Dan, I realize that these machines are outdated. This machine was given to me, free!...and it is great for doing small jobs under the right circumstances. There is no harm in getting it to run at it's intended performance level. Although I can't bite the bullet and buy a newer printer, I do plenty of large format prints through other sources. I have been doing signs for over thirty years, but, seem to have to start over from square one, periodically (divorces, etc.,).
PS they did print acceptably, back in the day.
Tommy I am all for doing with what you have..and free is a very good price. But having owned one of these machines and sold them and dealt with more customer issues than I care to remember...and spent more time than I care to remember pulling my hairout troubleshooting these machines to try and keep my customers happy and trying everything under the sun to try to come up with solutions so that professional shop owners could get their new machines to produce as advertised, I can think of VERY few situations where I could honestly say that these machines are the right tool for the job...unfortunately there are still people out there who think that they can avoid the cost of a new machine and by some miracle they will be able to do something that the industry was unable to do with this machine...if it was a great machine it would not have been discontinued,a machine like this at the original price point would have been a GOLDMINE to the manufacturer and the dealers who sold them...it was a nightmare and Roland dumped it like a hot potato.
about the only situation(s) I could recommend them for would be for a hobbiest focusing on lettering RC vehicles as the graphics are small and the customers are not as picky about the print quality, i knew a shop that used theirs soley for prototyping very small 2"X4" decals of what the finished sign would look like and placed the decal onto scale miniatures of what their signs would look like for representation purposes only and the only other application I could think of that you MAY be able to use this machine for and produce acceptable results *depending on your own personal level of quality control would be the printing of name badges....other than that in my opinion they are more trouble than they are worth even if the cost was FREE. But we all have our own levels of quality standards and not all clients are as picky as another nor as picky as most of us are as sign professionals *but that is another topic....there are many times that we produce products at a level of quality that our customers will never appreciate.
In my opinion You simply are better off outsourcing your work as the print quality is mediocre at best and I am sorry I ahve to disagree with you the print quality was NEVER acceptable, this machine has been plagued with print issues from the start and having sold, serviced and trained end users who purchased them it was problematic right out of the box...in addition the cost per square foot is simply outrageous compared to every other method of production available to all of us...especially when you take into consideration the mediocre quality they output. Not to mention all of the time you and everyone else spends trying to troubleshoot this outdated piece of equipment.
I know that there are some ppl that will argue that they get good results ...I have NEVER seen it consistently nor do I know anyone who has. I think that their pride gets in the way and they can not accept that they have bought a lemon and didnt heed the warnings...don't feel bad you got your lemon for free...many of us paid a premium price for them 'back in the day'... I know more shop owners than I can count who were so disappointed they vowed to NEVER buy another Roland product..which is sad because they followed up with great line of printers.
I am all for cutting costs, I am all for making do with what you have if it does the job appropriately and cost effectively. I can think of very few situations where this machine fits the bill, but to each his own. I just hate to see people continuously picking these things up used thinking that they have found a shortcut or a savings that we have all overlooked...only to pull their hair out until their patience runs out and then emailing me asking if I know anyone interested in taking it off their hands, or if I know where to get parts, or if I know someone who will service it, etc etc etc.
Let me know when you ride through my area and I'll call it a day early and go ride for the afternoon...I need to blow the dust off my bike.
