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Hp Latex compared to Roland versaart re 640

MIMO

New Member
I don't know about issues with banner material. I print ours at 6-pass all day long without any curing or wrinkling issues.

For roll-ups, yeah we used to use a Sihl product, worked great with our JV3, not so much the the L25. We have switched to a silver-back film and it prints great.

You're doing a lot better than me then on banner. What's your preferred PVC banner?
 

HulkSmash

New Member
nice part about latex. inks run out, you realize it a while later, replace it starts printing, no line whatsoever. ecosol, you wait 10000000000th of a second, and you get a line.

this is very true. I love the fact i can replace my ink in the middle of a print without it getting a line in it.
 

lazaros

New Member
Lazaros,

I live in Nicosia for three years way back when. I would imagine YOU are going to responsible for most of the service on your printer?

If so, buy the HP. It is much easier to service than a mild solvent ink printer.

Good printing

heh! You know how things are in cyprus... no real tech support therefore i am going to be responsible for the most part of the servicing. same thing happened with my epson 9800. I am printing for 6 years now and I only called for support once to change the capping station.
 

lazaros

New Member
I like the HP's ink train because it uses one cart for both heads. HP inks are also MUCH cheaper than Roland inks. Nearly half the cost.

How about the cost of the printheads as a consumable jack? How does it compare to the rolands(or any eco solvent printer) when you factor in the cost of the print heads?

Need I mention that the HP prints on fabric? My fabric prints on the rolands are not great.

I am keeping the rolands here at the shop, and love them still. However, you need to stay current in this business or step aside for the next guy to take your place.

So the eco solvent machines do print on fabric also just with a degraded quality?
 

tomence

New Member
How about the cost of the printheads as a consumable jack? How does it compare to the rolands(or any eco solvent printer) when you factor in the cost of the print heads?

If you take care of any eco solvent printer no matter what brand, the printhead will last forever it could go up to 7-10 years.


So the eco solvent machines do print on fabric also just with a degraded quality?

I have printed on fabric and it came out nice, not as nice as the HP since i have seen their samples but better than the old Rolands.
 

lazaros

New Member
If you take care of any eco solvent printer no matter what brand, the printhead will last forever it could go up to 7-10 years.

When you say take care of i take it you mean regular head cleaning? How about if i were to use inks that are cheaper than the original, would that lower the life expectancy of the print head tom?
 

tomence

New Member
When you say take care of i take it you mean regular head cleaning? How about if i were to use inks that are cheaper than the original, would that lower the life expectancy of the print head tom?

Yes regular cleanings, changing wipers etc. If you were to use aftermarket inks
i think that would lower the life of the printhead and other parts.

Whatever you buy good luck with your purchase since you don't have any techs in your area. Both printers come with warranty right, so what if something brakes who would honor the warranty.
 

lazaros

New Member
I have printed on fabric and it came out nice, not as nice as the HP since i have seen their samples but better than the old Rolands.

Yes regular cleanings, changing wipers etc. If you were to use aftermarket inks
i think that would lower the life of the printhead and other parts.

Whatever you buy good luck with your purchase since you don't have any techs in your area. Both printers come with warranty right, so what if something brakes who would honor the warranty.

The warranty is honored by the company who does the sale. None of the companies that sell the machines though have their own techs as far as i know. To my knowledge there are 2 maybe 3 technicians, for this kind of machines in the whole of cyprus they work independendly and if i am informed correctly they charge an arm and a leg!

I do hope i'm wrong on the last part though...
 

jayhawksigns

New Member
How about the cost of the printheads as a consumable jack? How does it compare to the rolands(or any eco solvent printer) when you factor in the cost of the print heads?

Just fine. We are not a high volume shop like some of the users here, but in 14000ml of ink so far I have only had to replace one printhead. And that took me all of 2 minutes and I was printing again. If your printhead needs replaced on an eco-solvent you have to wait for the tech to show up (if you don't do it yourself) and then have a much larger bill to pay for the head itself.

I think we replaced 4 heads on our JV3 in nine years. At the cost we were paying for the head and tech service we can buy a lot of HP heads and replace them ourselves.
 

Jack Knight1979

New Member
I burned through a lot of heads when I was using Triangle ink. 1-2 a year. Now I'm on solaris and I haven't changed a head in years. However. My yellow is getting old, and has a scratch in it. The head still works, but my printing suffers at times.

If the head was a 100 dollars, I'd would have replaced it a year ago. The head is not a thousand dollars bad at this point.

I'm tech savvy and can do all my own printer maintenance on my Rolands. My father in law has replaced transistors on the head boards, traced all kinds of electrical component problems. I love this about a Roland. I can fix a 1600 dollar board with a 7 dollar part. You won't have that luck with an HP.

I'm keeping my rolands, but adding a latex as well. I think the operating cost is the same between the two.

I want no-odor and instant dry.
 

lazaros

New Member
Finally i ordered the roland re-640.
Thank you everyone for your input, it has been very helpful.
I based my decision mainly on price. The HP rep here asked for 21000 euros which comes to 27 000 dollars against the roland 17000.
As i found out the ink is cheaper for the HP(comparing original inks), and the local HP rep was charging a bit more for the inks to cover the replacemets of the printheads as well, which i found a good deal. the print heads are supposed to be changed every 3-4 sets of ink cartridges used.

overall both machines offer very good quality and are dependable. my decision came down to price.

So again thank you all for your advice and the very helpful discussion!
 

tomence

New Member
That is crazy what they are charging over there for the HP.

Why are you surprised, even here in the states if you are a new business and don't have any good relationship with any dealer you would pay more than $22000 or so including the RIP for a new L26500.
 

TSG

New Member
I'm liking how the HP sounds...But whats the deal with banner material...As far as banner material goes, all i really run is 13oz type banner...Is it true there are heat and curl issues running this material with the HP?
 

tomence

New Member
I'm liking how the HP sounds...But whats the deal with banner material...As far as banner material goes, all i really run is 13oz type banner...Is it true there are heat and curl issues running this material with the HP?

You gonna have to buy it to find out for yourself.
 
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