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Mimaki ?

P

printmaster

New Member
Hello,

being completely new to these forums i will probably
sound funny to most of you with my questions !

I have been in the printing business for a decade now, but
offset print and small format digital print (Indigo).
After the huge demand for outdoor advertising by our existing
clientele we have decided to make the move to large format
digital printing.

Our target business is car-wrapping, window stickers and posters.

How long can it take for someone to become capable of wrapping
a vehicle completely ?

We are considering the JV-33 or JV-5.
Don't know about cutter yet....

Mimaki has good tech support in our area and is considered by many to
be best in its class.
But is it the best choice for us ? Any advice or opinions will be highly
appreciated.
 
JulieVan

JulieVan

New Member
I would suggest Signmart. I saw both Mimaki and Signmart at the Long Beach convention center and had approached both large format printer distributors on their products. Mimaki is a very high-quality brand, but I noticed that Signmart also had an emphasis on displaying vehicle wraps.
 
SebastienL

SebastienL

New Member
Mimaki has good tech support in our area and is considered by many to
be best in its class.

We bought a Mimaki last year, the tech guy was here for a week triyng to get the colors right and failed miserably.
We wound up doing it ourself with better results!
 
JulieVan

JulieVan

New Member
You're welcome, but I still think that Mimaki is of a good quality...but I noticed you were asking about alternatives. Just throwing out some suggestions. What software program do you use normally?
 
JulieVan

JulieVan

New Member
Mmmm Adobe, the ultimate norm of sign-making design :) I think Signmart uses EasySign when they distribute their printers with software bundles. When I asked about Mimaki, I swear the representative told me they bundle their printers with either Flexi or SignLab...I don't remember. Be sure to check end user prices! They make a difference! :)
 
P

printmaster

New Member
JulieVan

You see I wouldn't know since I'm new to this, but we don't really intend to
focus on actual signs but more on wraps, posters and window stickers as that's
the demand our clients have.
I thought it was possible to use e.g. pdf, eps, tiff etc for these purposes.
 
ChicagoGraphics

ChicagoGraphics

New Member
I have the Mimaki JV3-160spII and I get excellent colour from it, but I also make my own profiles. But the machine and tech surport are second to none here in Chicago.

Are you in Greece or Turkey?
 
Letterbox Mike

Letterbox Mike

New Member
We run the daylights out of our JV3 and have had zero issues with it (well, over a quarter-million square feet later and we just lost our first nozzle about a week ago, can't tell, prints still look awesome). It's fast enough if you're not an ultra-high-volume shop, color and print quality rock, and it seems to be alot more heavy-duty than other printers in it's price range. Bundle it with Onyx or Wasatch and you'll be happy. I've got little first hand experience with anything but Onyx, but I've seen and heard some nightmare stories about using Flexi as a RIP (and I've heard little if any positive things about it). We use Onyx and wouldn't get rid of it for anything.

That said, I don't know as much about the JV33 which replaced the JV3, and I'm sure there are some bugs to be worked out of it as it's a new model, but I've heard good things and have seen prints off of one, they look as good as our JV3 prints.

If you're starting out, the JV5, while an awesome printer, especially for the price, is probably overkill for your intended purpose, it's meant for high-volume production. For the cost of the JV5 alone, you can probably get a JV33, RIP computer, Onyx, a good plotter, a pile of media and ink, some wrap classes, and still have quite a bit left over.

The most important thing, no matter what printer you buy, is to buy it from a company that will be there to support you and service you properly. These things are finicky, there is a steep learnign curve, and you're going to need to lean on someone heavily at first. That's what your dealer is (or should be) for, so do as much homework on who you buy from as you do on what you buy.
 
Graphix Plus Ink

Graphix Plus Ink

New Member
If you're starting out, the JV5, while an awesome printer, especially for the price, is probably overkill for your intended purpose, it's meant for high-volume production. For the cost of the JV5 alone, you can probably get a JV33, RIP computer, Onyx, a good plotter, a pile of media and ink, some wrap classes, and still have quite a bit left over.
Click to expand...
I agree but man that machine is a MONSTAH. I prefer Roland but MAAAAAAN if you got the money buy it, it more than likely is the fastest in its class.
 
C

Case

New Member
JV33 is a great machine... All the bugs are worked out... Stay away from the JV5... Trust me....

Case
 
P

printmaster

New Member
Insignia

Thank you for your words of wisdom !
One thing that worries me about the JV33 is the fact that all heads are
included in one, by what they told me if you have a problem with e.g. the Cyan head you must replace all of them.
 
Rooster

Rooster

New Member
While it's not listed as a user serviceable part it's supposed to be fairly easy to replace. I haven't had to touch mine.

Once it's out of warranty the cost of replacement can be quiet high, but if you google "Epson D5X solvent print head" you'll find them for sale online much cheaper than through your Mimaki dealer.
 
C

Case

New Member
printmaster said:
Insignia

Thank you for your words of wisdom !
One thing that worries me about the JV33 is the fact that all heads are
included in one, by what they told me if you have a problem with e.g. the Cyan head you must replace all of them.
Click to expand...

That head is one of the most durable heads that I have see out there. Same head in the Mutoh Valuejet.

You can choose other printers like an HP9000 with 6 heads@$2000 each or you can choose a JV33 with 1 head @$2000.... Your choice if you are worried....

Case
 
P

printmaster

New Member
Thank you all for your input and advice, this website is totally priceless
since I seem to get answers I have been searching for for months !!!
 
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