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Buying new Printer..WHICH ONE?!!

NazGraphics

NazGraphics

New Member
go wit the muthoe i have the 1204 for the past 9 years knock on wood no major problems i use flexi pro 8 XP lol upgrading will cost $$$
 
NazGraphics

NazGraphics

New Member
BigfishDM said:
I sell printers and media for a living now for 20 years and I can tell you with confidence YOUR NOT READY FOR A PRINTER! Please feel free to call me if you want a breakdown, keep doing what your doing and grow that number to $15-20k a month then reconsider. There are so many things your not thinking of yet and that's just simply because you don't know what you don't know. There are some brilliant members in here and their advice is worth its weight in gold!
Click to expand...


hey i u doing hope all is well
before i got my first printer i had no clue i was outsourcing i could not offer over night banners print or decals
when i got my printer i was very happy and what i paid for the printer..it paid for it self in less then a year
having a printer sets you free from what i heard money is not an object :signs101:
 
0igo

0igo

New Member
buy a roland bro, i bought a mutoh its great and all but lots of headaches. print and cut on the same printer is where it is at. second youll get your money back. roland or any other print and cut you wont go wrong.
 
J

jolivaresh

New Member
I'm planing to buy a printer my self, I've been doing signs for about 4 years now... Started as amateur with no experience whatsoever, never work on a signs shop or anything. My average outsource printing jobs per year is $15k It might not be a lot but i think it is worth buying a printer now... why? because for people without experience on this type of equipment like my self have to learn a lot and you need to learn on your own, messing things up and start over again because no one will teach you how to do it. Yes it is a big investment but if you have tha time and money why not! if you have time do it your self, learn and your skills will approve, you will do it faster every time you do it, than if you get busy and dont have the men power out source it as the last resort.

One example, I used to outsource screen printing t-shirts because I didnt have the experience nor the equipment to do it my self. One day I decided to look for a good deal on screen printing equipment and I found it, bought it and trained my self on it. Now Im doing t-shirts like crazy and the equipment paid it self in less than a year... Yes!! I did wasted lots of materials, ink, shirts but Have not outsource a single order of t-shirts in one year, the waste reduced 95%.

I love this job and I think that having your own equipment is a symbol of progress and pride otherwise why buying a new car y the old one could take you to the same place!
 
C

ChaseO

Premium Subscriber
I'm going to put my 2 cents in. We purchased a slightly used Roland SP-300V many years ago (the printer just turned 10 years old this month and still gets used everyday) and didn't know if it would be beneficial to our business or not. We quickly learned that color frustrations and wasted ink/material was going to happen for a newbie and we weathered the storm. I'm about to purchase a new 64" printer as I know that I have the business to support it. I will likely still sub out a lot of the banner printing to 365, as their price is hard to compete with by the time they are hemmed with grommets. But the need for another printer is there for the quality control work and the immediate rush work. I think if you buy a printer, you will find yourself making good use of it and using it in place of cut vinyl in ways that you didn't think you would. My only word of caution is to dedicate some time early on to learn the machine, techniques and do some testing. Best of luck!
 
SoIllsignman

SoIllsignman

New Member
I REALLY appreciate the feed back...good and bad!

I was about to pull the trigger on a used printer for $6k plus driving 3.5 hours one way to pick it up. then Monday I got an email from Grimco
for a special they have on a Epson S30675. It is $7,995 delivered, set-up and training. They are making way for a newer model so the price was cut way down..or it is total crap
and I will regret this forever!

I will keep you guys updated on this adventure! THANKS!!

-So ILL (Tracy)

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact...44390&ch=241eacc0-cd98-11e3-ac66-d4ae52844390
 
BigfishDM

BigfishDM

Merchant Member
SoIllsignman said:
I REALLY appreciate the feed back...good and bad!

I was about to pull the trigger on a used printer for $6k plus driving 3.5 hours one way to pick it up. then Monday I got an email from Grimco
for a special they have on a Epson S30675. It is $7,995 delivered, set-up and training. They are making way for a newer model so the price was cut way down..or it is total crap
and I will regret this forever!

I will keep you guys updated on this adventure! THANKS!!

-So ILL (Tracy)

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact...44390&ch=241eacc0-cd98-11e3-ac66-d4ae52844390
Click to expand...


Which used model did you get??
 
P

player

New Member
That Epson is a smoking deal. Spend the extra $495 for print cut RIP.

I don't think the regular price would have been that high though.
 
ProColorGraphics

ProColorGraphics

New Member
I bought a new S70 about 6 months ago. I love it!! yes, they have had to replace the heads once. Technically, they were printing really good. I just am super picky about the nozzle checks, so they came out and replaced them. I think there was a 2 year warranty with the S30 sale, but I did get a 2 year warranty with mine. I would definitely buy another one. I am actually looking into the new S80 coming out in March.

I was using Caldera when I bought this, so I stuck with using that. I would too suggest getting the cutting plug as well.
 
anthony smith

anthony smith

New Member
Outsourse

I had a HP flatbed for 8 years was almost ready to pull the trigger on a mimaki flatbed
Started using signs 365 i do sometimes 7000.00 in a month and i will never own another flatbed with prices and timely shipping
that i get from them.
I still run 2 solvent printers and when i get behind i order adhesive and banners from 365
as they die off not sure i will replace
Slow down and really figure, bulk your orders together will save on shipping
but someone has to do the work and run the printer
spent that time selling, its all about what is left at the end of day
 
B

Brink

New Member
+1 on ecolsol not printing so good on paper. Looks terrible on regular paper as the dots migrate into soaked trough puddles and everything runs together. I had a roll of hp photo-paper left over from my HP500 experience. The prints looked great when I printed on my mimaki cjv30-160 using ecosol. After a day or two the ink (now a powder because it's dry) would wipe right off the paper.
 
G

greysquirrel

New Member
Don't be pressured because of a sale...after this one ends..HP will release another...

but being a startup...I would keep you in a latex...look at the 110...same as the 310 except...
400ml ink cartridges...self install.....very easy to do...comes with a rip in the box solution...and when you are busy enough to need a take up reel they are only $950...


normal cost per sq' production mode on 310,330, 370 $.20-.24/sq'. On the 110 it's .23-.26/sq'

same quality/resolution same PRINTHEADS same ink type same everything except smaller cartridges which by the sound of your workload should not be a problem...

buy out of state and no sales tax...free delivery from any reseller...
 
J

juf1an

New Member
i have a roland and a latex
7,000us its a very little money, but if you want to buy, i recomend you the roland, i have roland versa art 1,6mt.
 
grafixemporium

grafixemporium

New Member
TomK said:
I can't speak for the other printers, we went from a couple Gerber Thermals to the HP Latex directly, and I have no experience with the eco solvent printers. I was so happy to retire the Gerber printers!

With the HP, you will need 2 x 208V/20A power circuits.

I went with the HP Latex 310, after looking at the Roland's, (1) due to easier maintenance, (2) being able to laminate immediately, and (3) simple to operate, no mess, no fuss. The installer told me if I went with an eco solvent printer (he's serviced Roland's, Mimaki's, etc), that I would eventually have ink all over the floor/walls/surrounding the printer area, sort of funny.

The printing quality has been fine, however I am having issues dialing in proper colors for Red, Yellow, Orange, and Gray. I've got the red's just about fixed.

We do stickers, signs, and small prints, nothing super high quality in terms of color accuracy, so it hasn't been a real big problem for us.

I wish HP would release a Latex that would allow for 110V power and/or a smaller unit, if they did, I'd buy another one ASAP.

No regrets, but then again I'm not a big professional sign shop like many of the other members here.
Click to expand...

I have been running Roland eco solvent printers for over 8 years. There is not a single drop of ink on the floor, walls or anywhere else around the printer. They are totally low maintenance and low cost of ownership. We have an XR640 and a VP540. The XR640 is virtually maintenance free. I'm ready to buy another one this year. Best printer/plotter on the market IMO. Runs on a single 110. No fumes. No smell. No heat. Sets up super fast. The FREE Roland RIP works just fine. I still don't understand the urgency to jump to latex. Who wants to drop all that cash on Onyx? An Electrician? Print heads? Just so you can lam immediately? We are running prints for the day after tomorrow and the day after that usually anyway. Who needs to lam right away?

Still a die hard Roland fan until someone successfully convinces me otherwise. Many have tried.

Time to print the donuts!

Andrew
GFX Wraps
 
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