lol what in the world would make you guys think that HP is up to some master plan to go direct? HP is going to continue to dominate the market by coming out with machines and software that allow clients more flexibility and creativity than other machines. All the soft fabrics available now for latex is amazing. No other machine can do the amount of applications HP can do. In your opinion, why do you think the Latex has become the #1 machine in the Market?(by a huge margin also) Price? You can buy Mutohs for less so why is Mutoh tanking so hard? I know there are some downsides to latex, but you just don't understand how HP works, as a company. They are the most loyal vendor you can ask for, I wish I could say that about the other guys.
The Colorado UV Gel is not that interesting, it's super fast but so many limitations. Smells, wouldn't run any soft fabrics, wouldn't do a scratch test, the price tag is too high. Great for banner and stickers but for $60k I am not sure what market it's attacking. Maybe as a go between from an HP 570 and an HP 1500. The industry is transitioning rapidly into soft signage and this wasn't what I was expecting from that machine. The markets that are growing faster then anything else, this machine is not good for. Can't do interior applications with the fumes of UV like wall graphics either. I'm sure it's great for something though.