HP Latex 800W

[zspace]

There were a lot of issues with the Latex 800 when it launched. They seemed hit and miss. It’s kept me from upgrading our 570. Can anyone share more current experiences?

 

[balstestrat]

What do you want from it? It's got some things fixed and some that can't be fixed.
Anyway I rather recommend 700. The smaller heater a bit better but take-up then is a bit worse? I guess.

 

[zspace]

The old stories were about printers arriving broken, parts and service not available, lots of errors and failures with a lot of downtime. I’ve also noted that HP says it’s a brand new printer and not an upgrade to the 500 series and a few post had concerns that 700/800’s don’t work as well as the old series.

As I get close to needing an upgrade to my 570 I’m wondering if I need to keep repairing or if the 700/800s are now worth considering.

 

[bigben]

I have the 700w for 9 months now and love it so far. There was few minors problems but nothing to really shake our production schedule. With the last firmware update in august, everything is smoother. My last printer was a L260, so it's a big jump generations. For the take-up, I have an office chair just beside the printer and I can work on it very easily. The only complaint I have is I wish there was an option to create more patch when I create my profiles. If you print with alot of pantone match, there is many tweak to make.

 

[ikarasu]

How's your 570 working for you?

Our 560 was great. Went from a 110 to a 360 to 2x 560s... No issues with any.

Got a 700 - now panel length isn't as accurate - you can get it accurate by running some calibrations and only printing when it's on the take up reel... But that was never an issue for us on any of the other printers - that being said... It's been an issue for a ton of people.


The edge guards suck. They're useless, we've gone through half a dozen of them. You're not supposed to use them with reg material... And for the most part that's fine. But if you print on reflectives at all you need to... And they're so long so if the media does lift... Usually the carriage catches the guard and does 10x more damage.

The 560 was a better printer imo, at least it's was. It's coming to it until it dies

 

[darinmcd]

I went with the 800W several months back. I can't believe how easy it is to use. It basically does all the maintenance itself, heads are cheap & you can replace them yourself. The white heads come out when you are not running white to save on ink & head usage. Overall, it's my favorite printer out of any RTR that we've had in the past

 

[DerekB]

Hot TRASH! Bought a 800 to replace a 570, 3 MONTHS AGO. Annnnd I'm still running the 570. The vapor curtain is automated and broke, parts took 6 weeks to get. Now the ink lines came loose in the carriage rail and have to be re-set & replaced. This printer has only worked for maybe a week in 3 months. It is faster and more efficient, if it would only work. OH AND it doesn't print double sided!!!

Who has 2 thumbs and buyers remorse? This guy.

 

[zspace]

How's your 570 working for you?

Our 560 was great. Went from a 110 to a 360 to 2x 560s... No issues with any.

Got a 700 - now panel length isn't as accurate - you can get it accurate by running some calibrations and only printing when it's on the take up reel... But that was never an issue for us on any of the other printers - that being said... It's been an issue for a ton of people.


The edge guards suck. They're useless, we've gone through half a dozen of them. You're not supposed to use them with reg material... And for the most part that's fine. But if you print on reflectives at all you need to... And they're so long so if the media does lift... Usually the carriage catches the guard and does 10x more damage.

The 560 was a better printer imo, at least it's was. It's coming to it until it dies

Thanks for the feedback.

Our 570 has been a solid printer for 5+ years, but small failures are getting more frequent - fans, power supplies, etc. Most are inexpensive repairs but being down for a couple of days waiting on parts creates bottlenecks. My interest in changing is not because it's a bad printer, it's to reduce down time risks.

 

[Ehburls]

Hot TRASH! Bought a 800 to replace a 570, 3 MONTHS AGO. Annnnd I'm still running the 570. The vapor curtain is automated and broke, parts took 6 weeks to get. Now the ink lines came loose in the carriage rail and have to be re-set & replaced. This printer has only worked for maybe a week in 3 months. It is faster and more efficient, if it would only work. OH AND it doesn't print double sided!!!

Who has 2 thumbs and buyers remorse? This guy.

Oh great. Mine just went 2 days ago. Good to know I'll be waiting 6 weeks for a new motor. I managed a work around but its temping to just order 2 at this rate.

100% agree with your post. I had a 570 as well and I miss it now. Other than the print speed and general quality, I hate the 800 so so much.

 

[Nolan Ruppert]

A little late to the game here, but we have had 2 of the HP800W between our 2 locations. Nothing but nightmares from the start. We got it mainly because of the white capability and the 3 layer prints. We ended up returning one and buying 2 of the Epson R5070L. I would highly recommend the Epson for anyone that's looking for a good HP replacement that doesn't need the white. With our HP we had issues of panel lengths not matching up, color consistency was for the birds, vinyl waste was unbelievable, and there was so many little things we had to do to try to keep our print quality up to par. With the Epsons, there is nothing we need to do but hit print. Ink capacity on the L matches the HP800, and while print time may be a little slower, I know the end product will work. No more color shifting or random head strikes in the middle of the print. There are almost no little tricks that you have to learn to make this machine perform. We still have one HP because of the 3 layer printing for our back lit signs, but if Epson adds that capability to their printers we will be switching to that as soon as it proves itself!

 

[artofacks1]

A little late to the game here, but we have had 2 of the HP800W between our 2 locations. Nothing but nightmares from the start. We got it mainly because of the white capability and the 3 layer prints. We ended up returning one and buying 2 of the Epson R5070L. I would highly recommend the Epson for anyone that's looking for a good HP replacement that doesn't need the white. With our HP we had issues of panel lengths not matching up, color consistency was for the birds, vinyl waste was unbelievable, and there was so many little things we had to do to try to keep our print quality up to par. With the Epsons, there is nothing we need to do but hit print. Ink capacity on the L matches the HP800, and while print time may be a little slower, I know the end product will work. No more color shifting or random head strikes in the middle of the print. There are almost no little tricks that you have to learn to make this machine perform. We still have one HP because of the 3 layer printing for our back lit signs, but if Epson adds that capability to their printers we will be switching to that as soon as it proves itself!

So Epson doesn’t have white

 

[Nolan Ruppert]

So Epson doesn’t have white

They do say that you can add white to their SureColor printers, but it is a very milky white, and we have not found any practical applications to use it. Now that they have the resin printer out, we are hoping that they will be adding white to that in the near future! A white that will match HP's in opacity!

 

[parrott]

We went away from HP due to their business model and awful support. Best part…not having to deal with HP anymore. One of the most frustrating things I have ever experienced.

 

[LarryB]

I talked to a HP dealer and he said he doesn't sell the HP700 or HP800's anymore because of quality issues and having to deal with HP. He also said the same about the R1000 and R2000 hybrid flatbed printers.

 

[cornholio]

HP just started rolling out a Enhancement Kit for the 700/800, were all the frequently failing parts are replaced with redesigned parts.
Even printers out of warranty can be upgraded at HP's expense.

 

[Nolan Ruppert]

We went away from HP due to their business model and awful support. Best part…not having to deal with HP anymore. One of the most frustrating things I have ever experienced.

I agree they have been very hard to get service from even with our machines under warranty! But so far, we haven't found another roll to roll printer that offers 3 layer printing that will hold up in the weather for backlit signs like the HP800W does. We tried it on our CET flatbed, but those prints do not last long at all. HP does offer a really nice white, they just need to get bugs worked out before selling a machine, and then make sure to give the best service to keep guys satisfied and feel like they're trying.

 

[Nolan Ruppert]

HP just started rolling out a Enhancement Kit for the 700/800, were all the frequently failing parts are replaced with redesigned parts.
Even printers out of warranty can be upgraded at HP's expense.

I had not heard about this. I will definitely be checking it out though! We just purchased a second year of warranty because with as often as it breaks down we knew it'd be worth it sadly.

 

[artofacks1]

HP just started rolling out a Enhancement Kit for the 700/800, were all the frequently failing parts are replaced with redesigned parts.
Even printers out of warranty can be upgraded at HP's expense.

Really? When did that come out? Does it firm the head strikes?

 

[balstestrat]

Really? When did that come out? Does it firm the head strikes?

In the last few months. It has nothing to do with such an issue.
Basically they give you new ink lines, belt and drive roller encoder (some other stuff as well but doesn't make much difference to the machine).

 

[ToTo]

The kit changes a lot and stabilizes the units. But not everything. Few open points are not solved yet, but HP invests a lot on solutions. Hope to get more information soon.
New units are already factory-updated.