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Suggestions Solvent to Latex

has anyone changed from solvet to latex and had regrets

  • negative

    Votes: 9 60.0%

  • positive

    Votes: 7 46.7%
  • Total voters
    15
D

david webb

New Member
2CT Media said:
Converted 10 years ago and wouldn't go back from having latex. We would add Solvent and actual plan on it soon for its abilities beyond latex.
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So i would be crazy to go latex i think the
new technology for solvent is much better, do you agree
 
MikePro

MikePro

New Member
Ran solvent for 10years, been on latex now nearly as much.... can't say I'd ever go back but i'd be interested to hear how solvent prints have improved
 
J

jpescobar

New Member
Solvent and Latex are like diesel and electric engines, they are different and they don't have the same technology. Most people and printer shops use solvent printers like Windows system on PCs. HP has no doubt the most diversified printing branch (DesignJet, Latex, Scitex, Indigo, PageWide) but it struggles to compete with big brands like Epson, Mimaki, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Agfa, Vutek...). I don't say HP has bad products, personnaly I owned only HP PCs for nearly 17 years but when it comes to printers I prefer brands like Epson and Konica Minolta. I own 5 machines and I'm happy with the reliability, the versatility and the print quality.
 
BigfishDM

BigfishDM

Merchant Member
jpescobar said:
Solvent and Latex are like diesel and electric engines, they are different and they don't have the same technology. Most people and printer shops use solvent printers like Windows system on PCs. HP has no doubt the most diversified printing branch (DesignJet, Latex, Scitex, Indigo, PageWide) but it struggles to compete with big brands like Epson, Mimaki, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Agfa, Vutek...). I don't say HP has bad products, personnaly I owned only HP PCs for nearly 17 years but when it comes to printers I prefer brands like Epson and Konica Minolta. I own 5 machines and I'm happy with the reliability, the versatility and the print quality.
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For wide-format, HP is the #1,2, and 4 printer in the ENTIRE industry. Epson, Roland, and Mutoh COMBINED make up #3. HP does the best job against those brands FYI.
 
U

unclebun

Active Member
MikePro said:
Ran solvent for 10years, been on latex now nearly as much.... can't say I'd ever go back but i'd be interested to hear how solvent prints have improved
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The improvement isn't so much in the prints, though they are sharper/clearer/brighter than 10 years ago, but in the solvents. 10 years ago you couldn't stand to be in the same room with the printer more than 5 minutes. Now it's no problem. Also the ink dries much faster now.

Most of my competitors in town have latex, and when I get a customer who has used one of them in the past, they typically are amazed at the quality of the prints compared to what they used to get.
 
J

jpescobar

New Member
BigfishDM said:
For wide-format, HP is the #1,2, and 4 printer in the ENTIRE industry. Epson, Roland, and Mutoh COMBINED make up #3. HP does the best job against those brands FYI.
Click to expand...

This ranking is based on which report? If you argue that HP is better than Roland and Mutoh we can agree but better than Epson especially the SureColor Series I do not think so. I understand and I respect the fact you're a HP Latex reseller (If I'm not wrong) but I talked with many HP resellers and they all agree that Epson is the best eco-solvent printer on the market.
 
BigfishDM

BigfishDM

Merchant Member
jpescobar said:
This ranking is based on which report? If you argue that HP is better than Roland and Mutoh we can agree but better than Epson especially the SureColor Series I do not think so. I understand and I respect the fact you're a HP Latex reseller (If I'm not wrong) but I talked with many HP resellers and they all agree that Epson is the best eco-solvent printer on the market.
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Just based of unit placements that's all. I do agree that the Epson Color gamut is better also. I think in most cases the Latex ink gamut is totally fine though.
 
B

Bobby H

Arial Sucks.
We used to do solvent (or "eco-solvent) printing. Four years ago we bought a big HP latex printer and then two years ago set up a second one alongside it. When the second printer arrived we retired our old VersaCAMM. Both printers stay pretty busy. To add another variable, we recently purchased/installed a new UV flatbed printer. That's going to be a big help on a variety of other kinds of jobs.

The change in printers has been positive for the most part. No more waiting for hours or more to allow prints to out-gas before laminating them.
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
Each have their benefits. The latex fanbois will swear by latex... The solvent will swear by solvent.

Ive ran all three. I love the latex the best... But that doesn't mean it's better than solvent. For every up it has, it has a down.

One is not better than the other... They're just Different.
 
rjssigns

rjssigns

Active Member
ikarasu said:
Each have their benefits. The latex fanbois will swear by latex... The solvent will swear by solvent.

Ive ran all three. I love the latex the best... But that doesn't mean it's better than solvent. For every up it has, it has a down.

One is not better than the other... They're just Different.
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This^^^^

My new solvent printer will be here in a couple weeks. Why solvent? Because I use the same advice I give to people wanting to buy a printer. Buy local, even if it costs more. Dealer is within 30 minutes of my shop. When a printer breaks,and they all do, I want someone on site within hours not days.
 
A

AF

New Member
No printer is perfect, you may get a dud and not every situation will work with one specific type of printer.

There are people overwhelmingly happy with every printer tech and people who won’t touch certain printers ever again.
 
StarSign

StarSign

New Member
BUCKY said:
What was the issues with the latex that you didn't lik
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It felt like we had to babysit the HP a lot, startup time, power needs made it harder to reconfigure area. They are good machines and have a place however, after having 2 it was time for a change. We still have our 210 but we won't turn it on. It's not worth keeping all of the supplies in stock.
 
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