Canon 135 is budget option. It prints very well, but:
1. It's slow.
2. There is one head per color, ie. if there is a clogged nozzle and solid colors it will be visible.
3. IJC 357 is a really very good ink, with very good adhesion, but it is more expensive than Mimaki's. There is a reason.
It is good for small production when there is no rush.
Canon 1360 CMYK WW or WV or 1380 +LmLc.
With new flow table it is good decision. Or without. Doesn't matter.
Middle speed, more heads. The ink is same and it is very good for plastic, glass, wood and etc.
The white IJC357 is really a very solid white.
At our clients, we currently have
1 - 135, 2 - 1300GT, 1 - 2360GT, 2360XT(because you ask for this models). and no problems for the 3rd year already.
Canon printers do not have special maintenance. You can print 24 hours.
4. Toshiba heads are very, very strong heads. We have printers
at customers with heads that are 10 years old.
If needed, you can use a very cheap version of these heads.
If the budget is not enough you can buy a used 1300 or I recommend the 2300.
It will be around or a little over 3 years old. The price will be about half of your budget. Depend of seller and moment
.
Just start from somewhere. 2260 is also a good solution. It's just that the lamps are mercury and there is temperature and the lamps is consumable.
This is just my opinion, but I don't know the business in Australia. I'm in Europe.
In the end ...
All machines have their pros and cons.
Choose a supplier, not the machine
.
If you need fast production at full size table, I'm fan of the Arizona 6170. Very fast printer. Now the model is still alive but like Arizona Mark II.
For one table 3x2.50 will need 5 min. printing time. The new one cost a lot of money. The used - no. Again ... very strong printer.
You can find 6170 with 500k printed sq. meters. After something like this the Mimaki's, or Chinese printer, would have long ago disintegrated.
Again ... This is just my opinion like tech with more than 12 years experience.
