How much time does a vinyl cutter will stay competitive ?

[Eduardo Castro]

e.g.

I want to buy a Summa D75 cutter. My question here is: How much time will the Summa be able to stay competitive in the market ? When will be the time to get rid of the machine and get another machine ?

Hope I made myself clear.

 

[Jburns]

for a Summa, 10 years or more if you treat it well.

 

[FrankW]

The current S-Class Plotters are introduced to the market in 2005. They got a colour touch screen, a network interface and faster electronics in 2013, but the main features including OPOS-Sensor and functionality, cutting speed and quality, tracking and so on are staying the same.

The mayor risk you take for a need to replace your cutter early is the width of 75cm. With this width, you have restrictions for cutting full width vinyl rolls, and contour cutting regular sized digital prints too.

 

[ams]

I've had my Roland GX-24 for over 7 years now and it's still a current machine.

 

[letterman7]

I can't even remember when I bought my T750 from Summa. It's been at least 17 years, if not more. The only "maintenance" I've done is replace the head last year... still tracks and cuts flawlessly.

 

[Johnny Best]

I also have a Summa T750 for a long time and just keep it clean, never replaced anything on it and still works great.

 

[Chasez]

We've got a s160T for about 10 years now and it still works as well as day 1. We've probably cut 500+ full rolls of material on it with no issues. On a side note, is there a way to tell how many linear ft you have run through the s160T?

Chaz

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I've had my Roland GX-24 for over 7 years now and it's still a current machine.

Same here. Does appliqué and patchwork constantly. I know some didn't care for that model, but it's been good to me, so I can't complain.

 

[papabud]

i have an older graphtec cutter. its even listed as a legacy device. it still cuts great. cutters are such simple machines they can last almost forever if you take care of them.

 

[Johnny Best]

I have owned a Gerber, Roland Camm1, Ioline, Graphtec, and now a Summa, which is the nicest out of those for durability and accuracy.

 

[rjssigns]

It will probably last longer than you want to keep working. My D610 needs two pinch rollers after a couple decades of use. I imagine our new D140R will be the same.

 

[Gene@mpls]

I have two T750s, 21 and 13 years old, just opened one up this week [newer one oddly]. I kinda thought the OP was asking how long the cut vinyl business is going to be viable, in which case I would say about 10 years ago. Still cut a fair amount of solid color vinyl but that is not where the money is.

 

[signage]

It will probably last longer than you want to keep working. My D610 needs two pinch rollers after a couple decades of use. I imagine our new D140R will be the same.

I wouldn't put my money on the newer one lasting as long as the old one did.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

I've had my Roland GX-24 for over 7 years now and it's still a current machine.

6 years for us with the GX-24. Great machine for a fantastic price.

 

[rjssigns]

I wouldn't put my money on the newer one lasting as long as the old one did.

Show me the data that proves your statement.

 

[T_K]

Show me the data that proves your statement.

It's called "planned obsolescence". If you make a product that can last forever, people only buy 1 and you have to charge an arm and a leg to cover costs. If you give it an artificial lifespan, you can sell cheaper crap and they keep coming back for more. This idea has been around for a century, I think, but it's gained more and more traction as the decades passed. Anecdotally, this is why I have some of my granddad's tools that are amazing - solid metal construction, low maintenance, and nearly unbreakable. But I buy the contemporary model of the same brand, and it lasts only a few years at most. I'm still trying to figure out how I can unburden my dad of the rest of my granddad's power tools so I don't have to buy the new stuff.