HP L360 or Roland VersaExpress RF640

[dan1942]

We are in the market for a new machine our old Versacamm is on its last leg and I would like to bump up to a 64" machine. I have been researching a little about the Latex inks and it HP L360 seem like a nice machine. We print a little bit of everything from banners, Wall graphics (Photo-Tex), small stickers, and the occasional wrap.

My concern is that I would also have to purchase a RIP and also deciding on which one? Has anyone here gone from the newer Rolands to the L360 if so any pros or cons.
Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[evie]

roland vs hp

I just got back from the SGIA show in Vegas, I purchased a Roland RF 640. I was comparing it to the HP as well. I really like the latex, but for me, it wouldn't work. I print on styrene as much as all the other medias. The latex still can't print on the styrene, so I went with the eco sol. I spoke with a lot of people that have both machines. The biggest info that I heard was that the latex is perfect for the high end graphics, very small prints, jobs that are a rush (no out gassing)... But for the banners, and mostly the vehicle wraps, everyone that I spoke to said that they prefer the eco sol over the latex. One individual that does only vehicles, said that he gets more stretch marks out of the latex prints when wrapping, and none out of the eco sol. I use Onyx for my RIP on my GS6000, but I liked Flexi over Onyx. I will be switching to Versaworks next week when the new printer arrives. I hope this helps.

 

[P Wagner]

Who makes a styrene product that is direct printable on a roll-to-roll solvent printer?

 

[ProColorGraphics]

I went from a versacamm to a L25500, then to (2) L26500's. I would have a hard time going back to a solvent printer. I definitely dont miss all of the cleaning. I did do test prints of the Same file from both printers, the L25500 looked way better.

I actually have one of them up for sale as I want to upgrade one of them to the new L360.

I'd Also highly recommend Caldera for a rip!

 

[meritan]

I'm a HP 310 latex, and a Roland xc540 with eco solvent, HP latex with optimiser is better stratch resitence than eco solvent, is comparible with hard solvent, we make some wrapp car, and seem like laminated, but for short run roland is ideal,

 

[evie]

styrene

Who makes a styrene product that is direct printable on a roll-to-roll solvent printer?

I print on 020 styrene sheets 4'x8', on my GS 6000, I purchase them from N. Glantz I have never had a problem printing them.

 

[evie]

So many confusing things in this post.

Can you elaborate on what kind of styrene you're running on an eco sol roll to roll printer?

I can't comment on latex vs eco sol but from what I've seen and heard latex is the way to go for wraps and competes side to side with eco sol. A few of the members here that own the wrap market in their areas are running 2-3 latex printers and love them...so I would have to say the person telling you these things about latex may work for a Roland dealer. I know for sure banners off our Rolands sure as hell can't be handled that day otherwise they get scratched up.

There are pros and cons for both, just like anything else. In the end you make the decision to which one will work best for your application and workflow.

If you're going from ONYX to Versaworks.............. well good luck. I use both daily and I'm surprised the monitor for the versaworks RIP computer is still intact. VW crashes daily and has so many bugs and limitations it's not even funny. The old saying "you get what you pay for" definitely applies here if you catch my drift.

Anyways not trying to call you out but there was a ton of stuff in your post that didn't make sense to me. (I'm still really curious about what you're referring to about the styrene - I've tested every type of sheet stock I could get my hands on with our Rolands and besides cutting it I never found one that would accept the eco sol max ink)

I would love to have the latex as well, I was really impressed with the demo at the show, and I agree that I would be able to increase my time on everything that I would print. On the vehicle wraps, I spoke with someone that was just attending the show, and that was the info that he gave me. I do not have any first hand experience, because as I said, I do not print on latex, and was just comparing myself. On the styrene, I have never printed over 020, but no problems with 010 and 020. I use a banner profile, and wait a day to cut them. I was informed by the HP rep, that I would not be able to print the styrene on the latex, but that they were working on that. I do thousands of inserts for a beverage co., and have never heard of any issues from them either. I am switching to VW, just because it is made for the printer that I purchased. I don't know if I will have problems with it crashing, time will tell. I will still have the Onyx, so I will use whatever works best.

 

[dan1942]

Thanks for the replies and help! I am still trying to get to see the HP L360 in person, are people still using the latex for wraps ?? I spoke with a HP salesmen and stated that Solvent is still the better option for wraps, but he also stated he is not that familiar with vehicle wraps. What are some of the big wrap companies using?
Thanks!