Advice on a New Printer. which one?

[Colin Crabb]

I went for a Mimaki CJV33 – only had it 6month now, but 100% happy with it, solid, stunning results and its just a pleasure to use.

[Chris Wool]

i am with you on the latex may be missing a trick but not sold on it yet so bought a VS540 8 colour 2 years ago does what it says on the tin. did not know i have a damper issue.

if i was buying to day first and probably last port of call would be a pro4
think through the work flow as mixing print and cut makes is not the easy ride they make out.

[Robert Lambie]

If I was mainly "wrap printing", i would go for an HP Latex but the larger more powerful model if budget allowed.

I recon my ideal sign shop tool for currant needs would be :

* Roland – the Beast
* with on-board cutting system
* combined with Colorific Lightbar

Ok its not possible to have the on-board cutting on this machine model and i know its easy enough to utilise a separate cutter, but the durability of the UV should eliminate the need for lamination on most with the exception of vehicle graphics. so on board cutting combined with how output speed, no out-gassing… that’s one high speed production tool for a sign shop.

anyway… I would go for a Roland machine again. We still have our Roland A740 & Ex-grenadier / Roland Soljet and they are still earning us very good money.
the Soljet has to be about 10 year old now! that says something for the quality build of it.

[David Rowland]

just entering the 3rd year on the HP L25500, what a machine for wraps and vinyl. User replaceable Heads £100 a time? Well I just changed mine for the first time.

The whole HP machine is a fantastic, replaceable caps/cleaning system too.

Banners, is questionable, but L26500 is better at them as it can do double sided easily.

Would I order another HP, without a doubt

[George Zerbino]

I’m with Dave on this one, 3rd year ending in 5 days time, just about to extend the warranty on it. User replaceable heads about £80 each, used about 10 in 3 years….and they take minutes to change & be up and running again…

Banners can be fussy but once you find the right one it’s no problem at all.

Ah, and go away on holiday for a couple of weeks is just a case of switch machine off, then turn it on again once you’re back and……it just works!! No head soaks, pump changes, wiper blades to replace, dried up ink in lines to clear….nuff said.

And, no solvents, no smell, print and laminate straight away…. the list just goes on…

Would I order another HP? Oh yes!!! I’d be mad to change.

[Ian Johnston]

The Roland do get great reviews but i still cant get my head round tying up a £20k machine to do a £2k machines job, at the end of the day you still have to take it out to laminate it!,
Ref Dave, That’s my main concern with the latex , the fact it doesnt seem to be good at printing a "good" everything, which eco solvent does.
Ref Chris The new VS640 has reverted back to horizontal carts to stop pressure on dampers, caused by the vertical carts,

[David Rowland]

any old printer can do banners, resolution not needed really…

detail on the HP is awesome tho

We print banners on the UV

Roland just brought a new machine out, I have no info

[Hugh Potter]

interesting thread… keep it going!

with the amount of print I’m subbing ever increasing, it’s making more & more sense to keep abreast of what’s on the market.

having owned an HP design jet that I’ve used for posters, photo’s, canvas etc over the past 6 months or so, that has been ultra reliable, I wouldn’t hesitate to go HP latex but wasn’t aware the banners could be an issue.

I will prob end up with a roland P&C though, space is limited at the new shop and I’m not sure I have space for another cutter, bigger laminator etc. I got rather overwhelmed the last time I looked into it all (recently) so it’s nice to see others opinions 🙂

[Jon Marshall]

I think the JV33 is probably the best all rounder with Jap build quality and 2 year warranty but could have been updated by now.

If I was buying today I think I would go with a HP latex. The out gassing issue with solvents is a real issue especially with wraps. Would love to be able to print and laminate straight away.

[Jamie Wood]

We’ve got a JV3 (8 years old in March 2014) and JV33 (5 years old). If either of them
broke, I’d get another Mimaki tomorrow. They run round the clock with minimal
problems using OEM ink.

[Ian Johnston]

the new VS that i mentioned

https://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.php?p=448685

[Reza Faezi]

i swear by out 1604, wouldnt hesitate in buying another but think it would be more practical to go in the direction of instant drying ie latex or lightbar. Any mistakes on print jobs can be reprinted and whacked on instead of waiting 24 h – 48hrs to dry properly

[Reza Faezi]

Ps are your DX4 printheads still working, im after a few 😉

[Stafford Cox]

quote Jamie Wood:

We’ve got a JV3 (8 years old in March 2014) and JV33 (5 years old). If either of them
broke, I’d get another Mimaki tomorrow. They run round the clock with minimal
problems using OEM ink.

I couldn’t have put it better myself. I work on Mutoh, Roland, Mimaki and Neolt machines most days and Mimaki is by far my favourite.

For print and cut, either a Mimaki JV33 and seperate CG-FX cutter or CJV30 print and cut machine.

[Nicola McIntosh]

Im with Dave r on this one too , HP latex the best printer I have worked, prints on everything banner is lovely on it too. highly recommend 😀

[Gary Birch]

We took delivery on an XR640 last week, so far we are delighted with it.

Can comment on anything other than Roland as I have only ever had Rolands.

[Ian Johnston]

Finally decided to go back to Mutoh again,
Ordered an new VJ1624 with mutohs new bulk inks,
and a new ROLLOVER application table to go with it, Only problem with the Rollover is i have to take the roof of to get it in 😮 (i’m not joking 😕 Pictures to follow:))

I was going the roland route but i think they have missed a trick with the Pro 4 not offering a non cut version of it, they don’t have a mid range print only version, either £10K or £20k+ that extra 10k is hard to justify when you already have a cut option.

[Stafford Cox]

Good call. I hope it brings you everything you need. (Still a silly name though)