I'm not a lawyer...I don't work for Roland... but I am a field service engineer for one of the largest Roland dealers in the country. So here are my thoughts...
The VP-540 comes with a one year limited warranty.
Roland will extend the warranty for an additional year (for a total of two years) if:
- You register within 90 days of purchasing the printer
- You use Roland OEM inks exclusively and continuously throughout the two-year warranty period
Roland may ask for you to prove your continuous exclusive use of Roland ink (via invoices), should you need warranty service during the second year. The machine keeps track of ink usage, # times cartridges are replaced, # times ink out, etc.
Roland relies on the field service folks and the dealers to help keep everyone honest.
Now as far as warranty on the ink system when using a non-OEM ink... this can become a subject of great debate. It is my understanding that Roland will not provide a warranty for the ink system on any printer (under warranty) if it has been found to be used with non-OEM inks.
I see OEM and 3rd party inks being used out there... most shops use the Roland ink. Truth be told, I almost never see a ink system problem due to 3rd party inks... but when there is a problem, it's messy (costly). I personally have never seen an ink system problem because of bad Roland ink-- but I know that it has happened out there.
I can tell you this as a large dealer....if I were to ever see an ink system problem because of bad Roland ink in a non-warrantied machine... I'm certain that I'd be able to get Roland to cover any damage on MY customer's machine.
For what it's worth...
~E