we didn't see this post earlier.
We're going to try to find a Mutoh Falcon Outdoor heater circuit board to see if we can keep the old girl running.

Thanks to Signs 101 for all the help we received finding the right printer.

P
 
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