Roland XJ series

[CarolinaCabinet]

I believe I am about to get one of these as a helper for my big VUTEk flatbed, any opinions good or bad about these. Any experiences or knowledge besides what is listed on the spec sheet would be greatly appreciated... Thanks!

 

[cgsigns_jamie]

I have a new XC, the XJ is the same but doesn't have the cutter. I think it's a great machine, it's a real workhorse. Very well built and it prints beautifully. If I had to buy another printer tomorrow it would be either another Roland XC or a nice big AJ-1000.

 

[CarolinaCabinet]

Yeah, I have used an XC and I do love everything about it but the built in cutter, which is not nearly as fast or accurate as a 64" graphtec 8000-160, which can also just run cut jobs while you print and cuts bigger, and is only about 6 grand too!

 

[Capital Signs]

4 grand, just got mine in today.

 

[CarolinaCabinet]

4 grand? wow, it retails at 6,995 and i got quotes 4,995 so I thought I was doing good! I havent gotten it yet but I've seen it go

 

[jasonx]

We just put in an XJ640 and I love it.

If your going to use versaworks and want to do print and cut jobs with another cutter. You cant versaworks won't let you print the reg marks with the XJ.

It's greyed out in the program. But same version of versawork on our SP and you can select it. Wish roland would enable it so I can use the XJ and cut on the SP.

 

[Blizare]

It too am looking into an XJ640 w/ extra Heater, and am excited to have a dedicated printer. I print A LOT of 4' x 8' to mount to dibond and the wraps are def. catching on
so I need to be ahead of the game. Can't be waiting for something to print all the time.


I'm curious about the print and cut on any printer.
How do some people pull out prints and cut them on another brand/model cutter like a graphtec? Do you use versawerks to rip/print? hen how do you tell it to cut only on the other machine. I'm guessing you need onyx/wasatch o the like.

I'm thinking about a single 60" cutter to do the cutting from my sp-540 as well as the day to day vinyl stuff, so my printers are printing.....not cutting.

Does anyon regret not getting the print cut on their soljet?

 

[CarolinaCabinet]

The XC-540 is a well built machine, but after using it for a while, isee it as MUCH MUCH worth the extra 6-8 grand to have seperate faster machines and a much better cutter.... the only questions shouldnt be the money since it is well worth going seperate, the only question whould be do you have plenty of room to run seperate machines.... if you have the room, SPEND THE MONEY.... you get a little faster printer at the same quality, and you'll have a cadillac cutting instead of a pinto.... I've heard a lot of people say that the XC cutter is good, and it is for a buolt on cutter, but on specialty materials, it does not even come close to comparing to the graphtec.... the XC is only a good cutter with materials of standard thickness and composition.

 

[Capital Signs]

Well... I'll tell you this much. I was stuck on the XC-540, and i mean STUCK on getting it. Then I found a bit more about the 64" Mutoh. I was able to get the Mutoh, and the graphtec for about 22g's while I would have spent 26k on the XC, and You still save 4 grand! You now have two seperate machines to run individually what you need. I would highly recomend this rather to get an all in one. After all your printer and or your cutter broke, your whole machine on the xc is down... Just my .02 cents...

 

[oakcitysigns]

Hey all. I have a XJ 740 that I got in February. It's AWESOME! So far after using Mimaki, HP and Roland I would recommend the Roland in a second. Mimaki is great too, but requires a bit more babysitting.

To answer the questions about printing and cutting on separate devices....
My plotter is the Graphtec FC7000 MKII which comes with a plug-in for Illustrator (I think CorelDraw as well). So you add a layer for the cut line which doesn't print, and then add a layer for the registration marks that do print. When the time comes you load the print into the plotter and then in Illustrator hide the print layer and use the cut layer.

Geez! I don't think I could have made it sound more complicated, but it really is pretty simple.

Hope this helps.

 

[AllSquare Jason]

After all your printer and or your cutter broke, your whole machine on the xc is down... Just my .02 cents...

This is not correct. You can still use the cutter or the printer if the other were to go down.

And also keep in mind that IF either went down, they would be repaired under warranty in usually less than 2 days. I have never (and I am knocking on wood) seen a cutter go down in my 5 years.

 

[Capital Signs]

I know when my sp ran out of ink, I had to refill it before it would do anything. Was there a bypass to that?

 

[Graphix Plus Ink]

Capital

I know when my sp ran out of ink, I had to refill it before it would do anything. Was there a bypass to that?

Don't know why? All you have to do is shave the clip off that tells the machine its empty and stick it back in. The machine will think its new and be ready for you. It helps get the extra ink in the cartridges as well.

 

[CarolinaCabinet]

What chip is that? anyone have a pic to demonstrate?

 

[Graphix Plus Ink]

What chip is that? anyone have a pic to demonstrate?

Do you mean CLIP?

If so , there is a plastic clip that pops out of the cartidge to indicate to the printer your empty. Take a razor blade and snip it off enough so the machine doesn't t recognize it. The only problem is you need to have ink in soon cause you have affected the machine knowing when its completely dry. But it usually finishes the job without a blink.

 

[Blizare]

I just got the XJ640 ordered today with a roll or 3951 and a full set of 220ml carts (x12) also with the extra heater which is a bit more expensive than it should be but thats life.

It's about to make me a Sh!tload of money