Hey there guys. New guy with some questions. Did some searches and got some good answers, subscribed and found an incredible amount of topics, and now want to get some additional fresh perspectives.
I currently do a little bit of printing as a business I got into with a friend who is an artist. His originals are quite large, and being a bit of a tech nerd, I chose to tackle printing by purchasing an Epson 11880, which I am now quite comfortable using. I do odds and ends signage and some photo stuff here and there, but nothing that comes close to the revenue generated printing giclees.
After a while, I've become annoyed at the limitations of using the machine. It is a killer printer and produces amazing results with great color, but I'd like to get into the durable outdoor side of printing, and contour cut media. I don't like the idle time the current printer has.
After digging around, I feel like the VP-540 is looking like the machine for me.
Here are the criteria that led me to this decision. I want to :
-Minimize the machines footprint with a reliable combo unit
-Make sure I don't have to mess with ventilation
-Get a machine that can do large format banners, vehicle wraps/graphics, decals, without breaking the bank or regretting going too small
-Get a machine that has significant and readily available tech support.
-Get a machine with a reasonable learning curve
I plan on keeping the 11880 for the fine art because I like the results and I view it as a sunk cost at this point. When I bought it retail was $15k and they can be had new for $9-10k now so it's not worth the trouble to unload anyways.
Based on those criteria, does the VP-540 sound like the right machine? I looked at the XC but it is significantly more expensive and print speed is not the be all end all for me, and I've got a printer suited for fine art as is.
Lastly, I talked to some people and got essentially slightly under MSRP pricing. When I bought the 11880, the discounts were large, even doing a face to face local transaction. My media supplier does not carry this type of equipment so I will have to buy elsewhere. Is near MSRP essentially the price of admission? I'd love to save some money used, as I assume there are lots of machines out there being sold from liquidated businesses, but I'd rather pay and get reliability than potentially roll the dice on buying new print heads etc.
Thanks for any advice.
I currently do a little bit of printing as a business I got into with a friend who is an artist. His originals are quite large, and being a bit of a tech nerd, I chose to tackle printing by purchasing an Epson 11880, which I am now quite comfortable using. I do odds and ends signage and some photo stuff here and there, but nothing that comes close to the revenue generated printing giclees.
After a while, I've become annoyed at the limitations of using the machine. It is a killer printer and produces amazing results with great color, but I'd like to get into the durable outdoor side of printing, and contour cut media. I don't like the idle time the current printer has.
After digging around, I feel like the VP-540 is looking like the machine for me.
Here are the criteria that led me to this decision. I want to :
-Minimize the machines footprint with a reliable combo unit
-Make sure I don't have to mess with ventilation
-Get a machine that can do large format banners, vehicle wraps/graphics, decals, without breaking the bank or regretting going too small
-Get a machine that has significant and readily available tech support.
-Get a machine with a reasonable learning curve
I plan on keeping the 11880 for the fine art because I like the results and I view it as a sunk cost at this point. When I bought it retail was $15k and they can be had new for $9-10k now so it's not worth the trouble to unload anyways.
Based on those criteria, does the VP-540 sound like the right machine? I looked at the XC but it is significantly more expensive and print speed is not the be all end all for me, and I've got a printer suited for fine art as is.
Lastly, I talked to some people and got essentially slightly under MSRP pricing. When I bought the 11880, the discounts were large, even doing a face to face local transaction. My media supplier does not carry this type of equipment so I will have to buy elsewhere. Is near MSRP essentially the price of admission? I'd love to save some money used, as I assume there are lots of machines out there being sold from liquidated businesses, but I'd rather pay and get reliability than potentially roll the dice on buying new print heads etc.
Thanks for any advice.
