New Product Mimaki or Epson

Which machine has better service in your area? Both machines are comparable, but when they break you will wish you bought the one with the service tech 1 hour away vs. 4 days away

 

I have been trying to decide between the two as well. I had samples printed on both, on the first batch, Epson blew the mimaki away holding fine detail on small decals. Color was spot on to my files in illustrator. The mimaki samples looked bad, grainy and colors were off but this was apparently due to cheap vinyl and a lower pass print. Mimaki ran another batch and they were nice and sharp, but colors were still off, a little too heavy on the magenta. Overalll feeling more confident in the Epson and the pre sale support has been better and quicker.

 

Epson, without a doubt. Newer tech, best quality solvent on the market. Mimaki is slow and old.

 

Mimaki is slow and old...based on? Best solvent tech? Based on what? Their sales brochure?

Here is what I know. New Mimaki in the lab at school. Actually about a year old now. Output is fantastic. It's been running full rolls of wrap, banner, wall fabric etc... since it was installed. Material for it gets delivered by the pallet. Runs lights out too. Zero issues in a school environment.

Wore out the heads in the Roland that's in the lab too. Replaced heads and it's printing great again. Not as fast as the Mimaki though.

I suppose my new Mutoh falls into your slow and old category too. I print industrial labeling with it. Identification text at 6pt that's absolutely crisp. Solid colors as saturated as cast vinyl.

Homework: 7 page minimum paper with fact based evidence based on primary sources. Citations in Chicago Manual of Style.

Get crackin'

 

Based on release dates of their eco-solvent printers? When were these things released? Slow based on experience, at least with the JV150 model - on high quality it was painful to watch it print. The quality was ok, Epson was better based on our files that we had printed on both machines.

No paper needed, I prefer to do hands on testing vs reading/writing a thesis without ever testing the equipment. In all seriousness, we spent 2 days with the JV150 and 1 day with the Epson, in terms of quality output (compared to the epson) the mimaki lost. In terms of speed, mimaki lost.

Not saying mimaki isn't a work horse or a reliable machine, I can't comment on that since I don't own a mimaki.

I'd take a Mimaki over my HP Latex though, that's for sure!

 

What tech is new? Which Epson were you comparing speeds to also? The quality we get out of ours is great even at low res 6 pt is perfectly legible. Sounds like they didn't have it dialed in right or something then. The Epson's get a lot of praise but they're fairly new so it's going to be talked about more. Using anecdotal evidence from here, neither of these printers seem to have problems.
If you want to argue new vs old (but not point out what it is) you can also argue that the JV150 has been on the market longer which is typically a safer bet than one that has not been. Like said before, it should come down to the dealer at this point.

 

They’re all around the same price point, mostly use the same tech and they’re all quick enough for most shops to do what they need. It comes down to how much you’re paying when the machine ultimately stops working for whatever reason.

You’re going to have a lot more peace of mind if the engineer is an hour away, and not two days away. Any down time is usually a PITA but the further away a tech is, the more you’ll have to pay in getting him there, and loss of earnings while the machine is down.

 

Just to clear some things up, Epson obviously has new tech because Epson developed the latest head technology and doesn't license it to Mimaki yet. So yes, Mimaki is one generation back compared to the Epson. That being said, a properly calibrated modern printer should print beautifully and fast. I see a lot of people comparing machine quality but they are all, for the most part, printing the same resolution. When you see a low quality print that doesn't print colors correctly, it is always because it wasn't aligned properly and the color profile was a boxed one. A properly calibrated Mimaki can make the exact same print an Epson can except the Epson will be faster due to the latest head tech. If the slight speed difference is important to you then get the Epson but, as stated above, if you can get a Mimaki tech out in a day rather than an Epson tech in 3 days, it's worth getting the Mimaki.

 

What are your most important applications?

 

Only had our s80600 for a week now, coming from a roland xj540. To say that because 2 machines print the same resolution that they can print the same quality and color output is just wrong. First off these machines have different inks and number of ink colors. They also have different droplet size and patterns. And many other variables.

9 years of running the xj540 (a great machine IMO) it could never produce what this new epson does. With the epson (so far) Zero banding, awesome colors, super crisp. And all with boxed profiles and just plugging the printer in and going. We got print samples off a lot of new machines before purchasing and the s80600 blows everything away, including the s60600 and s40600. The grays of the s80 put even the s60 to shame.

The thing that does scare me about the epson (not really but it's on my mind) is their HP like service contracts. Would feel much better if it was a local company like it was with Roland.

 

I was comparing the Mimaki and Epson current models. I guarantee you I could put 2 prints in front of you and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

 

Perhaps, but I doubt it if I supplied the print file.

I've seen the prints off the jv33 160, that's what mimaki we are talking about right? And it does not have light black ink correct?

 

But if I'm wrong and you can, I'd pay $5,000 if you could get my roland to print as nicely as my epson. It'd be worth it.

 

The current Mimaki model is the JV150 and has a light black option. You are absolutely correct that the Epson head has smaller drop size but for the most part is is using variable dot sizes around the same as the Mimaki. From viewing distance, you can't tell. The JV33 used a DX5 head and you would be able to see the difference there for sure.

 

Ok you win I see the jv 150 does have light black ink. So yea I probably couldn't tell the difference in that. Samples we got were from the jv 300.

Offer still stands about the roland though.

 

Can't help you with the Roland. Even at the best calibration it won't add up to the newer models. As you said, those old heads just don't compare.