Summa or Graphtec

[depps74]

Depps74: You know, there is an old saying, "You CAN please SOME folks ALL the time, or you CAN please ALL of the folks SOME of the time, but, you CAN'T please ALL of the folks ALL of the time!"

Most of the time, the Summa S Series roll cutter (especially the tangential knife roll cutter) are the best and highest performance vinyl cutters for sale.

To clear up some confusion concerning Summa.

Summa, Inc. was in business from the early 2000's through August 2017. On August 01, 2016, Summa, Inc. was acquired by a Belgium Investment firm where their cutters are built. On August 01, 2017, Summa, Inc. ceased operation and was replaced by Summa America.

MacSign is simply a "bridge sofware" to allow Mac users to communicate with the cutter. If you have been around cutters since they emerged into the market with PC's. Cutters in most all sign shops are driven by PC's. Big difference in flexibility.

Do you still own your Summa cutter? What model was it?

I returned it at a $1200 loss for restocking. Funny but Graphtec's Mac software is identical to Flexi, flawless, and can operate right from illustrator. The Graphtec is a champ so far, fast reliable robust and 1/2 the price. plus the customer service is top notch. sorry but I'll never be able to talk well about Summa sorry but that company seriously screwed me mid job.

 

[depps74]

Depps74: You know, there is an old saying, "You CAN please SOME folks ALL the time, or you CAN please ALL of the folks SOME of the time, but, you CAN'T please ALL of the folks ALL of the time!"

Most of the time, the Summa S Series roll cutter (especially the tangential knife roll cutter) are the best and highest performance vinyl cutters for sale.

To clear up some confusion concerning Summa.

Summa, Inc. was in business from the early 2000's through August 2017. On August 01, 2016, Summa, Inc. was acquired by a Belgium Investment firm where their cutters are built. On August 01, 2017, Summa, Inc. ceased operation and was replaced by Summa America.

MacSign is simply a "bridge sofware" to allow Mac users to communicate with the cutter. If you have been around cutters since they emerged into the market with PC's. Cutters in most all sign shops are driven by PC's. Big difference in flexibility.

Do you still own your Summa cutter? What model was it?

Also need to add that Summa tech supports words to my cutters problem : "It must be the material, Oracal 631 is a different material than what our cutters are used to" Thats when I knew I got a lemon.

 

[Andy D]

More closely, a Toyota sedan is different from a Ford sedan. Different parts, different technologies. Which one HAS to be better?

You kind of proved his point Bobby-boy, The Toyota is 100% better, every time & in every situation...with the exception of which one is better at leaving you on the side of the road.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Epson isn't bad. I'd stick to latex... But honestly they're both good. They both have their benefits and limitations... Neither of which are game breaking though.

Stay away from Jaguars... Summa.or graphtec if you want a good plotter. I've never used a jaguar... But I know a window tint place that has the one. They've come to our shop a few times to borrow time on our graphtec... They say it's way better and their jaguar is down more than it is up.

Maybe they got a lemon... But they also say the graphtec is much more accurate and way faster.

I bought a graphtec for my house. It was double the Jaguars and other cheap plotters.that on paper would.suit my.needs. But the graphtec can be re-sold for a good price later... And they're future proof. I have no doubt in 10 years it'll still be working.

You probably couldn't sell a gcc jaguar for 1/4 the price the day after you buy it.

We had a GCC Jaguar IV as our first cutter when I started my shop. It worked great, was pretty reliable and only ever had issues with scanning marks on very glossy materials. It's a great machine but their newer RX machines are light years better and about 20% less than graphtec. Having owned / operating multiple cutters since 2006... The Summa is by far better.

As for Latex vs Solvent... It's all preference. We prefer Latex, it fits our model well. Solvents give you a wider gamut on the epsons but latex is a lot more user friendly and material flexible.