• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

Epson GS6000 & Mimaki JV33 comparison

HulkSmash

New Member
Yeah, that's my next worry, talk about adding insult to injury.

If i were you, i'd demand a new machine. Maybe it's a lemon. I know quite a few people who have the Epson who haven't had half the problems you have, and they've had it since it was released.
 

Letterbox Mike

New Member
I'm on the verge of it, especially after the new heads. My dealer is sending out their technician guy next week to spend a few days here to observe the problems first hand so if we need to go to Epson they can back me up. Epson's support has been good, they're very responsive, I'll say that, but it doesn't negate the fact that this sheeot shouldn't be happening.
 

Beyond 1

New Member
Epson gs6000

I received my epson around April... And it's the second version with the new green ink. The old one did damage to the heads I hear. I got this machine because I started doing alot of tradeshow graphics and POP signs. But your right loading the machine is very hard to keep the media straight. The trick I use is to bang the media on the floor to make sure its flush then pull out about 8' - 10' from the front then go from behind and slowly rewind the roll. I have a Mutoh Valuejet too and considering they make the GS6000 they have the same flaw. I don't use the GS for outdoor material!!! Mostly I'm afraid it will all fade away. THe yellow and orange I hear is the problem. Your right on one thing the color gamit is way way better. but if your color fades in less then a year who cares.

If you want a printer for indoor POP signs the GS6000 is the way to go... If you need a second printer that your using mostly for temp. signs go for it.... but if you need it for long term banners vehicle wraps, ect. Good Luck!!! Not taking that gamble.

Oh, plus the spit pads on those things only come in a set of 1 pad, 1 small cleaning solution, cheap gloves and some other small cleaning supplies all for the low cost of $85.00!!!!!!
 

Rooster

New Member
If you want a printer for indoor POP signs the GS6000 is the way to go... If you need a second printer that your using mostly for temp. signs go for it.... but if you need it for long term banners vehicle wraps, ect. Good Luck!!! Not taking that gamble.

If you want a printer for indoor POP stuff then grab a Canon iPF9100 or an HP z6100. Both are cheaper than a solvent printer with much better color gamuts. They might use 12 inks and you might balk at the idea of having to buy 12 separate inks, but what uses less ink? Printing red with 100Y, 100M, or just 100RED. Same goes with violet, green, etc. More to buy up front but less cost down the road.

Both come with some form form of built in color calibration and use thermal heads which print at higher speeds than piezo heads. Both machines also have user serviceable print heads.

You pay more for the medias since they have to be treated to accept the inks, but the cost difference between aqueous and solvent medias isn't as bad as it used to be.
 

Rooster

New Member
More or less disregard anything positive I said above about this printer.

As someone who owned many epsons before I bought my mimaki, I have to say this post doesn't surprise me.

They make pretty darn good print heads for low volume printers, but I would never bank on one for a high volume shop after all the problems I had with their aqueous machines. I was really surprised with the price point of the GS as I had expected it to come in much lower than it did. Epson's history is littered with disposable printers designed to sell service time and ink cartridges.

We never had a single Epson that didn't cost more in service in the first three years than we paid for the printer.
 

Mitro

New Member
Decision made. Thanks Insignia. I'll be calling my Mimaki dealer Monday morning to put in the order.
 

Rooster

New Member
Not making me feel better...

Don't feel too bad. They were the first large format printers I worked with and we had to run custom inksets for the giclee market and did many of the repairs and maintenance ourselves.

Looking back I'm sure much of the cost of service was due to our own learning curve and mistakes. There was one mainboard replacement I'm positive I cooked through my own error.

They were also aqueous machines and cost significantly less than the GS. So you'd have to run up quite the bill with a GS to spend more on service than your purchase.
 

boxerbay

New Member
Geez Insignia I truly think you got a banged up unit and that really stinks. Ours runs fine. Our outdoor prints are holding up fine. We're in Miami so the sun is "ON" high all the time. We've printed box trucks, outdoor banners w/no lam, realtor signs w/no lam, no complaints so far.
 

pbrid1

New Member
Don't do it!

Not making me feel better...
My Epson is down for the 2nd time in a year, spent $3000 last August and doing same thing now.
Tech has no clue what he is doing and Epson estimate the repair at over $3000, before he even saw the machine.:omg:
 

Happyprinter

New Member
We have had our GS 6000 going on 3 years. At first it was great. Print quality was exceptional and it ran like a work horse. 6 months into it we had to have a tech out to change both print heads. OK, undef warranty and Epson responded quickly. Fast forward to know. Took out the premium warranty. As of today we have been down one month. Epson had sent out 3 techs, after having to plead with them to honor their warranty service. Still no resolve to our issues. Won't lay down a solid green, cyan, or magenta. Called again today and requested a manager. Got the same old run around, we will look into it and get back to you. I really hate to say this because I was very impressed with Epson in the beginning but I will never purchase Epson again and am very disappointed in their failure to honor their warranty terms. A word of warning, don't buy Epson. And this is from someone who has had several over the years and always had nothing but good to say about them.
 
Top