Know anything about the EU-1000MF Flatbed?

[Warmoth]

Our shop is getting more and more interested in getting a flatbed. Our problem is, we're cheap. lol.

We currently are running 5 Rolands (from Versaworks), which we're very pleased with, in conjunction with Graphtec plotters (Cutting Master). Ideally we'd get a nice Roland flatbed to compliment our setup. Something with similar workflow, Versaworks would be a plus.

The EU-1000MF looks good on the website. Fits all these things. Entry level pricing, looks pretty good on the specs. But does it suck or something? I can't find any real users experiences anywhere.

Has anyone used one of these before? Or have any experience to share? Do we need to suck it up, buy something else, and invest in a stand alone RIP?

Thanks,

 

[White Haus]

Doesn't seem like there's much feedback out there, if any, other than this thread: https://www.signs101.com/threads/roland-eu-1000mf.178359/

 

[Warmoth]

Doesn't seem like there's much feedback out there, if any, other than this thread: https://www.signs101.com/threads/roland-eu-1000mf.178359/

Yeah, I saw that one. Not much to go off. Seems really strange, surely they've sold a bunch of these things? lol.

 

[White Haus]

Yeah, I saw that one. Not much to go off. Seems really strange, surely they've sold a bunch of these things? lol.

I'm assuming they haven't. Looks like it's only been available in North America for a few months, and I don't think they get too many excited buyers when it comes to their flatbeds.

Maybe they've finally figured things out, but as far as I'm concerned up until now their flatbed UV offerings have been super underwhelming in terms of throughput and capacity.

Just how entry-level is the pricing on these?

 

[Warmoth]

I'm assuming they haven't. Looks like it's only been available in North America for a few months, and I don't think they get too many excited buyers when it comes to their flatbeds.

Maybe they've finally figured things out, but as far as I'm concerned up until now their flatbed UV offerings have been super underwhelming in terms of throughput and capacity.

Just how entry-level is the pricing on these?

Their website shows 75k for 4 color (CMYK), and 80k for the 6 color (CMYK+Wh+Gloss).
Looks to be about 9 4'x8' sheets per hour on the normal setting. ..not exactly blazing.

 

[Rmurray321]

Their website shows 75k for 4 color (CMYK), and 80k for the 6 color (CMYK+Wh+Gloss).
Looks to be about 9 4'x8' sheets per hour on the normal setting. ..not exactly blazing.

Realistically it’s about 4 per hour, I did a demo and their 9 boards an hour is very optimistic. Draft mode it can reach that speed, but it’s not very sellable

 

[White Haus]

Their website shows 75k for 4 color (CMYK), and 80k for the 6 color (CMYK+Wh+Gloss).
Looks to be about 9 4'x8' sheets per hour on the normal setting. ..not exactly blazing.

If it was truly 9 boards per hour that would be good value for that price, but like Rmurray321 pointed out the claimed speeds are rarely realistic.

That being said, our only flatbed is an old Oce Arizona 318gl (their entry-level offering at the time) and only runs around 4 boards per hour in "Production" mode, and most of the time that's fast enough for us.

I know our next flatbed will be faster and better than this one, but we've had this thing for a while and only a handful of times have I cursed it's lack of speed. If you're cranking out a sheet every couple of minutes you pretty well need a full time operator standing there loading/unloading all the time.

In other words, If you're just dipping your toes in and don't have a ton of money or volume/demand, then most entry level printers will probably fit this bill. I'd be more concerned with cost of consumables (Roland inks are notoriously expensive), cost of replacement parts, warranty, and access to service, whether service key/tech is required to work on machine or if end users can do basic repairs etc.

Because when (not if) your flatbed goes down, it will be in the middle of a big job and you need answers or a tech there fast.

Hope that helps! Good luck with the search.