HP 5000 UV - is it worth it?

[UB Studios]

Newbie question here in regards to the HP 5000 UV.

I'm considering making an impulse decision and buying a 60in HP 5000 UV as my first printer. Its $2500, like new w/ 2 yr warranty and extras (a few new inks & printheads + 2rolls of paper). Ive seen a test print and everything works fine, print came out yellowish but was told it needs to be calibrated.

My Questions:

1) is this a good deal for the printer? Or am I getting shammed? I havent found anything close to this deal on ebay or locally.

2) Currently outsourcing local I pay $3sqft for vinyl prints, I believe this purchase would drop my cost to $.50sqft? am I way off the true cost?

3) I will mainly be doing indoor banner prints and photo enlargements with the occasion outdoor banner. How long would an outdoor prints with mild direct sunlight last before it fades? I saw a post saying a few hours while another quoted HP's statement of 5 yrs lol.

Any help/advice would be great!!!

 

[Billct2]

The price is good, but I would make sure it's running correctly, caliobrating takes 5 minutes, they could've done it while you watched.
Outdoor banners (without laminating)will last a few months before fading.

 

[Brandon708]

I would say that the printer is priced right, not low or high. How many inks and print heads are you getting? Those are are around $200 each depending on where you get them.

Cost to print on it depends on what material you are printing on. Ink Cost per sf is about $0.39

Before you buy it I would ask them to print out the usage report so you can see how much material and inks have been run through it.

Check this thread to see what others have been through. http://www.signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71206

 

[UB Studios]

Bill, thanks for the estimate.

Brandom, each ink in the printer is at 90% and it comes with an extra printhead for each color and 1 extra ink for light magenta amd cyan I think.

I don't think he knows how to calibrate, and neither do I to be honest. Hes an older fellow who bought it for a few simple signs for his business and took great care of it. Regardless cant let the look deceive me, Ill ask for a usage report and try to find some calibration instructions.

Any idea where I can find hp vinyl rolls at a good price so I could do a quick actual cost breakdown. For ink I more or less figure it's 1sqft per 1ml of ink. is there a better way to estimate this? I don't know what the lifespan of each ink is

 

[Brandon708]

Grimco for media.

If you print a couple things a day then the each ink can easily last you over a year or more.

 

[BigfishDM]

I would say yes its a great buy, I just sold one though and we are having some issues getting it dialed in for the client.

 

[CropMarks]

They are alright machines... very similar to a 5500. Heads are cheap and you can sometimes pick them up on ebay pretty cheap.

The only thing I would warn you about is the cost of media. banner stock can run anywhere from .60 to above a dollar per sq ft. The print quality is pretty good, but be super careful with the prints (especially banner) they love to scratch. It doesn't sound like much (maybe an average of .85 for banner) but it really adds up and you're pretty limited. As soon as I converted our FJ-540 to eco-sol.... we've printed more now than ever. And it sure is nice to pick up a 54" x 120' roll of gloss banner for $105 and my color looks better than ever! If you're looking for a cheaper converted solvent machine I think Dave at www.solventprinterconversion.com has a couple of machines he is working on right now.