Replacing Gerber Cat - Oce' vs CET vs Flora

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Hi everyone,
We are looking to replace our Gerber Cat Ion Flatbed Printer with a new UV FB and would like to hear Pros / Cons from users of the Oce', CET and Flora.
I haven't heard a lot about the Flora, however, we have a service tech close by which seemed comforting after many issues with the Gerber CAT.
I really need to stay within the 100k budget, we do need speed, however we print small text, so quality is also important. I don't really care about varnish,
we print mostly on polystyrene, aluminum, banner material, choroplast, ultra board and vinyl.
Would love to hear from other sign companies that have replaced their Gerber Cat / Ion - what did you go with, and how does it compare?

Thanks,

 

[chafro]

It all depends what you call speed, but in general it's going to be hard to find both quality and speed at that budget. You going to have to double your budget at least to get some descents speeds.

Oce, Agfa, HP have some nice flatbeds around the 200 K or a bit lower. They also have some 100k models but you won't find speed there.

 

[ezposter]

Used Flatbed - 5 x 10

I have a used 5 x 10 flatbed that we will be upgrading from in the near future. Use it daily and have great results - our business grew 50% last year. Now looking at a $400K machine range, but this would be a great step up from the Ion without breaking the bank.

Tom
ezposter@comast.net

 

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Would like real world comparisons between the GERBER Cat ION and the printers above.

I'm hoping to hear from past GERBER CAT / ION owners as to what they replaced there machine with and how it compares.

 

[Rob Bellissimo]

the CET Q series, with Gen 5 heads and 60 series inks.
great quality, 5 pico. decent speed. the 60 series ink has great durability and adhesion.

my two cents...

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Doesn't CET convert Gerbers to their specs?

 

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CET covert GERBER Cat

Now that would be very interesting if CET did conversions over to their set up, does anyone know for sure?
Thanks for everyone's comments, I would love to hear more!

 

[parrott]

Now that would be very interesting if CET did conversions over to their set up, does anyone know for sure?
Thanks for everyone's comments, I would love to hear more!

I know that CET was doing this at one point and would imagine they still are/can. I will PM you Jim Peterson's info @ CET as he is the man with the plan. If they are not still converting, he will definitely lead in you in the right direction for a new printer.

 

[Tom Dalton]

I'm hoping to hear from past GERBER CAT / ION owners as to what they replaced there machine with and how it compares.

We're also looking at replacing our CAT/UV. It has been a solid machine. Anyone want to buy it? It actually still works fine. We use it every day. We want more speed AND I'm concerned about the long term availability of its inks. One dealer told me that pretty much every company uses the same inks. Different packages ...but the same formulations. Gerber does not use those inks. They use proprietary "CatIonic" inks. They stick incredibly well to coro and pretty much everything we've printed on. I just don't know how much longer we'll be able to get the inks since no 3rd parties ever made CAT/UV inks.

Also,

I posted a survey to find out what brand of UV printer is impressing its users. Please rate your UV flatbed here..
http://www.signs101.com/forums/showt...ot-UV-flatbeds