Regularly, the DC4 is made for printing on vinyl only (some work well, other vinyls not). The consumables are more expensive than for inkjets, but the prints are much more resistant, and the white is more opaque than on e. g. Eco-Solvent-white. The machine not only print and cut, it could laminate at the same task too by using an additional "scratch guard"-ribbon (but mostly not needed because of a very good basic resistance). The bare prints are very resistant against chemical influence (e. g. alcohol) and scratches without lamination. The UV-resistance of the regular ribbons is up to 5 years (white 3 years, metallic and holographic for indoor use only and can't be used with scratch guard) unlaminated. An additional feature is the possibility of cutting and punching labels at the same time on separate contours.
The printer prints spot colors very well, the graphics have sharp edges and the colors are very powerful. In addition to more than twenty spot color ribbons, there is a possibility to mix two spot colors to generate hundreds of additional spot colors (DuoSpot). A lot of special effects are possible. As soon as needing halftones or print photos, the prints are not state of the art in comparison to inkjet because the DC4 prints with a rough AM-Screen. Printing with spot colors is strongly recommended too because it saves costs (Printing red for example can be done with a red ribbon or with yellow and magenta - double costs).
Because printing with spot colors need special preparation of the graphics, the DC4 is no real "no brainer". And there is a need to carefully manage the printer settings to minimize banding (the ribbons are around 9cm wide, for larger pictures one band will set after the other, no multiple passes are printed who could hide banding).
The DC4 is a real powerful printer for industrial labelling, and for any other kind of labels. And it is really low maintenance, because of it prints dry (no liquids in it), it don't need any care if not used for weeks or months (only protecting it from dust is needed). Most of the consumables are replacable by the users and are very cheap (Cleaning pads and such things), one of my customers (I sell that units) have printed until now around 10'000 square meters in 4 years with the first head and no other maintenance than what he himself could do. He mainly prints labels of one or two colours, very often for example white text on olive green vinyl for military use. The printer is very environment friendly (refill-ribbon-cartridges, no smell, no VOC's). The printhead itself is not as cheap as the HP's printheads (I don't know the US-prices), and some experience is needed to set it up, but it lasts very long.
BUT: the machine is very special, data preparation and printing is 95% different in comparison to inkjets. If you don't have someone who knows that machines and do an instruction to you, you have a real chance that this unit drives you into a heart attack. My company sells HP and Summa, and we will NOT deliver any DC4 to customers without an instruction. The same applies to users of early roland thermal printers, they have perhaps more basics, but can't handle the machine too right out of the box.
For someone like you who do mainly wall decals the machine will not fit your needs. If you like to make labels, and you haven't paid much money, it could be worth to try.
