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Going To See an Agfa in Action

SignManiac

New Member
It looks to be middle of the road in production speed. I can't recall who it was but recently I thought I heard it was a good machine.

Any idea what the price is on it? Also, how is the media transported? belt or hopefully not a grit wheel.
 

Signco Inc

General Manager
The price is around 80k for the 4 color. They know they are up against the Ion that has some huge discounts right now so they are throwing in some of the things that are normally extras. As for the media feed it has a belt and vacuum table. I like the idea of the gantry better, but this machine has a smaller picoliter head which should translate to better quality.
 

SignManiac

New Member
this machine has a smaller picoliter head which should translate to better quality.


Absolutely! I liked the ION concept but the print heads printed at a very large picoliter size. Everything looked screen printed. Ok for signs but I wouldn't be happy with photographs up close.
 

Signco Inc

General Manager
We are in the process of a major purchase. A flatbed, a mimaki jv33-160 and a laminator. We have been doing alot of research on the ion and the agfa once we see that agfa in action I'm sure the owner will have his mind made up one way or the other. We have Vegas in two weeks and then we begin preparing for the next step of the company. It's a very exciting time for us. Were are a full service sign company that always danced that fine line between small family company and a large corporation.
 

klmiller611

New Member
We received our Agfa Anapurna Mv in December. I believe that it is similar to the M4, if you would like to chat, feel free to pm me.

Best
Ken
 

Delivery Signs

New Member
Agfa Anapurna

We received our Agfa Anapurna Mv in December. I believe that it is similar to the M4, if you would like to chat, feel free to pm me.

Best
Ken


Hi Ken can you recommend the Agfa Anapurna I'm trying to decide what to by any feedback Its appreciated ( gerber Ion x or agfa anapurna M4F)

Daniel Quiroz (Delivery Signs)
 

klmiller611

New Member
Anapurna

Hi Ken can you recommend the Agfa Anapurna I'm trying to decide what to by any feedback Its appreciated ( gerber Ion x or agfa anapurna M4F)

Daniel Quiroz (Delivery Signs)

Hey Daniel

Based on our experience, now at 16 months on the Mv. I'd say certainly yes. Ours had a few minor teething pains, but all that was fixed, service was fast and knowledgeable. I'd be glad to show ours to anyone who is in the area, or comes to western Virginia.

Based on what I looked at, we originally ordered an Ion, but before ours was shipped, I kept hearing about problems with the ion, then finally got some print samples from my own files. I was not impressed. We went to look again at SGIA and it came down to the Agfa or the Fuji. The Agfa won due to its pricing, about 30K less. The Fuji did have the white ink, but I did not see the value in it for our applications.

I'll be glad to go into more details on the Agfa if you want to PM me, and I can respond at some length.

Best
Ken
 

klmiller611

New Member
Fuji

The Acuity with white ink. It was about 160K if I recall correctly. It was nice, the samples were great, the reds vivid. However, it did seem to put down a fairly heavy coat of ink. I was also concerned about the usability, and maintenance of a white ink.
 

ejeffe

New Member
Océ Arizona / Fujifilm Acuity ink consumption

Vendor Disclaimer! Jeff Edwards of Océ here.

In response to klmiller611's speculation that the Acuity "did seem to put down a fairly heavy coat of ink" I thought I'd clarify the question of ink consumption on these printers.

We (Océ) actually monitor ink consumption over a sample set of more than 120 printers worldwide, from all types of customers. We can state with 100% certainty that all models of Océ Arizona printers (and their Fujifilm Acuity cousins) consume a total of 1 ml of ink per square foot of printed output on average (11 ml/square meter) including all maintenance. This is the lowest of any UV printer on the market and amounts to approximately $0.16 per square foot.

This consumption rate has been measured over millions of printed square feet, over a period of 3+ years, using hundreds of thousands of real jobs. It is not a theoretical average produced by R&D and qualified with all sorts of creative marketing language. It is real.

The ink looks "heavy" because it is very smooth in its finish and has very high saturation levels (gamut) due to the excellent density these printers produce, not because it uses a lot of ink. It simply doesn't.
 

klmiller611

New Member
Hey Jeff

My comments on a heavy coat of ink was not intended as a comment on cost of ink, but the tactile feel. I could actually feel a difference in the inked areas vs. actual board. As I said, we liked the color reproduction, it seemed like a great machine. However, $30K more in price was a bit more than we needed or wanted to invest at that point.
Ken
 

seaserpent

New Member
Gerber Ion owner for 10 months. Very happy with purchase. Some issues all along, but quick response by Gerber service. Yes, large picoliter ink drops produce grainier prints. New ion Z model is incredibly better, but not yet released. Talked to Gerber President at Orlando show and should be ready soon for release. Also, future looks good for faster printing. Hopefully next model. Quality of the Z print is beautiful. Ion is easy and reliable. Bottom line for our purposes is the ink sticks and lasts on the materials we need to print daily: corrugated plastic, aluminum sheet, plastics (extruded) and magnet. Phenomenal adhesion and elasticity. I'm still happy despite all the rumors of ion being a problem. Looking forward to the next generation of the ion.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
We have a Dilli, which is an Agfa, by a different name..... the original name. It is now marketed in the USA as Agfa. Ours is 6 color, 63" wide and unlimited length and we print on everything. PVC, Cor-X, glass, acrylic, MDO [with difficulty], gator, magnetic, carpeting and I'm sure there's more things we can do, but we haven't finished figuring it our. Myself and the guys are extremely happy with our purchase.

It came in February 3rd and we'll have it completely paid off in two more weeks. We got a great deal and are using it sometimes round the clock. It's a brute and does just about everything they told us it would do.

The really nice thing is we can print from edge to edge in both directions. My old supplier .... in order to print a 4' x 8' had to start with a 5' x 10'. Our real problem is storing everything flat now. We've always stored our substrates and things on end, but that puts a certain amount of stress on the bottom creating an ever so slight bow and these flatbeds don't tolerate any bowing.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Hybrid. However, we got extra roller tables and it's a gantry that goes back and forth and the media comes through on a conveyor belt with a nice bit of vacuum to keep it flat.

neotitan.jpg


http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/3144/mov03635.mp4


It's printing onto modified acrylic.
 
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