Should I Buy HP L280 104"?

[LocalWraps]

Ok i have an opportunity to purchase a 2014 HP L280, I have no experience with Latex or HP printers. We currently have 2 Roland Printers XC 540 PRO3, and Roland XR-640 Pro 4. and 1 Vutek PV200/600. A colleague from another sign shop is getting rid of it because of a change in their business model and possibly clients. Currently I am told they have it in their warehouse POWERED down, UNPLUGGED! UGH! I know its 3 phase and this is not really an issue as we have 3-phase service that can easily be run to it.

My concern is,....
How temperamental are these models?
Does latex not need to be purged prior to storage?
worst case what do you think it'll cost to get this unit operational if ink was not purged and i need all new heads and ink?

What would you think it (printer) would be worth?

any help would be greatly appreciated. I know i can use it and put it to work as we do a lot of banners and vehicle wraps. I would most likely dedicate it to the banner side of our business.
any help from people who have one would be awesome, I like real world unbiased feedback over the sellers rainbows and accolades! LOL

 

[Zendavor Signs]

Ok i have an opportunity to purchase a 2014 HP L280, I have no experience with Latex or HP printers. We currently have 2 Roland Printers XC 540 PRO3, and Roland XR-640 Pro 4. and 1 Vutek PV200/600. A colleague from another sign shop is getting rid of it because of a change in their business model and possibly clients. Currently I am told they have it in their warehouse POWERED down, UNPLUGGED! UGH! I know its 3 phase and this is not really an issue as we have 3-phase service that can easily be run to it.

My concern is,....
How temperamental are these models?
Does latex not need to be purged prior to storage?
worst case what do you think it'll cost to get this unit operational if ink was not purged and i need all new heads and ink?

What would you think it (printer) would be worth?

any help would be greatly appreciated. I know i can use it and put it to work as we do a lot of banners and vehicle wraps. I would most likely dedicate it to the banner side of our business.
any help from people who have one would be awesome, I like real world unbiased feedback over the sellers rainbows and accolades! LOL

I would not recommend buying this machine. I have this exact machine. First of all, you are paying for the extra width. Will you really be printing on wider medias? IMO, the Latex printers excel at printing on adhesive vinyls, but lack in printing on specialty medias and banner material (which is pretty much all >60" medias). You are better off sticking with a 60" machine. It is also much more difficult to load and unload the 8ft wide mechanism. Secondly, the 2xx series Latex is now 2 generations (or at least iterations) behind. You could probably pick up a brand new 3xx series machine for about the same price and be much better off.

 

[LocalWraps]

I would not recommend buying this machine. I have this exact machine. First of all, you are paying for the extra width. Will you really be printing on wider medias? IMO, the Latex printers excel at printing on adhesive vinyls, but lack in printing on specialty medias and banner material (which is pretty much all >60" medias). You are better off sticking with a 60" machine. It is also much more difficult to load and unload the 8ft wide mechanism. Secondly, the 2xx series Latex is now 2 generations (or at least iterations) behind. You could probably pick up a brand new 3xx series machine for about the same price and be much better off.

Thanks for your blunt honesty, This is the exact feedback i need from people who have experience with this machine. Now may i ask why you think it has a problem printing on the banner materials? Like i said earlier, I have 2 roland 1 54" and the other 64" that we do use for Vehicle wraps. Buy we do get people asking for 6ft banner heights and 8ft every so often for backdrops. How much babysitting does this machine require in your opinion. And how do the reds print. I have always had a issue with vibrant red colors on my roland Not sure why i am running OEM Eco Sol Max 2 inks

 

[nate]

Thanks for your blunt honesty, This is the exact feedback i need from people who have experience with this machine. Now may i ask why you think it has a problem printing on the banner materials? Like i said earlier, I have 2 roland 1 54" and the other 64" that we do use for Vehicle wraps. Buy we do get people asking for 6ft banner heights and 8ft every so often for backdrops. How much babysitting does this machine require in your opinion. And how do the reds print. I have always had a issue with vibrant red colors on my roland Not sure why i am running OEM Eco Sol Max 2 inks

Latex is great for banners... Not sure what the other poster was referring to. We go through a ton of banner between all of our latex machines.

 

[Morkel]

We have a 28500 and it was our first latex printer. Yes, we only ever use the larger widths for banners, but the machine is worth it for that reason alone. We're constantly scouring for clues on whether they'll ever bring out a current-generation printer at the larger width, simply because our 360 is so much faster.

 

[FrankW]

Secondly, the 2xx series Latex is now 2 generations (or at least iterations) behind.

It's only one generation. The Latex 500-Models are no complete new generation, but additional third generation machines.

 

[KevSign]

Ok i have an opportunity to purchase a 2014 HP L280, I have no experience with Latex or HP printers. We currently have 2 Roland Printers XC 540 PRO3, and Roland XR-640 Pro 4. and 1 Vutek PV200/600. A colleague from another sign shop is getting rid of it because of a change in their business model and possibly clients. Currently I am told they have it in their warehouse POWERED down, UNPLUGGED! UGH! I know its 3 phase and this is not really an issue as we have 3-phase service that can easily be run to it.

My concern is,....
How temperamental are these models?
Does latex not need to be purged prior to storage?
worst case what do you think it'll cost to get this unit operational if ink was not purged and i need all new heads and ink?

What would you think it (printer) would be worth?

any help would be greatly appreciated. I know i can use it and put it to work as we do a lot of banners and vehicle wraps. I would most likely dedicate it to the banner side of our business.
any help from people who have one would be awesome, I like real world unbiased feedback over the sellers rainbows and accolades! LOL

We had 2 of these L28500 and print a lot of 2 sides banner with cling for food chain. Also did 400 36"x79 banner stand on fabric, 8mil poster paper are perfect, banner, and 6mm adhesive back.
Currently we only have one, because we just bough HP Scitex 3100, we still have HP Latex 850.

I heart HP taking trade-in L28500 discount $50,000 who purchase HP Latex LX1500. I think great deal.

 

[Kreate !nk]

Run... these a essentially 2 l25500s screwed together. Same old heat and poor ink issues. I Run lx610....munches through rolls of wraps like a beast..

 

[FrankW]

Run... these a essentially 2 l25500s screwed together. Same old heat and poor ink issues. I Run lx610....munches through rolls of wraps like a beast..

The Printer does not base on the 25500, it bases on the 26500 (second Generation). And, in difference to these, it have a completely different stand, Roll-off and roll-up, power supply, user Interface, slightly different print modes.