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which one should i buy spandex valueJet or mimaki JV3?
Hi,
Just been to Sign UK with 2 of our sign makers today with the brief of finding a suitable printer for us to buy.
After looking round & speaking with people on the stands we’ve come to the decision that the most suitable printer for us would be either the JV3 or the Spandex ValueJet.
I’m just wondering if anyone has had experience in using both these machines that could help us come to a final decision?
Thanks,
Paul
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21 Replies
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Paul,
My opinion:- Mimaki JV3.
Nothing against Spandex, But I personally don’t rate Mutoh. You get a two year warranty from Mimaki and only 1 year from Mutoh. If you want a machine that in my view is the dogs dodas the JV3 is the way to go mate. I am more than happy with my machine and have no intention of changing the supplier or brand in the future. -
I tend to agree, JV3 over the Mutoh, although the print off the Mutoh looked quite good. I also looked at the HP 8000s & 9000s, which are on a par
pricewise with the JV3, but the 9000 is faster. Print quality is very good off
of both these machines, at least as good as JV3.Cheers,
Jamie. -
mimaki jv3 without a doubt. the 720 x 720 dpi output is unbeatable.
even our local spandex rep said it was the best machine out and he wish spandex sold them. case closed ??? !!!!
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Are Spandex doing the Valuejet ????
Would have thought it would be ArtSystems, as most have said, I would opt for the JV3 if all you want is a printer, give the ValueJet another 12 months to prove itself.
The JV3 is getting a little long in the tooth now, but is tried and tested and a reliable workhorse and so worth having, if you need a all in one print and cut then the best spent money still is the VersaCamm for the time been.
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Highly recommend the JV3, been using it for 2 years now and have had no complaints. Very reliable.
Another option to look into if you’re looking to save money in the longrun, MegaInk claims to have longer lasting solvent inks over the Mimaki brand and at 80% the cost for ink cartridges, they might be worth looking into. Plus they will warrantee your Mimaki printer for the life of your factory warrantee (2yrs) should their inks cause a problem… I am actually switching over by this summer once we hit some downtime (color profiling takes FOREVER).
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hello paul
the value jet is made by motoh and not spandex, we have just come back from sign uk and had a 1.6 running most of the show, printing beeline images, and all i can say is i think this printer will be as good as mutohs sc series cutter, which is one of the best cutters i have sold over the last 14 years,
the motoh weave feature really give all the other machine a run for there money in the way of banding, you wont see any lines in your prints in one of these babys
regards
alan flynn -
Hello,
I have just had a valuejet 1204 installed yesterday. The print quality seems better than the cadet and at least on par with the jv3.
I think both would be fine choices, go for the one you can get the best deal on.
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if you have a demo or want to compare to the other makes, get them to print solid colour, thats were this machine really comes into its own, my wife wants one !!!!!!!!
regards
alan flynn -
Hi Paul
the JV3 is a high solvent machine and will require extraction. the Mutoh Value jet is a Eco Solvent machine and only requires ventilation .
This maybe something to think about
stu
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i could be wrong here of course, but is it not a case of the odor released from eco type machines are less noticeable than the likes of solvent machines, but still carry similar health risks?
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JV3 by miles!
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The JV3 has a high health risk compared to Eco Solvent , that is why you have to have extraction to remove the VOCs out of the room. Eco Solvent use a less solvent and therefore dos not require direct extraction but ventilation. The odor is certainly less also from a Eco Solvent and the machines do not require daily maintenance
Stu
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The thing is in my view is if you want a GOOD machine with durable vibrant prints a full solvent machine is the way. The eco solvent inks in my veiw don’t come anywhere near full solvent. I stick the pipes out of a hole made in the wall. Job done. The neighbors are as high as a kite though. 😀
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one thing I noticed at Signuk…. lack of ventilation and filtration.. few years back u saw filtration systems on all the JV3’s etc but this year you didn’t.
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You could smell the fumes just walking up to the hall.
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Mmmmmmm solvent fumes…..sorry is that bad 😀
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It’s as regular as oxygen to the smackheads round here! 😀
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Yes High solvent machines are bad for you, head aches sore eyes , breathing irritation, this is why Eco Solvent machines where introduced a number of years ago to reduce the amount of VOCs . Check your COSH data sheets with your inks and have a look at the chemicals in it .
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From what I’ve been told, the term Eco-Solvent is somewhat misleading. There is not much less solvent in these inks than in the Mimaki
SS2 inks, which I think is classed as low solvent. The JV5 is high solvent,
and requires the use of a filter. Eco solvent are still hazardous to health,
they just smell a little less. -
Hi
I would caution against the view that mild/low solvents are similar to eco solvents in VOC content – the difference being the smell.
In truth neither are beneficial to health (!) and all H&S data sheets show that there are dangerous elements in the ink.
Thus it is not difficult for a high or low solvent manufacturer to go through a data sheet from the eco opposition and point out all the scary terms to give the impression that there is little difference.
There is a big difference if you carefully study the data – something most of us don’t do.
There is also personal experience to back the science up – we carry all solvent types and the high and low/mild solvents need an air purification filter as a minimum.
As most of the VOCs come off the print after it has left the machine I would also encourage room ventilation unless you are using a take-up.
As long as you take precautions you should be able to print all day with a mild/low solvent printer without feeling the effects.
Most labs I visit are not great in this respect which is a problem in our industry.
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I would definatly say the valuejet. It’s a lot faster than the mimaki.It’s bog standard print mode is good enough for most signs, posters, photos and banners.
The only time I would venture into the 1400dpi slow print modes is when doing back lit films. This predefined mode activates 8 pass printing, which helps to give strong colours on this media.
The main reason why we chose the valuejet is because they break down the least. When spending this sort of money on a printer you want something that’s realiable. Our rock hopper was breaking down every other month and I really detested buying another mutoh despite our supplier doing his best to convince us that they’ve changed.
One final thing worth mentioning is the print quality. It’s nothing short of amazing even in standard 720 x 720 2 pass mode. Also there’s no cleaning fluid to buy.
The ink doesn’t smell either, at least not until the machines been printing for over 2 hours.
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