need info to decide between roland and graphtec

[tomence]

hi there folks!! I am new to signs101 and have one good questiong to all of you that will read this post.
I was wondering if you guys can tell me which vinyl cutter is the best for you and why. I would like to know more about graphtec fc8000 30'' vs roland gx pro series. i am planning to buy one within a week so i need your opinion. it will be used mostly for truck, pickup van and car signs.
need one that will be fast and reliable.
thanks

 

[Bizzarth]

Both are very good plotters that will last you a long time. I'd recommend the Graphtec because they have a 3 year bullet proof warranty and stand behind their product. In fact, their vice president of sales lives in Wisconsin and is easily accessible if you ever have any questions or complaints.

 

[jasonx]

Graphtec great cutter the worst support.

I've got two fc8000-160 and they work great.

 

[Bizzarth]

Jasonx,

I'm sorry to hear that you have had bad support. Did you buy your Graphtecs from a distributor? Ideally they should be helping you out first.

 

[bob]

hi there folks!! I am new to signs101 and have one good questiong to all of you that will read this post.
I was wondering if you guys can tell me which vinyl cutter is the best for you and why. I would like to know more about graphtec fc8000 30'' vs roland gx pro series. i am planning to buy one within a week so i need your opinion. it will be used mostly for truck, pickup van and car signs.
need one that will be fast and reliable.
thanks

Reliable is good.

Fast, just like excessive downforce, doesn't mean much. Any plotter at all will move at a speed and downforce sufficient to cut vinyl. Regardless of how fast and hard it can go, you'll end up operating on the slower and weaker end of the spectrum.

The actual time spend plotting is but a fraction of the total time involved in creating and producing a ready to install image.

 

[jasonx]

I'm in Australia and purchased from the distributor over here. I had an issue with one of my machines. My distributor didn't get back to me. I tried graphtec direct they hand balled me back to my distributor here. Still waiting over a week for a return phone call. But I don't need it anymore. I purchased a second graphtec a few weeks ago and copied all the settings from that machine to get it work correctly again. Seems like they are not upto speed with the FC8000 series down here yet.

 

[tomence]

how about moneywise. they are offering me graphtec fc8000 30'' plus signlab8 or flexi8 whichever i choose for $2950 out the door plus two hours of training if i want. now my question is can you get better cutter from roland for that price like maybe over 30'' or is it not possible.

 

[PGSigns]

I have two Graphtecs and they work great. Both are good cutters and if your local distributor is trying to sell you the Graphtec and the Roland would be from a non local source I would go with the local source. I would also take the two hours of training. I try and support my local folks as much as I can and it does have long term benifits that will out weigh the little savings you might find.
Jimmy

 

[BobM]

I have three Rolands, Gx-24, Camm1 Pro 30 and a PC 60. All have given me good service with no problems. The Roland service center has serviced them in a timly manner at reasonable rates. Tech service has been excellent. Good luck.

 

[omgsideburns]

Only have experience with Graphtecs, but as far as I know we've never needed to make a service call on any of them. I know that I had to reinstall drivers on one after a windows update caused it to stop working.. and needed some assistance from tech support at my supplier to get another one to read crop marks.. but they were all happy problems, nothing major.

 

[MachServTech]

Summa 160T is expensive, but IMHO the best. The only one I have been able to print>cut(contour cut) 70 ft. without misalignment

 

[Jackpine]

fc8000 30'' plus signlab8 or flexi8 for $2950 out the door plus two hours of training.

Sounds like a good package to me. You getting this from Rayco? They are a very helpful company....

 

[TresL]

Both good products, until you need service.

Roland top notch & very easy to work.
Graphtec, I can't say the same.

 

[tomence]

jackpine
i am getting this from signoutletsore here in lisle, illinois
you can check there website at www.signoutletstore.com which so far i got the best deal. i went to rayco too but they were little bit too pushy not as helpful as this guys plus now i went to sign supply usa which i fount great customer service, gave me lot of samples and explained lot of questions that i had plus they said if i buy from them they will come out to my place and install the cutter for free.

 

[Mainframe]

Having a Tech or knowledgeable person come to your shop & set you up on a new purchase is worth it's weight in gold, they are going to be able to provide you with guidance it would take a long time to achieve on your own. Not to mention help with supplies etc. & you will have someone to help you out of a jam. I say go for Sign Supply USA, when the tech leaves you will have no doubt in your mind you made the right move!

 

[RiXaX]

Graphtec is the high end quality performer. I used to get unlimited tech support from JSI and it was great! They decided to not honor that agreement any longer unless I buy vinyl from them. Get it clear what you're getting. Sometimes there is a problem and the plotter guy say's it's the program and the program guy blames it on the plotter. Purchasing both from the same source eliminates that possibility.

 

[Jackpine]

All three are very good suppliers. I got a Roland Colorcamm 600 thermal from Rayco and got very good tech help and good price. I bought most all of my paint supplies and brushes from Raco "back in the day" when all I did was paint. Signoutlet is where I bought all of my ribbons for my Colorcamm 600.

jackpine
i am getting this from signoutletsore here in lisle, illinois
you can check there website at www.signoutletstore.com which so far i got the best deal. i went to rayco too but they were little bit too pushy not as helpful as this guys plus now i went to sign supply usa which i fount great customer service, gave me lot of samples and explained lot of questions that i had plus they said if i buy from them they will come out to my place and install the cutter for free.

 

[ddarlak]

i have had nothing but great success with the roland products i have purchased and used over the last 15 years.

even the piece of shit PC-60 i bought, i still made money on it and got my money out of it when i sold it....bad machine, but the support was there....

 

[Jim Doggett]

hi there folks!! I am new to signs101 and have one good questiong to all of you that will read this post.
I was wondering if you guys can tell me which vinyl cutter is the best for you and why. I would like to know more about graphtec fc8000 30'' vs roland gx pro series. i am planning to buy one within a week so i need your opinion. it will be used mostly for truck, pickup van and car signs.
need one that will be fast and reliable.
thanks

Roland has an outstanding reputation for reliable, but low-performance, cutters. Graphtec is truly on a much higher level, and always has been. In recent years, with Roland's empasis on printers, which are competitive in price, features and performance, their cutters hhave fallen way behind the competition, principally Graphtec and Summa, both of which cut circles around Roland. Do a price-feature-spec comparison, and I think you'll see how wide the delta has become.

I don't mean to trash Roland cutters. They are legendary for chugging along, year after year after many years. But legendary reliability is a Graphtec hallmark as well, along with amazing features and performance ... not least of which is better accuracy on longer cuts / plots.

Just my opinion,

 

[Dave L.]

Granted, yes, the Roland line of cutters are not as high performance, they also do not incure the cost as the more professional machines do. Yes, the CE Graphtec series is better in every category than the Roland...and cheaper, it does not blow it out of the water. The FC and Summa cutters however, can only be used to their potential when a shop needs to output a good portion of every day, and can pay another 900 dollars. Some sign companys' do not need the very fastest and technically advanced, and many customers have come to rely on the investment they had made 10 years ago with a Roland.