Inkjet or Laser Jet advice please

[Shane Drew]

Scozzie could probably help with this one. I think he has experience with this stuff. May be wrong tho.

Shane

[eddietucker]

Maybe I can Help…

The quality of inkjet is by far more superior than laser printers. If you choose an inkjet i would strongly reccomend the Epson r200/300 models because they are cheap to buy and with a high quality bulk ink system fitted, it should make your running costs very small. If you do go for a bulk ink system don’t choose a cheap chinese type because the ink does not contain the right amount of cleaning additives and would cause the heads to clog. Buying a H.P inkjet will cost you a fortune and refills are not an option because they dont work reliably.

If it’s an A3 size inkjet you’re looking for I would go for the Epson 2400, it’s a high class fast business photo inkjet and quite fast too.

Laser printers are very reliable and excellent for long runs, but one particular model I would stay away from is the Epson C1100 which is a new model and riddled with problems.

Just bear in mind that the Epson inks and heads are also used in the Versacams and the inks will fade in washes while the toner based laser printers are more durable.

My personal Preference would be a cheap and cheerful Laser printer like the Samsung CLP 550. This is also rebadged as the Xerox 6100 but shop around because the prices vary even though the machines are identical.

Still confused? I am! Horses for courses.

mod-edit :police3:

[Simon Kay]

I don’t think I’ll be much help but you never know, eh?

We mainly dye sub or vinyl however we did lash out early on and buy a large paperweight, SORRY, Kyocera Laser Printer that was profiled to be the dog’s hairy things. $15,000. 👿 Did I mention it was a useless piece of s…t. 👿 The intention was obviously to do one off t-shirts on coloured cotton as the white t-shirts of the dye sub range don’t turn everyone on – I can understand that. One of our suppliers can supply us all the gear it’s just that the Kyocera – we bought the environmental model – was supplied to us by a company who tried to set it up right but couldn’t and then went bust 👿 Did I mention it is a large paperweight now.
After therapy we went out and bought a small cheap Epson Stylus C82. We buy in ‘Magic Paper’ and can do one off t-shirts on light coloured cotton t-shirts. It doesn’t last forever and appears to sit on the surface in a sort of waxy layer that if you tried hard would come off with your nail if you imagined that you were scratching my Kyocera.
It’s horses for courses as Eddie Tucker said. It’s also how much your customer is willing to pay. Our magic paper transfers are our cheapest because we think they look cr*p. But if Mr & Mrs Gaffoops want it then they can have it. Alternatively step over here and admire these fine Dye-Sub images…..Quality…….Long lasting…….can iron over them……..won’t crack….fade…..peel…..Yes they cost more but they are great. What’s that…you don’t like white…..get over it or come over here and see these nice waxy transfer things. 😀
You get what you pay for and they in turn get what they pay for.

I feel much better now. Thank you for the opportunity to have a rant, something of a more frequent exercise these days but neccessary. 😕

Don’t know if I have been any help, however I do a lovely paperweight range…if you’re interested. 🙄

[Paul Franklin]

We have a Minolta 2430 A4 laser printer that is going for a song at Misco.com at the moment and will be using the range of papers available from The Magic Touch, who we visited recently for a further demo of their wares. They provide papers that once printed onto using a laser/toner based printer can be heat pressed onto black or white garments as well as a host of other substrates.

[Tracey Little]

Thanks for all your advice ……..Will have to have a good think what way to go……Laser, new Inkjet printer or jump to sublimation…….just do not care much for the Sublimation clothing!!