Roland vs Epson for wall murals

[CC-CMYK]

I’m kinda stuck on what to get for wall mural printing. We run HP Latex printers and we’re tired of the color shifts, panels not matching up, and terrible grays.

I’ve been highly considering an Epson S80600 but don’t want to spend 20k and it not be the right fit.

I’m considering an S40600 to test the waters of eco solvent printers because it’s cheaper then maybe upgrade later.

However, at the price point it looks like I can get a Roland rf-640 with an 8 color head. I really would like to have the full color range.

My question is would a Roland rf-640 be a good cheaper alternative to the Epson s80600? And, if the choice was between an Epson 40600 and a Roland rf-640 8 color what would be the better buy?

 

[ikarasu]

Is the only thing you don't like about the hps the color shift?

Look into the Epson r5070. It's epsons version of latex called.resin.... while the heads are user replaceable, they last 5 years and aren't meant to be a consumable... So no color shift and panel size is always perfect.

Big fan of Epson lately... So I'd say the Epson resin or the Epson s80, but for wall murals and stuff that doesn't get laminated I'd lean more towards the resin.

 

[CC-CMYK]

Is the only thing you don't like about the hps the color shift?

Look into the Epson r5070. It's epsons version of latex called.resin.... while the heads are user replaceable, they last 5 years and aren't meant to be a consumable... So no color shift and panel size is always perfect.

Big fan of Epson lately... So I'd say the Epson resin or the Epson s80, but for wall murals and stuff that doesn't get laminated I'd lean more towards the resin.

I’m still skeptical of the r5070. Haven’t seen too many reviews. We have samples from the resin and s80 and the resin’s colors seem pretty dull even compared to our HP. The blacks seem more like dark gray.

 

[ikarasu]

Resin prints

30 new items added to shared album

photos.app.goo.gl

The resin is almost as much of a color gamut as an s80 I'm told - higher than latex and s40. Everything I've printed has come out fine and vibrant, and my blacks are pure black.

We run an s40, 700 and the resin, so far the resins the most versatile and accurate. The s40 is also great, just slow... And not very good scratch wise for wall graphics.

 

[CC-CMYK]

Resin prints

30 new items added to shared album

photos.app.goo.gl

The resin is almost as much of a color gamut as an s80 I'm told - higher than latex and s40. Everything I've printed has come out fine and vibrant, and my blacks are pure black.

We run an s40, 700 and the resin, so far the resins the most versatile and accurate. The s40 is also great, just slow... And not very good scratch wise for wall graphics.

Those stickers look good. How long have you had your resin? Is that what you primarily use it for? Do you do wall murals with it?

 

[ikarasu]

I've had it about 7 months now. I primarily do stickers, and canvas wall vinyl.

It's my personal printer for my side business, I've done about a dozen wraps / vehicles with it..but most of it is stickers and 8 ft x 10 ft wall murals. My work got a latex 700 and I was going to purchase one to replace my s40 (I hate waiting a day to laminate, and my business shifted to wall murals so I wanted more durable ink) we've had nothing but alignment problems with panels on our 700...so I got some resin tests done and decided to go with it.

I check every 1/10 prints just to make sure it aligns properly, so far everything's been 100% aligned. I haven't had to do many reprints so I can't say in a year when there's a panel replacement there won't be a color shift... But one of their selling points is non consumable heads, which means consistent color. So far the jobs I have that are repeat have been a good match though.


I just used it to do 16x 30" x 86" window prints, mix of perf and vinyl and it all aligned perfectly.

And for what it's worth... It came out during covid and this was the first show it was displayed at, that's why there isn't many reviews or real life experience on it. I'm still the only person in western Canada to have one... Although there's now some people out east who have one. I haven't had any issues so far - only complaint is it sounds like a jet engine when on because it uses an external heater. But if it's in a decent sized shop,.I doubt it's much louder than a latex.

 

[CC-CMYK]

I've had it about 7 months now. I primarily do stickers, and canvas wall vinyl.

It's my personal printer for my side business, I've done about a dozen wraps / vehicles with it..but most of it is stickers and 8 ft x 10 ft wall murals. My work got a latex 700 and I was going to purchase one to replace my s40 (I hate waiting a day to laminate, and my business shifted to wall murals so I wanted more durable ink) we've had nothing but alignment problems with panels on our 700...so I got some resin tests done and decided to go with it.

I check every 1/10 prints just to make sure it aligns properly, so far everything's been 100% aligned. I haven't had to do many reprints so I can't say in a year when there's a panel replacement there won't be a color shift... But one of their selling points is non consumable heads, which means consistent color. So far the jobs I have that are repeat have been a good match though.


I just used it to do 16x 30" x 86" window prints, mix of perf and vinyl and it all aligned perfectly.

And for what it's worth... It came out during covid and this was the first show it was displayed at, that's why there isn't many reviews or real life experience on it. I'm still the only person in western Canada to have one... Although there's now some people out east who have one. I haven't had any issues so far - only complaint is it sounds like a jet engine when on because it uses an external heater. But if it's in a decent sized shop,.I doubt it's much louder than a latex.

Do your have the r5070L or standard and if you have the standard can you switch out inks as it’s printings like when the Hp wile it’s printing?

 

[ikarasu]

I have the standard. I've only.ran out ofmink while printing once... It just paused itself and asked.me to replace it, then it resumed printing. So I'm sure worst case, you could hit pause, put new ink in and resume. Not sure if it's like the 700 where you can just eject and insert mid print without pausing... Since it was listed as a feature of the "bulk" ink, I'm going to assume it can't

 

[netsol]

ikarasu said:
Is the only thing you don't like about the hps the color shift?

i am not picking on you, but, isn't that kind of like

YES MRS LINCOLN, BUT OTHER THAN THAT, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE PLAY?

 

[ikarasu]

Yeah, looks like it's only hot swappable on the L series, otherwise you have to pause it. I think it's a $2500 difference only... And honestly it feels like that's a small price to pay for 20% ink savings if you're printing a lot. No idea how reliable itsupplies is... Doesn't sound like a company is buy a printer from, but they have a few good printers.

16,900 for the 5070 and 19,900 for the 5070l right now, rebate until end of the month for the resin.

Now to be fair... I also had a 3k rebate when I bought it last year. So I don't know if it just came back, or if it's just never went away.

 

[ikarasu]

ikarasu said:
Is the only thing you don't like about the hps the color shift?

i am not picking on you, but, isn't that kind of like

YES MRS LINCOLN, BUT OTHER THAN THAT, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE PLAY?

I'm not pointing it out to say it's a small thing!

Latex and Solvent printers are completely different workflows. So if the only complaint is something that's fixed in a different brand... It makes it a viable option to stay on latex.


However if you hate the pre-heating, how it'll heat up the office, or a few.other neaucies of the latex then the resin still isn't the right printer

 

[CC-CMYK]

ikarasu said:
Is the only thing you don't like about the hps the color shift?

i am not picking on you, but, isn't that kind of like

YES MRS LINCOLN, BUT OTHER THAN THAT, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE PLAY?

I don’t understand what your getting at? Do you have a suggestion on a printer?

 

[ikarasu]

Are you in Richmond, BC?

I'm guessing so by your $500 ij40 comment!

If you want to make the trek down to Langley I can show you the resin printer in action, print some sample files of yours.

Or delta I can show you the 700 or s40 - no s80 anymore, but the s40 is the same print quality.as the s60 and s80, same gamut as the 60... Slightly less.gamutnas the 80.

 

[CC-CMYK]

I’m in Richmond VA

 

[ikarasu]

Ahh, a bit too far then. You guys pay 500 usd for ij40?!

It's $475 cad here. That's $350 usd... Unless you're also including overlam in the price. I'd shop around or scream at your current supplier.

 

[CC-CMYK]

Ahh, a bit too far then. You guys pay 500 usd for ij40?!

It's $475 cad here. That's $350 usd... Unless you're also including overlam in the price. I'd shop around or scream at your current supplier.

It’s more like $445 here for ij40 but it use to be a lot less. I remember when we first started we used Orical 3169 and it worked fine but a friend had suggested 40c and from then on it was our go to for wall and floor decals.

 

[mim]

I love our s80600 We have done many wall murals with it. We use it with the Onyx rip system which is great for paneling.

 

[signheremd]

We have a Roland XR640 and do not have any issues with color shift. It has been a great workhorse. That said, I like the looks of the new Epson S80600 and its print gamet.

 

[Johnny Best]

So what is the binder in resin inks?

 

[ikarasu]

Resin printer is pretty much a latex printer... Just epsons version.

Water based, and uses "resins" that get left behind when the water evaporates. Its a bit better quality than the latex printers, but aside from that it's hard to tell the difference between the 2 print wise. It acts and feels the same as a latex printer, just with Epson quality / reliability.... That's why I always refer to it as latex without the downsides.