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Suggestions Epson S40600 vs hp latex 115

S

Sabate

New Member
Hi everyone, new to this group.

I owned a screen printing shop, closed it for 2 years for medical reasons. Going to open it again.

Thinking of adding stickers, labels and high quality printable heat transfer vinyl. I´ve been quoting some machines and it got down to 2. The Epson S40600 and Hp latex 115. They are about the same price here in Mexico.

And sincerely I dont know into what I´m getting into. I cant figure out which one is the best choice. Dont know if anyone owns both and based on experience could give me an advise.

Tech support and dealer would be closer for the Hp latex 115.

Thanks a lot
 
Bly

Bly

New Member
You can sell more stickers without laminate using the latex.
The Epson inks are softer and more likely to scratch.
 
J

Jburns

New Member
How much detail do you anticipate for your decals? Ask the dealer to print samples of the same art file on each printer.

One printer prints smaller details better than the other
 
neutrinocv

neutrinocv

New Member
We have a S40600 and we're very happy with it. As Bly said, though, latex has a lesser need for lamination when it comes to protection. Another good point is the fine details that will output better on the Epson. Ease of getting service is an important factor to consider although on-site service has not been required on ours, so far. Maintenance of the Epson is pretty simple and minimal. If your printer will sit idle for many days in a row, the Epson will self-maintain; just leave turned ON and it can go without being used for a couple of weeks no problem. That's another thing to consider.

Purchase price is important but buying a machine that best suits your needs is even more important.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Stay safe.
 
BigfishDM

BigfishDM

Merchant Member
Sabate said:
Hi everyone, new to this group.

I owned a screen printing shop, closed it for 2 years for medical reasons. Going to open it again.

Thinking of adding stickers, labels and high quality printable heat transfer vinyl. I´ve been quoting some machines and it got down to 2. The Epson S40600 and Hp latex 115. They are about the same price here in Mexico.

And sincerely I dont know into what I´m getting into. I cant figure out which one is the best choice. Dont know if anyone owns both and based on experience could give me an advise.

Tech support and dealer would be closer for the Hp latex 115.

Thanks a lot
Click to expand...

Latex all the way, I can help you with all that you need or at least make make sure you are going the right direction. Reach out anytime 714-878-7989
 
A

Alebaba

Alebaba
I've owned the Epson S40600 for about 2.5 years and I have flirted with the idea of buying a latex printer. I had the same debate as you 2.5 years ago. Based on my experience through the years.

- colors: the print quality is much much higher on the Epson. The colors are much more alive. I have never done an apples to apples comparison but I have seen printouts of the HP Latex 115 at trade shows and they seem very dull.
- smell: the epson does release a strong odor if you are operating in a small room. My room for that printer is around 20 feet by 10 feet with two windows open at all times and the garage door half open. You cannot work in the same room with the printer running. You will get headaches. Epson 'claims' its not harmful for your heath. I doubt it. HP claims their latex tech is odorless. I have only seen it operating in large conference rooms and cannot smell a thing - but neither does the Epson. It comes down to the size of the room and ventilation.
- overnight printing: I do it with the Epson all the time. Never fails me.
- non-branded inks: if you want to go that route, its easier to go with Latex.
- machine build: I have inspected the latex at tradeshows. Seems like an oversized desktop printer. The parts look cheap, lots of plastic, very flimsy. The Epson is a much better build.
- software: the software that comes with the Epson (Onyx) is pretty much useless for anything other than printing. You will have to prepare all your files in Illustrator or equivalent and just use Onyx for printing (no modifications).

What part of Mexico are you at? If you are close to the border you can always get things shipped across the border and cross them yourself. I live in San Diego and used to run a printshop in Ensenada.

Cheers. Alex.
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
Bn20 sucks. It prints OK but the speeds are slow and your media is limited.

115 and Epson... As others have said, if you're not.going to laminate latex is the way to go.

If you're going to print every few days... Latex.

I have an s40 and a 560 - both have their uses and plusses. You won't go wrong with either.
 
Craig Keller

Craig Keller

New Member
[

U can laminate latex correct?


QUOTE="ikarasu, post: 1514153, member: 62582"]Bn20 sucks. It prints OK but the speeds are slow and your media is limited.

115 and Epson... As others have said, if you're not.going to laminate latex is the way to go.

If you're going to print every few days... Latex.

I have an s40 and a 560 - both have their uses and plusses. You won't go wrong with either.[/QUOTE]
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
You can. The latex is just more scratch resistant... So if you're not going to laminate it comes out ahead of the Epson.

They both pretty much do the exact same thing with very minor differences. Send your files to some vendors and ask for samples printed, see which you like more.
 
chester215

chester215

Just call me Chester.
Switched from latex to an Epson S40600 and I would not go back to a HP latex because of their end of support policies.
Colors are better.
Limited warm up and cool down time.
Speed is about the same as a L260 after it warms up.

The only thing i do not like is you have to manually cut the finished print off of the printer.

Overall I think the Epson is better.
 
balstestrat

balstestrat

Problem Solver
chester215 said:
Switched from latex to an Epson S40600 and I would not go back to a HP latex because of their end of support policies.
Colors are better.
Limited warm up and cool down time.
Speed is about the same as a L260 after it warms up.

The only thing i do not like is you have to manually cut the finished print off of the printer.

Overall I think the Epson is better.
Click to expand...
L260 is like windows XP and L300 is windows 7. It's a huge leap forward so it's a no brainer to compare that l260 to epson. You need to compare L100/300 to that.
And I also think that it's a bit lame to complain about that L260 cut that HP had to do as they could not continue selling the ink.

But other than this, everyone can decide which they like better. Just compare the current product.
 
chester215

chester215

Just call me Chester.
balstestrat said:
L260 is like windows XP and L300 is windows 7. It's a huge leap forward so it's a no brainer to compare that l260 to epson. You need to compare L100/300 to that.
And I also think that it's a bit lame to complain about that L260 cut that HP had to do as they could not continue selling the ink.

But other than this, everyone can decide which they like better. Just compare the current product.
Click to expand...

I can only give my honest opinion and comparisons about things i have actually had experience with.
We are not a huge commercial print shop with several printers, we have just 1 working printer.
I can still purchase third party latex inks for my paperweight printer. Are these inks illegal??
 
balstestrat

balstestrat

Problem Solver
chester215 said:
I can only give my honest opinion and comparisons about things i have actually had experience with.
We are not a huge commercial print shop with several printers, we have just 1 working printer.
I can still purchase third party latex inks for my paperweight printer. Are these inks illegal??
Click to expand...
Well first of all we don't know what is inside of those 3rd party inks so who knows.
Secondly I don't think this ban is in place in US.
I guess technically somewhere else you could have "illegal" ink. The biggest issue is for the big companies who of course need to follow the regulations and can't use the banned compound.
 
S

Stinky Prints

New Member
As an owner of a Latex 365 for a few years now, overall works pretty good. Tons of head strikes, as material left in the machine when cold tends to conform to the shape of the output platen and will get in the way of the printhead when turning on the machine, but seems to bounce back.. and heads are only $135 apiece. If you want good resolution on vinyl (stickers and such) I would NOT buy an HP Latex, the resolution is garbage. If you are printing stuff that will adhere to the 10 foot rule (signs, banners, etc) it's a good machine. One of our local competitors does a ton of stickers and uses a solvent based machine (epson I think) and their quality is far better than ours. We have seen slightly better resolution on canvas, guessing the latex ink tends to bead up on vinyl but will adhere properly to the canvas.

If anyone out there has suggestions on obtaining clean fills and crisp text on stickers and smaller items on vinyl on an HP Latex 365, I'm all ears. We typically use Orajet 3258 and HP Prime Air vinyl for much of our print and cut items. Good luck!
 
balstestrat

balstestrat

Problem Solver
Stinky Prints said:
As an owner of a Latex 365 for a few years now, overall works pretty good. Tons of head strikes, as material left in the machine when cold tends to conform to the shape of the output platen and will get in the way of the printhead when turning on the machine, but seems to bounce back.. and heads are only $135 apiece. If you want good resolution on vinyl (stickers and such) I would NOT buy an HP Latex, the resolution is garbage. If you are printing stuff that will adhere to the 10 foot rule (signs, banners, etc) it's a good machine. One of our local competitors does a ton of stickers and uses a solvent based machine (epson I think) and their quality is far better than ours. We have seen slightly better resolution on canvas, guessing the latex ink tends to bead up on vinyl but will adhere properly to the canvas.

If anyone out there has suggestions on obtaining clean fills and crisp text on stickers and smaller items on vinyl on an HP Latex 365, I'm all ears. We typically use Orajet 3258 and HP Prime Air vinyl for much of our print and cut items. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Give a try to this new UniDir print mode.

https://signs101.com/threads/uni-dir-printmode-for-l300-series.162884/

You won't ever get it perfect because of how the ink and hardware is designed. The nozzles tend to shoot the drops next to each other rather than the same exact spot. In the new gen4 latex the nozzle is kind of 8-shape and it's a little better on that.
 
TomK

TomK

New Member
Stinky Prints said:
As an owner of a Latex 365 for a few years now, overall works pretty good. Tons of head strikes, as material left in the machine when cold tends to conform to the shape of the output platen and will get in the way of the printhead when turning on the machine, but seems to bounce back.. and heads are only $135 apiece. If you want good resolution on vinyl (stickers and such) I would NOT buy an HP Latex, the resolution is garbage. If you are printing stuff that will adhere to the 10 foot rule (signs, banners, etc) it's a good machine. One of our local competitors does a ton of stickers and uses a solvent based machine (epson I think) and their quality is far better than ours. We have seen slightly better resolution on canvas, guessing the latex ink tends to bead up on vinyl but will adhere properly to the canvas.

If anyone out there has suggestions on obtaining clean fills and crisp text on stickers and smaller items on vinyl on an HP Latex 365, I'm all ears. We typically use Orajet 3258 and HP Prime Air vinyl for much of our print and cut items. Good luck!
Click to expand...
I couldn't agree with this more! We use our HP late for anything not viewed close up, like signs and such. We recently added a UCJV300 to our shop for stickers and anything that is viewed close up, and I have to say - the quality off the UCJV compared to the HP Latex is so much better. Latex will keep a spot in our shop for anything that isn't viewed close up, but all of our stickers and things viewed within a few feet or less now gets printed on the UCJV300.

The white and varnish options on the UCJV are also pretty amazing and the things you can do with multi-layer prints is a game changer too.
 
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