New Latex Ink printer - HP Designjet L65500

[ChiknNutz]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]The totally new, industry-exclusive HP Designjet L65500 Printer series is the first printer of its kind to use HP's innovative latex-based ink technology for outstanding print quality and durability with reduced environmental impact.

The new HP Designjet L65500's innovations deliver:
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular] • [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]Reduced printing impact with HP Latex Inks-no special ventilation required or hazardous waste

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular] • [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]Broad application versatility with six-ink color and up to 1200 dpi across a wide range of media

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular] • [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]Exceptional productivity with astounding speed and accuracy, low maintenance, and prints you can handle and deliver right out of the printer[/FONT][/FONT]
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/ga/WF05a/18972-18972-3687016-12600-3687019-3687304.html

 

[JAMEY]

Any guesses on the price? I bet it's a lot of coin.

 

[Stan B]

quote "Achieve both durability and vivid image quality with a new HP media surface treatment."

coated branded media? At an "exeptional" value of just $X.99 per sq ft perhaps

 

[ChiknNutz]

No the way I read that was they do have some specialty media, but it says on th site that it is compatible with most solvent-printable materials

 

[SignManiac]

I'm here in Minnesota right now and saw the printer today. I'll be running samples on the Scitex FB950 tomorrow which is the machine I'm replacing my 5465 with. Latex ink looks promising. Oh and btw, left Florida this morning and it was 70 degrees, it's -25 here with wind chill!

 

[Charlie J]

So would latex hold up better than solvent? I'd hate to be in a print shop using one of these if I was allergic to latex.

 

[SignManiac]

I was at HP's headquarters in Minnesota yesterday for a printer demo and saw their new latex printer in action. I was told the price is $120k, it's strictly roll to roll, it handles media rolls up to 105" wide and the speed isn't bad, the quality is excellent. It's the first printer as far as I know using latex inks, "green machine".

Any guesses on the price? I bet it's a lot of coin.

 

[renamer38]

I was at HP's headquarters in Minnesota yesterday for a printer demo and saw their new latex printer in action. I was told the price is $120k, it's strictly roll to roll, it handles media rolls up to 105" wide and the speed isn't bad, the quality is excellent. It's the first printer as far as I know using latex inks, "green machine".

there is much more to it ,both problems and some great things.
I was ******* for this kind of machine and i can say that print quality is so great in 5-8 passes that it can be compared with Z6100.
Any ofc we don't even need to talk about more passes like 18.

 

[Replicator]

That is one beautiful looking printer . . . !

 

[visualeyez]

Not certain, but I think they are using using a bonding agent that is also sprayed from a printhead.

quote "Achieve both durability and vivid image quality with a new HP media surface treatment."

coated branded media? At an "exeptional" value of just $X.99 per sq ft perhaps

 

[Mspec]

You are off the mark on the bonding agent, the latex printer uses three thermal heads, at 2 colors per head, no extra heads spraying anything special.

While HP does sell a few matched medias for the printer, I've seen al lot of other stuff run through it. Anything from BB paper, scrim and smooth banner, to 3m and Avery sticky vinyls. From one media to another, you may have to tweak the heat settings to compensate for expansion, but it will print on a lot of different materials. The only thing is, that printer uses a lot of heat to dry the latex inks, so the media needs to be able to withstand the heat. With that being said, I'm not so sure how this thing would perform on material like static cling, polycarb, or backlit film. Outside of that, you can run anything else you can put through a solvent printer.

 

[benjercorp]

"green machine" I'm very skeptical about that!!! it may not be as durable as solvent..

 

[roadrage]

I have some very impessive test prints on vinyl wrap film. The color is vibrant and had the machine print at all speeds. I haven't wrapped anything with it but am looking forward to it. Avery claims 4 years outdoors with laminate and of course 3M claims 3 years. I feel this could be the future to replace solvent. The downside is the 120k the want you to shell out for the machine. My 104" solvent printer cost less than 60k.

 

[Printhead]

Avery and 3M indeed have their warranties out, so we can assume this is on par with solvent ink resistance-wise.

Oh, and you heard it here first — a 60 inches version of this machine is coming out in next December ****- November.

I've been able to run some tests and this looks very good. I've been putting pressure on my boss for a Gandhi (we're in fleet graphics) but he thinks it would be a good idea to go with the L65500. Our distributor is willing to guarantee color steadiness between tiles.

The ink is pretty expensive, in the order of 0.20$/sq foot, but we've been told we could have the 60 inch for something around 50 000$ so that sounds like a good deal.

Interesting thing to note about this printer, or so I've been told, the latex ink is way more opaque than most solvents as such as ink coverage will revolve around 120-140.
Also to note, probably as a result of thick ink, it can print in two passes. From the tests I ran it looked very good and the speed was impressive. Doubtfully waiting for a confirmation if we'll be able to achieve color matching tiles at two passes.

I know there's quite a bunch of L65500 installed around US and Canada. If anybody worked with it, I'd like a rundown of possible flaws and annoyances. I don't trust new technologies and I'll still be pushing for a Gandhi as long as I won't have a conversation about a satisfied L65500 operator.

Thanks!

 

[gnemmas]

Any mention of laminating needs of this ink?

 

[Printhead]

Warranties will extend 2-3 years if laminated, much like solvent inks.

 

[Stan B]

were there any news on Latex at SGIA09 ?

 

[rfulford]

105" seems like such an odd ball size to me. I think HP really missed the boat on this one. No 10'6" roll or dual 54" roll capability. Despite the print quality and green ink, this fact alone makes this machine a tough sell for me.

 

[Printhead]

>No 10'6" roll or dual 54" roll capability
This have been a major concern for us, we've harassed the HP rep for a few months about this now, and I'm sure we're not alone. He's been progressively more positive about dual rolls (48", not 54") in the last few weeks. Apparently the machine is able to do it but the rollups aren't made for that and their dedicated rip doesn't support it. Some simple tweaks could fix that.

>Any mention of laminating needs of this ink?
Another drawback we've discovered lately is that liquid overlaminates won't stick to the latex ink. HP is in the process of either manufacturing their own liquid laminate or finding a reliable manufacturer.

They're really pushing this technology, and it looks good. They want to have as much of those machines sold, so if you act really interested and stretch their patience on the little things you don't like about it they'll give you a significant deal and make interesting promises.
We're still in the process of getting one, just waiting for a few things to get fixed. This seriously looks good.

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

I've heard the actual wrap print is awesome and stretches twice as far as solvent. Also heard the heaters will make your electric meter spin quite a bit faster.