HP Z3100 vs Epson 7800?

[starchaser]

Hi,

My company is looking at obtaining a digital printer to produce graphics for our custom manufactured Point Of Sale displays. We currently outsource this work which consists of either printed self adhesive paper /Vinyl labels/decals, poster-board header cards and logos. Quantities can vary between a few dozen to several thousand sets for one project. I have done some research and a couple of printers stand out as possibilities, the HP Z3100 and the Epson Stylus 7800. Yes we could go out a buy a $50k printer but do we need to?

Without exception all of the items we need to produce are for internal use and have a limited life of a few months to a year or so, none of this stuff is huge in size. The main criteria is accurate colour matching to specified Pantone's and quality of print, especially small text, blurry low resolution stuff will not cut the mustard with the clients and I need something that will produce crisp and well defined prints. I understand that a UV printer will give better print adhesion on vinyl's but how good a job will either of these printers produce in comparison. We made an expensive mistake a few years ago when we bought a Colorspan 72UVR flat-bed UV printer, it was completely useless and spent more time being repaired than it ever did working, it was for a different application but I don't want a repeat performance!

I would welcome your advice.

Many thanks!

 

[noregrets]

The HP has a built in mechanism for creating profiles which will be important for getting your colors right. Also, the colors are a lot better on that printer compared to the 7800. The 7900 I believe is a lot better then the 7800, so if you are going to go Epson, then I would suggest the 7900.

To throw something else into the works, dont rule out Canon as well, they also produce a good printer for a good price.

It also might pay to have a look at your media costs, adhesive vinyl for these aqueous printers is a lot more than for the solvent printers. If you are going to be going through a lot of media, you might actually save money by purchasing a solvent printer like the Epson GS6000 or the new HP Latex printer.

 

[briankb]

We were looking at the same line up last year and went with a Canon iPF8100. It's an outstanding printer and the colors a spot on.

We had the HP z2100 (smaller version) in house for a month as a trial. It loads from the back and believe me that is a pain in the butt. I personally like the Epson because it loads from the top and will also accept a flat board directly. Although they are proprietary and about $10ea. The Canon doesn't load from the top but it does load from the front and it's very simple and quick to switch media. We had the same worry about profiling but that hasn't been an issue at all. If you buy your media from a good source they have drivers or can tell you which driver to use for their various papers.

Call LexJet and ask for Kara Work. She helped us make the final decision between the Epson and Canon. And has been excellent to work with especially after the sale. She knows all of their media for the Canon.

I think you'll be fine with an Epson or Canon.

 

[Bill Modzel]

I have and HP9000s solvent printer but I also wanted to replace my old HP5000 aqueous printer for photography and art prints. I've avoided Epson's because from what I've read, they seem to be ink hogs, especially with their head cleanings.
Both the HP Z3100 and the Canons have a wider color gamut and include a gloss and matt black for gloss and matt papers. My Canon iPF8300 has RGB, light and medium gray in addition to the normal CMHK, Lc,Lm inks. It has about a 20% larger color gamut than normal CMYK. My Canon is a new purchase but so far, I'm very happy with it. Sheet stock loads easily from the front but putting the roll in is a bit of a nuisance.