Looking for views and opinions on a new printer?

[Michael Kalisperas]

quote Emyr Evans:

Look like our Grenadier is going to be beyond economical repair, so I’m thinking of getting a Roland VSi 540/640 with solvent ink or possibly a lightbar. Also considering the XR640 – is there any advantage other than speed over the VSi?

If I go for the solvent I’m considering having white ink and either light black or silver not sure which colour would be more useful.

Mimaki machines seem to be better value with a better initial warranty, but I don’t know much about them. Also what’s the rip like compared to Versaworks and does it come with free updates for life like Versaworks

I would be grateful for any help and opinions.

I have the xr640 and my friend has the Vsi and considering the price difference I wish I went with the vsi. Not to mention lightbar didn’t work great with xr640 if you want to use a lot of media and profiles something to do with dual heads and ink system layout?? But put simply didn’t work for me after months of trying but know the Vsi it works great. Sad because it worked great on a selection of media but not wide sign jobs. So if I was you I woud look at trade in offer with Roland light-bar with Vsi apparently they offering great discounts with trade in?

[Emyr Evans]

Thanks for the reply, just the type of information I’m after. The Grenadier was upgraded to a lightbar about a year ago, but I’m not sure If I should go back to solvent as the white ink I can get with a new machine would be good for window graphics, etc.

[Robert Lambie]

quote Emyr Evans:

Thanks for the reply, just the type of information I’m after. The Grenadier was upgraded to a lightbar about a year ago, but I’m not sure If I should go back to solvent as the white ink I can get with a new machine would be good for window graphics, etc.

You really need to weigh up the volume of potential white ink window graphics in comparison to what you can put out the door instantly using UV. This coming from a guy with one of the exact same machines as you!
I would stick with the Roland, versaworks and Lightbar. you know the machine, software and bar already.
furthermore i am about to replace my Grenadier and Lightbar for nothing other than speed in comparison to our Latex, because my grenadier is a much older machine. I will then be most likely looking at another Roland & UV combination, again, just like you are now. The durability of the UV Ink is bullit proof unlaminated, in comparison to anything else on the market.

[Michael Kalisperas]

quote Robert Lambie:

quote Emyr Evans:

Thanks for the reply, just the type of information I’m after. The Grenadier was upgraded to a lightbar about a year ago, but I’m not sure If I should go back to solvent as the white ink I can get with a new machine would be good for window graphics, etc.

You really need to weigh up the volume of potential white ink window graphics in comparison to what you can put out the door instantly using UV. This coming from a guy with one of the exact same machines as you!
I would stick with the Roland, versaworks and Lightbar. you know the machine, software and bar already.
furthermore i am about to replace my Grenadier and Lightbar for nothing other than speed in comparison to our Latex, because my grenadier is a much older machine. I will then be most likely looking at another Roland & UV combination, again, just like you are now. The durability of the UV Ink is bullit proof unlaminated, in comparison to anything else on the market.

I would agree and I have xr640 and don’t use white ink or metallics so I have empty carts which is a waste of potential but don’t get enough jobs to use. So what Rob says is spot on. I know the lads T Colorific are looking into newer machines and they will get sorted as the technology is ideal for signage. Personally wish I brought the Vs and saved lots of money.

[Emyr Evans]

I’m still not 100% convinced about the lightbar.
Don’t know if the media wasn’t compatible or if the problem was due to the lack of profiles as we had difficulty with colour matching and we could scratch the print with a felt edged squeegee. On some media the print quality was terrible. On the other hand we could laminate quicker and have a faster turnaround.

[Robert Lambie]

If that’s the case you definitely had or did something wrong.
I have Solvent, UV and Latex… the UV lightbar Ink out does them all on durability.

[Emyr Evans]

We never changed anything on the machine or profiles after the initial set up. We tried different media but only ever had generic profiles.

[Robert Lambie]

I won’t bore you with details, it is best you read this thread to gather my views on the lightbar.
CLICK HERE
keep in mind we are one of the longest users of the lightbar.

quote Emyr Evans:

We never changed anything on the machine or profiles after the initial set up. We tried different media but only ever had generic profiles.

Unfortunately, you can’t just change media and get the same results from any machine. Yes some generic profiles do work, that’s just luck though. same with Solvent, same with Latex…

[Emyr Evans]

That thread is the reason we upgraded to the lightbar in the first place!

[Robert Lambie]

quote Emyr Evans:

so I’m thinking of getting a Roland VSi 540/640 with solvent ink or possibly a lightbar.

Ahh OK, well my view still stands mate. If I had to buy a Roland or even a Mimaki today, "it would have a lightbar".

Profiles play a big part on the performance of any machine using any ink type. I stick with select amount of media and have never had an issue. I would suggest listing the media you will use and have profiles for them all prior to your switch.

I have two Latex machines right now and i have had two company reps in the past 3 days going over which media i will use from here on, all based on quality of output and reaction to the heaters on my HP printer.

[Emyr Evans]

You’ve confirmed what I thought about profiles and there are more available for the VSi, so we’ve placed a order for the VSi with lightbar. Only decision left is the colours dual CMYK or CMYK, lc, lm. Any suggestions?

[James Boden]

quote Emyr Evans:

You’ve confirmed what I thought about profiles and there are more available for the VSi, so we’ve placed a order for the VSi with lightbar. Only decision left is the colours dual CMYK or CMYK, lc, lm. Any suggestions?

I would go for CMKY, lc & lm. You’ll get a much better blend in colours especial gradients. I’ll be upgrading my Grenadier when the time is right for a VSi too!

[Tahsin Niyazi]

Hi,

We were looking at the XR640 and the VS-640i, in the end we went with the VS simply because we didn’t need the speed boost and the VS was a little cheaper 8).

We have the CMYK-LM-LC-WT-MT, the white i am very happy with and was a good choice. The metallic on the other hand has had very little demand. I wish we went with the light black instead.

The dual CMYK is a great idea if you plan to leave your machine unattended as it will have a spare cart to switch to unlike our set up which theres always a cart low and this way makes it near impossible to leave the machine unattended.

Whichever set up you choose it will be a great choice. Each has its own ups and downs.

Tas