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Discussion VersaSTUDIO BT-12 Reviews?

scottneil

New Member
Looking at this also. I'm in Thailand and can't find a dealer here who (1) will reply at all, or (2) speaks even a modicum of English. I had Roland USA bump the main dealer here in Bangkok several times to get a reply, but it seems that must be done every single time and I give up. Good machines. Deplorable CS. And unfortunately (crazily) Roland pretty much refuses to even talk to me, telling me I MUST deal with their BS dealers here. So I'm stuck. Does anyone know if this will print onto ANYTHING beyond cotton? Does anyone know if there is any reason why you couldn't print at max size, then cure, then print an adjacent graphic? Probably never get a continuous image to line up, but if it were, say, a few lines of text, then another few lines of text, you ought to be able to place one above another, right? Or would the alignment just never be right? Because the printable area is quite small. Roland offers very poor descriptions of many of their products. Maybe cooking the first image twice would screw it up? Tried to get them into CHAT mode, so they wouldn't know where I was, but they have never once answered my chat requests. Maybe my IP gives it away and they just ignore chat requests from here. Poor way to sell if you ask me (but of course you didn't). Unspeakably frustrating trying to deal with this company. Do they want MONEY, or not? Selling machines is their purpose, correct? Or is it something else?
 
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Joe House

Sign Equipment Technician
The machine has been announced, but not yet shipping. So I haven't been able to get hands on. What I share below is just what I've been told.
Material printed on needs to be at least 50% cotton. Small footprint: 15.7” (W) x 29.9” (D). 5 minutes to produce a cured product. It ships via UPS/FedX. No white ink option. No technician is needed to set it up or train on it. Comes with simple design/production software.
You might be able to make it work for larger items, but I wouldn't recommend it. Use it for what it is intended to do and you should be happy. It looks promising to me.

Edit: Scott, sorry you're not having a great experience over there with the local Roland team.
 
In 2019 they release a printer without a white option, that's a joke. I thought by now they'd release a DTG printer with polymer ink that has a 3d effect when heatpressed or something.
 
Whats wrong with that? Its literally 1/3 the price of all its competitors?

Good point.

I just wonder how this will work. TrueVis is a response for competitors cheaper machines and it is a total failure (had one). Nevertheless if it works as expected I'll also buy one just in case.
 

oobairbrushguy

New Member
I recently went and looked at 1. For the price it's great, but way slow! Wouldn't be able to make money with these unless you have like 6 of them
I own and operate a retail custom airbrush shop in a tourist town, so what I was looking to do, was be able to replicate my own work for the most popular stock designs. Speed wouldn't really be an issue as long as it was able to be run consistently all day.
my local rep has one on order, and wants me to be the first person that runs the demo. I will be back with pictures and information for sure!
 

Christian @ 2CT Media

Active Member
I own and operate a retail custom airbrush shop in a tourist town, so what I was looking to do, was be able to replicate my own work for the most popular stock designs. Speed wouldn't really be an issue as long as it was able to be run consistently all day.
my local rep has one on order, and wants me to be the first person that runs the demo. I will be back with pictures and information for sure!
It would work for you. We timed a single shirt through the whole process at about 7-9mins depending on the ink coverage. It could probably become a little more efficient with use. What would speed things up is extra trays and the ability to run the printer and presetter at the same time.
 

JoeDG

Wide format trainer and creative enthusiast
Hey all,
I've used one and may be able to offer some answers. Some points!:
  • It's super easy to use
  • 5-7 mins for a good quality with a longer cure
  • 4-5 mins for a quicker mode with a medium cure
  • 2 mins for mega quick!
  • If looking at speed and semi-production then yes...more trays for continuous use/setup, and/or more ovens! Both can be added.
  • No white ink...saves cost, time and cleaning etc
  • Dark prints work on coloured items
  • In theory yes you could do multiple hits to make bigger prints...but as somebody said alignment may be tricky
  • Quality is fine
  • Cotton at least 50%
  • Minimal ink usage, and hardly any cleaning
Hope that helps.
 
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