Mimaki vs HP

[k.a.s.]

I have had 2 JV-33's and have been happy with them, the one I have now is 5 years old & I'm ready to replace it. I am looking at a JV-150 Mimaki, but I hear really good things about the HP latex 315. The Mimaki's have always worked great and I have a great relationship with my tech, but honestly I could do without the solvent smell and I like that it's dry right away.

So any thoughts or advice from someone who has these? Thanks in Advance

Kevin

 

[ewded]

Why not mimaki latex? Latex machines uses a lot of electric energy to heat the media and ink is more expensive. Resolution is not very good and heads are cheap but they are considered consumables, they produce worse and worse prints evey day until you change them. Latex ink stays on TOP of the media so every print will have the same finish both on glossy or matte. With a latex printer you'll have to wait until you reach the print temperature, you cannot have it set for a long time as it fries your media. On the other hand you can print to fabrics and plain paper, I also like the idea of no smelly smell, no cleaning cycles, daily maintenance etc.

If I were you I'd take a look at the roland RF640, its cheap and pretty fast.

 

[Martin Denton]

we have a Mimaki V300 1600 wide, I dont find the inks too smelly we use the orange / light grey set and the print quality is incredible. Best I have ever seen, clear with not the slightest bit of banding even on solid colours !!!

 

[chester215]

Why not mimaki latex? Latex machines uses a lot of electric energy to heat the media and ink is more expensive. Resolution is not very good and heads are cheap but they are considered consumables, they produce worse and worse prints evey day until you change them. Latex ink stays on TOP of the media so every print will have the same finish both on glossy or matte. With a latex printer you'll have to wait until you reach the print temperature, you cannot have it set for a long time as it fries your media. On the other hand you can print to fabrics and plain paper, I also like the idea of no smelly smell, no cleaning cycles, daily maintenance etc.

If I were you I'd take a look at the roland RF640, its cheap and pretty fast.

Do you own a latex machine??
If you did, you would have not made these false statements.
Switched to latex years ago from eco solvent and have never been happier.

The subject of latex vs solvent has been discussed many times in these forums, do a search.

 

[jon vital]

The lack of outgassing is a big selling point and it's a dilemma I share whether to change from the reliabiilty and simple operation on the Mimaki to move to the HP lates machines...

 

[Ahmed Samy Nagada]

We operate 3 x Mutoh 1624, 3 x HP Z6100, 2 x Epson 9700 and 1 latex L26500 and here is my opinion considering ink prices in Egypt.
Latex Cons: least quality, double ink cost, high energy consumption.
Latex Pros: Better quality on Canvas, ability to laminate once finished printing (not of great value for our work)
I wouldn't go for P Latex again.

 

[BigfishDM]

We operate 3 x Mutoh 1624, 3 x HP Z6100, 2 x Epson 9700 and 1 latex L26500 and here is my opinion considering ink prices in Egypt.
Latex Cons: least quality, double ink cost, high energy consumption.
Latex Pros: Better quality on Canvas, ability to laminate once finished printing (not of great value for our work)
I wouldn't go for P Latex again.

That's all because your running the first gen latex.

 

[Ahmed Samy Nagada]

That's all because your running the first gen latex.

First Gen Vs. Second or third Gen: Still same ink cost (at least in Egypt) and lower quality than the Mutoh, what is the real advantage here ??

 

[BigfishDM]

First Gen Vs. Second or third Gen: Still same ink cost (at least in Egypt) and lower quality than the Mutoh, what is the real advantage here ??

Ink cost is not higher, show me what math or program you use to determine your ink sq.ft costing per job please. Lower quality than mutoh for what application? I do know now that pastels will give you issues with Latex but that's about it. The real advantage is being able to print on more materials which equals more applications you can offer your clients and it runs a whole day faster than the competition.

Mutoh makes a great machine but I dont think its better in any way over a Latex machine, in my opinion.

 

[k.a.s.]

Hey Big Fish, since you sell both can you give me your honest opinion on this? I was in a shop with a 330 the other day and hated everything about it other than the no smell, I hate the way it loads, unloads, the take up reel etc. Is it just me?

 

[BigfishDM]

Hey Big Fish, since you sell both can you give me your honest opinion on this? I was in a shop with a 330 the other day and hated everything about it other than the no smell, I hate the way it loads, unloads, the take up reel etc. Is it just me?

If you hate the way it loads then I would look at the new 500 series, it fixes all the loading complaints. What did you hate about it, How fast it is or How many materials it can print or How scratch resistant the ink was? To me it comes down to what type of company you are running and what applications you want to target. I don't think any 1 machine is the end all be all but if I was going to open a print for pay company, I know I would be using Latex and I would be focusing on Wall, Window, and Floor Graphics. I would also want the 500 series model now that I can do all these fabrics, that's another really great benefit of latex, you can print a huge amount of fabrics. HP also comes with pretty nifty FREE software that can help build your business online.

If I was going to be doing custom apparel then I would get a Mimaki and it would be for paper dye sub only.

 

[AKwrapguy]

Latex machines uses a lot of electric energy to heat the media and ink is more expensive. Resolution is not very good and heads are cheap but they are considered consumables, they produce worse and worse prints evey day until you change them. Latex ink stays on TOP of the media so every print will have the same finish both on glossy or matte. With a latex printer you'll have to wait until you reach the print temperature, you cannot have it set for a long time as it fries your media.

I have used and worked on solvent/eco-solvent and latex. Latex doesn't use any more power than solvent. The ink is not more expensive. Resolution is better than most solvent. Yes they are consumable but this isn't a bad thing. They do not print worse and worse prints everyday till you change them this is just wrong. Latex will not fry our media as the heaters are not on unless it's actively printing which again will not 'fry' your media. If it is, this means it a user error as you have not properly set up the machine and printing profiles.

Almost everything you said about the latex printers is incorrect. Please do a little research on them before you start offering advice.