S40600 is amazing!

[CanuckSigns]

I agree with you that the new SureColor SC Series are a well built machine, the take-up system is accurate as the colors are but what about the versatility ? I mean can you print on a large substrates and laminate immediately like the HP Latex ? You need at least 6 hours for degassing and if you have alot of jobs to deliver same day it's not really productive. The ink waste is also a con in eco-solvent machines that will cost you thousand bucks per year.

We have laminated straight off the printer with no issues when we had to, but usually leave prints till the next day to laminate, mostly due to workflow more than anything else. I try to avoid same day type jobs if possible cause they are a PITA.

The ink tank on our printer holds 700ml, I have emptied it once in 14 months of ownership, so that's around $220 in waste ink, far from thousands.

I'm not a fan of the latex machines, I considered them before we bought the Epson, even went to the sign show to see them running, found the colours to be very dull, and the consumable print heads are a big negative for me, the solvent heads last for 5+ years if maintained, in that same 5 years you would have spent thousands on print heads.

 

[jpescobar]

Every brand have pros an cons in its models, the same applies to vinyl cutters, UV printers, laminators... For the ink waste maybe I exagerated a liitle bit on the cost, but having that amount of inks in that bottle could be used for other applications which earn you money.

For the image quality I disagree with you on the fact the colours seem to be dull. If you saw that in a sign show probably the guy operating the printer didn't made the right adjustments because I've saw many models running (300, 500 and 1500 series) and they all delivered astonishing prints with vivid colours, instantly dry and extremely scratch resistant. The versatility goes from soft paper and textile (you will not get a good printing with an eco-solvent printer) to the most rough and rigid materials.

I suppose you're satisfied with you choice, mine will be based on products I will to deliver to my clients which are various, if I go for an Epson SC-S40600 I need a large vinyl cutter that is expensive in my country. That's why the HP Latex Print & Cut 335 is the right and perfect solution for my business. I also ordered a 64" Easymount Sign laminator, a Keencut cutting bar for cutting materials and boards. For the consumables I don't have any problem with that since I always buy stocks especially inks and rolls.

 

[TomK]

Every brand have pros an cons in its models, the same applies to vinyl cutters, UV printers, laminators... For the ink waste maybe I exagerated a liitle bit on the cost, but having that amount of inks in that bottle could be used for other applications which earn you money.

For the image quality I disagree with you on the fact the colours seem to be dull. If you saw that in a sign show probably the guy operating the printer didn't made the right adjustments because I've saw many models running (300, 500 and 1500 series) and they all delivered astonishing prints with vivid colours, instantly dry and extremely scratch resistant. The versatility goes from soft paper and textile (you will not get a good printing with an eco-solvent printer) to the most rough and rigid materials.

I suppose you're satisfied with you choice, mine will be based on products I will to deliver to my clients which are various, if I go for an Epson SC-S40600 I need a large vinyl cutter that is expensive in my country. That's why the HP Latex Print & Cut 335 is the right and perfect solution for my business. I also ordered a 64" Easymount Sign laminator, a Keencut cutting bar for cutting materials and boards. For the consumables I don't have any problem with that since I always buy stocks especially inks and rolls.

The HP Latex/Print and Cut is still two separate machines, so you still require the floor space for the cutter just like you would if you purchased the Epson SC printer.

 

[ikarasu]

Every brand have pros an cons in its models, the same applies to vinyl cutters, UV printers, laminators... For the ink waste maybe I exagerated a liitle bit on the cost, but having that amount of inks in that bottle could be used for other applications which earn you money.

For the image quality I disagree with you on the fact the colours seem to be dull. If you saw that in a sign show probably the guy operating the printer didn't made the right adjustments because I've saw many models running (300, 500 and 1500 series) and they all delivered astonishing prints with vivid colours, instantly dry and extremely scratch resistant. The versatility goes from soft paper and textile (you will not get a good printing with an eco-solvent printer) to the most rough and rigid materials.

I suppose you're satisfied with you choice, mine will be based on products I will to deliver to my clients which are various, if I go for an Epson SC-S40600 I need a large vinyl cutter that is expensive in my country. That's why the HP Latex Print & Cut 335 is the right and perfect solution for my business. I also ordered a 64" Easymount Sign laminator, a Keencut cutting bar for cutting materials and boards. For the consumables I don't have any problem with that since I always buy stocks especially inks and rolls.

I'm still a big latex supporter, and believe latex is better than solvent in most ways. But I also believe people should have all the information before purchasing a machine. So, just so you know... While you can laminate same day, 3M warranty states you can't apply the material for 12-24 hours after its been printed. So yes.. You can laminate, but you can't use the product because their tests show it affects the longevity of the install.

We just went through everything to become 3M preferred for commercial graphics.. And we have to write down on every order when it was printed, when it was laminated and when it was applied to wherever it's being applied. They take it pretty seriously...

Whether Avery or other suppliers suggest the same thing...I don't know. We've also printed and laminated on eco-solvent the same day with no issues. We Haven't had a problem doing that with latex either, so I'm not sure if one is technically better than the other in that department.... Just wanted to point out that technicaly while you can laminate right away... If you follow 3M standards your still not allowed to use the product for 24 hours.

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

If I go for an Epson SC-S40600 I need a large vinyl cutter that is expensive in my country. That's why the HP Latex Print & Cut 335 is the right and perfect solution for my business. I also ordered a 64" Easymount Sign laminator, a Keencut cutting bar for cutting materials and boards. For the consumables I don't have any problem with that since I always buy stocks especially inks and rolls.

Pricing must be very weird in your country. There is an USD$7000 difference in price between the S40600 and the 335 Print & Cut solution... more than enough for an excellent 64" cutter.
You sound like a HP employee.

 

[jpescobar]

Pricing must be very weird in your country. There is an USD$7000 difference in price between the S40600 and the 335 Print & Cut solution... more than enough for an excellent 64" cutter.
You sound like a HP employee.

The Epson SureColor SC-S40610 costs around $18k due because of the depreciation of our local currency while 2 years ago it price was $13k and the reseller is not even an Epson authorized dealer which means I have no guarantee for technical support and consumables availabality. He's now selling Mutoh machines (printers, vinyl cutters and UV).

The HP Print & Cut 335 costs $22k and I have full support from the dealer, I don't have to worry about the consumables wether cartridges and printheads.

And no I'm not an HP emloyee to make promotion of their products despite all my PCs are HP, it's a trusted brand and as the proverb says "why changing a winning brand ?"

 

[CanuckSigns]

The Epson SureColor SC-S40610 costs around $18k due because of the depreciation of our local currency while 2 years ago it price was $13k and the reseller is not even an Epson authorized dealer which means I have no guarantee for technical support and consumables availabality. He's now selling Mutoh machines (printers, vinyl cutters and UV).

The HP Print & Cut 335 costs $22k and I have full support from the dealer, I don't have to worry about the consumables wether cartridges and printheads.

And no I'm not an HP emloyee to make promotion of their products despite all my PCs are HP, it's a trusted brand and as the proverb says "why changing a winning brand ?"

In that case, if the choice is between a printer without any local support or a machine with local support, I would also chose the HP as well, that's a no brainer.

 

[jfiscus]

I call bs on you smelling latex printer. We have our latex running 5 hours a day minimum, and unless your are right in front taping the media to the take up, there is 0 smell. My Roland VG640 smells like death after only 5 minutes of printing....

I don't post any BS here. I am not getting paid by any company/rep to say anything positive or negative. I just get on here and post honest truth and try to help others. We bought our latex 360 about 6 months after they came out and really tried hard to make it work. We were still running slow old Mimaki JV3s at the time so we were really impressed by the speed/print quality when we first got the latex. We run only a few different medias (3m 180c primarily) and it DID smell really bad when we were printing. The guys here even started joking that they were going to get "condom lung" from being around the printer. We would have kept it and bought another, but it did not print the same color consistently and that was a major issue here. HP couldn't fix the issue so we sold it.

I agree with you that the new SureColor SC Series are a well built machine, the take-up system is accurate as the colors are but what about the versatility ? I mean can you print on a large substrates and laminate immediately like the HP Latex ? You need at least 6 hours for degassing and if you have alot of jobs to deliver same day it's not really productive. The ink waste is also a con in eco-solvent machines that will cost you thousand bucks per year.

These are production/workhorse machines. In a small shop I've learned that some people worry about every little dollar like waste ink/vinyl instead of fixing their pricing to cover the waste material. The materials we run are around $1000 per roll (vinyl & lam) ad we run 4-8 rolls per day on our printers, so we have a lot more "waste" ink/vinyl; we probably throw more away than a small shop uses all year. you just have to account for it in your pricing.

On our latex we had to have a substantial leader to tape down to the take-up reel, and also we had to have a "sacrificial panel" that printed before the rest of the real job that would acclimate the printer/room conditions so that we got a more-consistent color throughout the roll. And then you also had to have a decent trailing amount of vinyl left on the roll.

 

[jpescobar]

I have a small office with enough space to put 3 bigs machines (64" wide format printer + 54/64" vinyl cutter + 64" laminator) in the same room. I want something for a weekly jobs and high quality prints. For the ink smell I don't have a problem with since my office is aerated so I don't need a whole ventilation system like I've seen in many printshops.

The HP Latex is a good machine, nice colors and very versatile but I've read and heard many people complaining about the headstrikes, roll jamming and colors shifting. The SureColor 40600 is amazing for an eco-solvent maybe the best in its category, very accurate, the colors are bright and vivid. I think it's more suitable for my business which consist in outdoor and indoor prints. I just need a good vinyl cutter for stickers, window graphics and t-shirt heat transfer vinyl.

Unfortunately I don't have too many choices when it comes to pick a good brand/model machine furthermore the prices are expensive. A combination of an Epson SC-S40600, a GCC Jaguar J4-132 and an Easymount Sign 1600C laminator is in my opinion perfect.