Valuejet

Funny, I was just a few minutes away from posting the same question! I would also be interested in what anyone knows about this & also the PrismJet V from signwarehouse. They are supposedly the same machine. (I hope I didn't hijack your thread dave!)

 

I demoed one. Here's what I think.

It's stupid fast for the price. About 4-5 times faster than the Falcon Outdoor printers (I believe). I watched it with my two eyes....WOW.

Great quality. It lays down the ink in a wave pattern so no banding.

My only gripe... no auto take up reel. But it's cool.... WAY better than their Falcon printers IMHO.

If I didn't have a 2 month old Falcon (ie Prismjet) I'd buy the Valuejet.

 

Come on Flame - its only money! !LOL!

As a matter of fact, I am sure that someone here would be willing to give you a couple of peanuts for your "old and used" machine :Big Laugh

BTW - I really hope you know that I am busting chops - so please don't do anything foolish like give Mutoh an early Xmas gift! :Big Laugh

 

Bumping this up to see if anyone else has an opinion!

 

My only complaint is the size is odd. It accepts 50.2" media, but nobody makes media in that size. So it is really a 48" printer that will no print full bleed (edge to edge). So it you need to print and mount to a 4x8 panel, you will be 1/2" short. Mutoh is showing the new 64" valujet this month in Vegas, but at $24,995.00, I think other printers are a better option.

 

The ValueJet Truth

I recently just finished our dealer training as a new "Authorized reseller of Mutoh Products" well legally that's what we can call ourselves.
Let me begin by saying that time is the most important item that matters.Our Family has been in the sign industry since 1927. If a company can stand that test of they must be doing something right. Mutoh is from the 60's and grew into the famous printer manufacturer it is today through the years.
Mutoh is the OEM manufacturer for many brands of printers they are just rebadged or reclothed with new plastic. Infact they make the larger Epson Aqueous printers. Yes, they manufacturer Epson printers. The truth lays here in the print head and the stepper motors. Epson has a fabuolus head out now and this head is a derivative of their Toucan LT model put into the ValueJET as a 4 color unit. Like colorspans, which make a great product, with incredible output, 4 color is all you need since the printhead technology allows smaller droplets. But the real meat and potatoes: Wave Pattern Printing. "Wholey Banding Reduction Batman" like the new digital cammo that the us military uses, this process is incredible at reducing edges "banding". Well that has astonished me print after print I had made in that week. But the truth is we live in a capitalistic society, money and makes the difference. ROI (return on investment for you newbies" a 30" Roland @ 12,995 can make you $$$ but the truth is we need to be able to print a minimum of a 4'x8' in our society since it is a manufacturing standard. For approx $2000 more you can take the jobs that you will be passing up on with the Mutoh 48" and pay for that difference. If you think the width won't justify $2000 how about the speed then it is tremendeously faster than the Roland. Which means you can make more prints more day or send out more invoices per day. Well the roland is a great product, it uses the same head and ink from epson but the truth is if you have a sign shop 48" is the way to go. As I have been told a take up reel will be avail. soon. Normally, I would agree with anyone that would say it's great because you sell them. But the truth is , I sell them because they are a great product that will make you $$$ROI$$$ and they make my customers money and they come back for repeat business.

Well, If you wanta Valuejet here's my email. My district is PA, but I'll look find out if I can go further into other markets. I urge you to take a cdrom with a 25meg file and print on the Mutoh and the competition. Print on the Mutoh last though. I garauntee with the difference in printing speed you will be writing a check and loading it in the car with the spare time on that print.

I'm advising you to go out and buy one, just to try one, It will sell itsself.


Chris Ferri
Ferri Design + Construct
Design | Construct | Communicate
412.294.1977
chris@phablab.com


Ps. the Valuejet name isn't winning me over, It should have been the profit jet. But I guess it looks better for any clients that see your printer.

Explore the following websites to experience all of Mutoh's Capabilities.
www.Mutoh.com
www.Mutoh.be
www.mutoh.jp

 

I have to say that the ValueJet is absolutely impressive. My company has been HP DesignJet dealers for over 13 years, and the ValueJet beats the 5500 in quality and speed, HANDS DOWN! That's hard for me to say since I've bled "5500" since entering this industry a few years ago. The Interweave function on the ValueJet eliminates banding in everything we've seen and the color gamut of the CMYK process is phenomenal. For the price point, there is nothing better, and quite honestly, it still is pretty fast for the unit. We've got some great sample books that we're marketing on this printer and the feedback has been 100% positive thus far. Mutoh makes a great product with great support and they treat their dealers very well. I'm located in Seattle, so anyone in WA/OR/ID interested, please give me a shout. Good luck and happy printing!

Matt Cuellar
Unica digital media llc
mattc@unicadigital.com

 

I saw this printer at SGIA and spoke with them about a take up reel. It is standard on the larger model and optional on the 48" one. I seem to recall that it was fairly pricey, around $1,500, if I recall correctly. I know that the roll mounting system is a little slicker on the big machine too. I liked what I saw from them, particularly the wavy print pattern concept.

How about some more feedback on these machines? They are bound to have sold more than one or two already.

 

I've been very impressed with this printer. We have the 48" model and the downside is that there's no takeup reel, but overall, not a big concern compared to the benefits. The quality is phenomenal, great speed, really quiet...sometimes I don't even realize it's on. =0)

I think Mutoh has a winner here and this will be a big-selling product for the next little while. Tip my hat to Mutoh!

Matt Cuellar
Unica digital media llc
mattc@unicadigital.com

 

How fast is fast?

Does anyone have any specs on the speed? I spec are not not very accurate, but it's starting point.

Is the Valuejet faster than the JV3?

 

Hello all,

We just recieved our Prismjet V (Mutoh Valuejet...clearly marked on the packaging) TODAY! Was only able to unpack and mount on its stand. Looks great.

Signwarehouse gave me (I think) a great deal, end of month special, 48" Prismjet V, 54" Q130 Plotter, 60" Cold Laminator, FLEXIsign 8.0 and a complete startup package of inks, media, graphics, misc and FREE shipping, for $18K total.

Will have to get back with you on the quality, speed etc. They stated it prints at 140ft/hr at production resolution.

This is out first printer...looking forward to learning.

Good input on this board.

Bill
Signxpress

 

Valujet specs from signwarehouse.

PrismJET V
• Print Method Drop-on-Demand Dynamic Variable Dot Piezoelectric Inkjet
• Maximum Color Print Speed: Up to 140 square feet per hour in Production Mode
• Head Height Adjustment: 1.5, 2.3 mm with maximum media thickness of 1 mm
• Resolution Options: 1440, 720, 540, 360
• Print Mode Options: 10 modes (resolutions, passes, and carriage speed)
• Print Control Options: Media microstep adjust, origin reset, automatic head cleaning, dry time interval between copies
• Heater/Dryer: Individually controlled pre. platen, and post heaters
• Ink Reservoir Capacity: 220ml per color with 4 ink reservoirs
• Available Ink Options: Eco-Solvent Ultra ink. No lamination required in normal applications. Heavy duty applications, such as car wraps, floor graphics, etc., require lamination.
• User Panel: LCD Display 4 line x 20 character with LED backlight
• Standard Data Interface: 100Base-TX Fast Ethernet NIC and IEEE 1284 ECP Parallel
• Feed & Take-up System: TBD
• Media Handling: Sheet, front feed/front exit roll, rear feed/front exit
• Roll Media Specifications: 3" core, 42 lbs
• Print Speed: Production Mode (720x720, 2 pass) @ 140 sf/hr; Graphics Mode (720x720, 4 pass) @ 70 sf/hr; Quality Mode (720x720, 4 pass) @ 55 sf/hr; 7 other modes available
• Max. Media Width: 51.2" • Max. Print Width: 48"
• Assembled Printer Size: 70Wx27Dx38.5H
• Assembled Printer Weight: 150 lbs
• Shipping Size: 75Wx30Dx33H
• Warranty: 1 year on site printer, parts & labor; 6 months or 2 billion droplets on the print heads, whichever comes first

Note: No lamination required in normal applications. Heavy duty applications, such as car wraps, floor graphics, etc., require lamination.

 

Comparison info

http://www.mutoh.com/products/ValueJet/ValueJet%20Comparison%202_files/slide0004.htm

 

I wouldn't take another Mutoh if they gave it to me for free.

 

Ill get mine tomorrow I cant wait

 

Please let us know your experiences with it. thanks Gene

 

We have been a Mutoh dealer for 2 years and along with several other lines of printers, cutters and finishing equipment - the Mutoh printers have sold well and have held there own. But - I have to tell you that the ValuJet has been a homerun for our cuatomers. Whether it is a 48", 64" or a 100" ValuJet, our experience as a sales and technical support group has blown away our expectations.

If we can be of any assistance, please let us know - Gregory, Inc. 800-835-2221

 

Well two days all i've been doing is printing sandblast films (b&w design) I have had no time for tests, I had a little color difficulties, But i don't think its the VJ's fault. I've got profiles for Avery 2010 and Avery 3000 and i will be using the 2000 series for printing and contour cutting. The dealer took some tests on it before he delivered it to me and it looks super, i saw him print 2pt letters in 720dpi and it was easily readable.

The steps are super narrow and you can see small waves ~1-2mm maby.

It does not come with a take-up, and we ordered a 3rd party take-up with a IR dryer (which i don't think is really necessary)

Installing Media and starting the device is really easy i walk in to the printer room and in less than 5 minutes its up and running

That is my first impression.