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Suggestions HP SCitex fb750 VS CET Q5-500h
- Thread starter TheBoxMan
- Start date
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
We print on cardboard with our FB all the time. Even billboard mode looks great and it spits sheets out rapidly.
flyplainsdrifta
New Member
it'd probably depend on size restrictions but as 2ct said, fb does great with boxes. never been an issue here.
Thanks for the response.
Thanks for the response.
Thanks for the replies everyone. We are purchasing a Kongsberg cutting table to pair with one of these printers as well. This is quite an expensive investment for us. The CET printer comes in almost 40k less than the HP printer. Is the HP worth spending the extra money on or do you think the CET printer would be fine? We plan on doing small production runs with the printer and cutting table. Maybe 50 or so printed boxes at a time.
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
Why get a esko then? You can save a lot of money with a low production need on other tables.
That is very true. The Esko table will be a workhorse for our company. A lot of our production runs will not have print, which is why we want to save on the purchase of the printer. We will use the Esko table to cut triple wall board at times and we are getting it set up to cut foam as well. There wasn't really any other brand of table that we found that could meet our variety of needs while being able to run 10+ hours a day.
flyplainsdrifta
New Member
the zund is an amazing machine, if you haven't taken a look at that i suggest doing so. they are absolute workhorses.
Robert Gruner
New Member
Boxman,
The HP FB750 is right up your alley for your application. The Esko is a very nice flatbed cutter, as is the Zund. However, I would implore you to look closely at the new Summa F1832 Flatbed cutter. It will do everything the Esko or Zund will do at a lower price point.
I notice you are located in Florida. I would suggest you conside attending the ISA Show in Orlando, March 22-24 and see the HP FB750 along with all the other competitive printers. Likewise you will get the opportunity to see the new Summa F1832 as well as Esko and Zund offerings.
Robert Gruner
The HP FB750 is right up your alley for your application. The Esko is a very nice flatbed cutter, as is the Zund. However, I would implore you to look closely at the new Summa F1832 Flatbed cutter. It will do everything the Esko or Zund will do at a lower price point.
I notice you are located in Florida. I would suggest you conside attending the ISA Show in Orlando, March 22-24 and see the HP FB750 along with all the other competitive printers. Likewise you will get the opportunity to see the new Summa F1832 as well as Esko and Zund offerings.
Robert Gruner
flyplainsdrifta
New Member
and depending on your sheet size and whatnot for these boxes you may be able to get away with a fb550, the little brother to the 750. may save a few grand, especially if this is just for prototyping. i believe you only have a 64" with or so, but you can run them long ways and still be able to pump out material, especially on express or billboard.
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
What pricing are you getting from them? They have been so much more expensive than everyone else to us.
Two thoughts for this thread:
Any of the HP FB500/700/550/750 are old technology. I wouldn't invest a dime in it. Ours sits around. It's too slow and the quality is not what newer machines can produce. The CET is a good machine (I have one of theirs) but the guy who was the driving force behind the company, Dave Cich, has moved on and opened his own company Vanguard Digital. If you want a good printer in this price point I'd suggest looking at one of his machines.
As for the cutter-- don't worry about the table. Get a hold of their software and use it. See how it works for you. We made a mistake at not looking in to the software. We ended up with a machine that was not easy to use, was unintuitive, relied on a cryptic handheld controller, took tens of minutes to change tools, etc. It was an expensive mistake.
We purchased a Zund, and you definitely get what you pay for! It's solid hardware wise, and easy to use and yet very powerful software wise.
Any of the HP FB500/700/550/750 are old technology. I wouldn't invest a dime in it. Ours sits around. It's too slow and the quality is not what newer machines can produce. The CET is a good machine (I have one of theirs) but the guy who was the driving force behind the company, Dave Cich, has moved on and opened his own company Vanguard Digital. If you want a good printer in this price point I'd suggest looking at one of his machines.
As for the cutter-- don't worry about the table. Get a hold of their software and use it. See how it works for you. We made a mistake at not looking in to the software. We ended up with a machine that was not easy to use, was unintuitive, relied on a cryptic handheld controller, took tens of minutes to change tools, etc. It was an expensive mistake.
We purchased a Zund, and you definitely get what you pay for! It's solid hardware wise, and easy to use and yet very powerful software wise.
bigben
Not a newbie
for similar specifications, MCT was a bit cheaper than Zund. But I really prefer the software simplicity from MCT. I like also their cut-estimator software. It will help us to evaluate pricing because we will also cut products for other sign shop.
Megagrafix
President
Check out COLEX at ISA
Jason DeLuca
New Member
You might also want to look in to some other brands as well as looking at the differences between a hybrid machine and a true flatbed. Mimaki for instance also makes a reasonably priced printer. I personally would also look at the cost of ownership of each option, things like service contract price and cost of inks. In my experience a printer that is cheaper up front can end up costing you quite a bit more in the long run when factoring in some of the other costs.
Another thing to think about is what RIP options are available with each printer. This would also be important depending on what cutting system you get, for instance Onyx RIP with ESKO and a small plotter was very easy to manage and Caldera with the same setup was very different, it worked well but was harder to set up and we had to pay for things like GrandCut.
Once you narrow down your options have the reps print samples with the materials you are going to be using so you can see the real world quality that you can expect.
Another thing to think about is what RIP options are available with each printer. This would also be important depending on what cutting system you get, for instance Onyx RIP with ESKO and a small plotter was very easy to manage and Caldera with the same setup was very different, it worked well but was harder to set up and we had to pay for things like GrandCut.
Once you narrow down your options have the reps print samples with the materials you are going to be using so you can see the real world quality that you can expect.
Bingleardicus
None
I agree. With bias, I have ran a kongsberg c and a suns g3xl and will always side with suns, their service has been better than esko, and the shear precision of the instrument is absolutely amazing. The esko seems to have a beefier router in comparison, however the zund software and the table itself are just by far the best in my opinion. Also ran a colex sharp cut, not a fan. Am curious about summa and what they have to offer.
The fb750 is a good machine, solid price of equipment, they win vs the Mimaki jfx200 on speed, but the jfx200 / 500 can achieve much better quality at comparable speeds.