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Thermal vs Inkjet

Colin

Colin

New Member
Nevermind - I found it:

SP-540, SP-300: Introduced 200410. The original SP machines are 2-head systems with wire-drawn carriages. 1 year warranty

SP-540V, SP-300V: Introduced 200503. The "V" stands for Versaworks and EcoSolMax ink capability. 1 year warranty.

SP-540S, SP-300S: Introduced 2005. The "S" stands for Sublimation. There was also a corresponding SP-540VS and SP-300VS. The SP-540S/SP-540VS wasn't marketed extensively, but the SP-300S/SP-300VS was popular as an OEM'd model.

SP-540i, SP-300i: Introduced 200909. The "i" stands for intelligent pass and integrated ethernet. The drive has been upgraded to a belt, and the media handling capacity has been increased.
 
Colin

Colin

New Member
I justed learned that the SP300i (and VP) is going to be discontinued soon in favour of the VS line.
 
gnatt66

gnatt66

New Member
as far as only having the Big Squeegee...you can get away with it for a while. i laminated about 2 rolls worth by hand with the BS before i got my ledco.

if your current jobs could all be accomplished with a 30" machine then most of your inkjet jobs can be as well. i love my 30" vp-300i! fits where it's gotta, the laminator is small as well and i can afford it no matter how bad a month i'm having. ive outsourced some oversize jobs and they were in the $4/sqft range print/lam on 3m material....would take a lot of those jobs to justify the 54" premium ($5k more for the printer/more $ for the larger laminator/sq footage in your space, etc) at my shop.

inkjet all the way! i just got a job reproducing some photos for a trade show display and mounting them onto foam core...easy money for an inkjet!
 
signmeup

signmeup

New Member
I'm with Bubbles. I've survived just fine with a 24" plotter for years now. A 30" printer would do a heck of a lot jobs for me. Outsource the big muthas and odd stuff.
 
artsnletters

artsnletters

New Member
thanks for starting this thread...really informative. I've been outsourcing my digital printing for partial wraps and logos for a while and like you i do (or did) a ton of boat lettering (except with one-shot). I have a Roland CJ-500 sitting needing the switchover to solvent (new heads and everything else plus a heater system) and having a hard time finding the dollars for the conversion. I ALSO have a Summa T-750 that needs service and i was going to send that in and have the OPOS system installed to use for contour cutting. So like you, I was hoping i could get by using a BS for a while to put off getting a damn laminator. The aggressive (read as cutthroat) pricing on digital printing still makes me wonder if going thru all this headache is worth it in the long run. Thankfully i still airbrush and do hand lettering/striping once in a while too...
Tim
 
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