HP FB750 and FB550 - What's new?

[nate]

Wow... what is this? Kirk vs Picard? iOS vs Android? PC vs Mac? I stand by my opinion as I own both machines. If anyone would like to come see both in action, send me a PM and you can see for yourself.

For those of you that haven't used one or the other, I really fail to see how you can make a valid opinion...

 

[jasonx]

Does anyone know if they are using the same heads?

The print resolutions look the same. The print resolution for the heads look the same.

The only way they are going to achieve faster print speeds are wider passes or faster carriage movement.

We had an FB700 for two years. Upgraded to a Swiss Q. Can't compare the two they are on different levels.

Would be good if HP had a mid range option around the 500k mark.

At the moment their portfolio consists of FB700 and then FB10000 which is a huge step up.

 

[ChrisN]

Does anyone know if they are using the same heads?

The print resolutions look the same. The print resolution for the heads look the same.

The only way they are going to achieve faster print speeds are wider passes or faster carriage movement.

HP sales guy told me they are the same heads as on the FBx00 printers. They supposedly moved the heads closer together to get better alignment, and just upped the carriage speed for faster print speeds. With the drop size the same as our over 5 year old Anapurna M4f, I'm not too impressed.

 

[chafro]

Does anyone know if they are using the same heads?

The print resolutions look the same. The print resolution for the heads look the same.

The only way they are going to achieve faster print speeds are wider passes or faster carriage movement.

We had an FB700 for two years. Upgraded to a Swiss Q. Can't compare the two they are on different levels.

Would be good if HP had a mid range option around the 500k mark.

At the moment their portfolio consists of FB700 and then FB10000 which is a huge step up.

Hi jason, same heads, I asked at signexpo a couple of weeks ago. how has the Swissq been doing? Ours has been printing none stop, love this thing. By the way if you have the big lamps, I have been only using one lamp to print, save on them and get a nice glossy look, don't know if you have try it. Even at low passes it works. Other day did a 4 day marathon 24-7 720x540 Coro at one pass, no banding! We don't usually print this way but this guy wanted speed, to my surprise quality was very good.

 

[jkline]

Need to decide between CET500 or OCE Arizona 460GT

i wouldn't trust CET either, yet.

As I said FB's are solid printers, it has been proven. But it has stayed behind in quality and speed for the dollar, drops are to big and the printer is slow and bands very easy if you try to speed it up. OCE, Vutek, Durst, swissqprint has good options with quality the FB's won't get close. FB's are good investments but there are some other good options in the market.

So we are at the point to choose CET or OCE. We are looking more for quality print-simple to use and NOT mass production. We have seen multiple demos and like both. But main thing after quality of print then is quality of the machine/tech support/durability/simplicity of operation and software, maintenance etc.
Would love feedback!
Thanks.

 

[chafro]

So we are at the point to choose CET or OCE. We are looking more for quality print-simple to use and NOT mass production. We have seen multiple demos and like both. But main thing after quality of print then is quality of the machine/tech support/durability/simplicity of operation and software, maintenance etc.
Would love feedback!
Thanks.

Hello, what is your buget?

 

[jkline]

Need to decide between CET500 or OCE Arizona 460GT

Hello, what is your buget?

Both are in our budget, seems like the OCE would be approx 20G's more

 

[chafro]

Both are in our budget, seems like the OCE would be approx 20G's more

i would choose Oce over CET. I advise you to go demo both or at least send YOUR files to both companies so they give you sample prints of the same files.

We were looking exacly for the same things you are but with a bit more speed. We went with the swissqprint Impala with 2X CMYK.

I think you should look at their oryx and impala printers if you havent. They fit perfectly your description.

 

[jkline]

Need to decide between CET500 or OCE Arizona 460GT

i would choose Oce over CET. I advise you to go demo both or at least send YOUR files to both companies so they give you sample prints of the same files.

We were looking exacly for the same things you are but with a bit more speed. We went with the swissqprint Impala with 2X CMYK.

I think you should look at their oryx and impala printers if you havent. They fit perfectly your description.

Ya we have done multiple visits with both and used our own files and even our own materials. Satisfied with both. We are learning this from step one, no experience, so also want simplicity and tech support loyalty too. We always farmed are direct print out and want to bring back in house.

 

[Firefox]

Old thread but I thought I would add to it.

I just installed a new FB 550 this past week. Yes the heads are installed right next to one another, as opposed to gaps between colors found on the FB500.

The roll holder is not available without purchasing the roll to roll option but rolls can be placed on the input table rollers and fed into the machine without too much trouble. You need to watch it though as the roll gets smaller and lighter it can be pulled onto the belt. Also rolls of magnetic don't want to unroll easily and need constant attention and help unrolling!

Changing out the white ink option, going either way uses up about 380ml of ink! Very costly to swap out. Putting in a brand new $500 2L box of White ink used up 15% of the box just to flush out the lc and lm! It looks like leaving the white ink in the machine doubles the maintenance schedules so leaving it in is not cost effective unless you are running White jobs at least every week or two.

So far I am impressed with it's image quality and productivity... but then this is my first FB!

 

[ForgeInc]

If anyone is interested in a FB700, we just posted an ad for a used one - take a look in the classifieds section.

 

[Snook]

Is your flatbed still available?

 

[nate]

Is your flatbed still available?

I've got one that is for sale.