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Moved from chinese to top brand?
Many will like to know that this is my last post on this topic 😀
As you probably already know I use a Creation Pcut machine and this is my second in 7 years, first still works but wanted one with usb and optical eye. Now that I am doing a lot more vinyl work and clothing I am tempted to step away from the budget machines to a top brand such as Roland, Graphtec or Summa (in my opinion). Trouble is that as most will know there is a huge price gap which is not a problem but makes me hesitate as i’m not sure if theres a huge difference.
Has any one on this forum moved away from chinese machines such as creation, liyu or redsail and took the plunge and bought a big brand name? If so was it worth the extra money in your opinion?
As much as people including myself complain about some issues these machines do the job required but maybe not quite as well. Both machines have made me quite a lot of money so this is the problem making me hesitate as I want to buy a branded machine if it makes a difference to the quality and the turn around of vinyl work.
Any help will be appreciated as I don’t mind spending the extra cash if it’s going to be woth it but don’t want to regret spending the money if there’s not much point.
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19 Replies
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Hi Ewan, I have read your other posts and am glad this is the last on the subject 😛 (joking). All I will say is that if your serious about what you are doing then it’s a no brainer. If your going to tinker then stick to the chinese plotter.
If you rely on your plotter for accuracy, speed and reliability then by a Summa, Graphtec or Roland. We use Graphtec and Roland and I have to say the FC7000 we bought to replace our Roland 6 years ago can handle anything quickly and efficently.
You are investing in yourself if you upgrade.
Stop messing about and DO IT 😀 😀
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Are you trying to boost your post count? 😀 😀 This must be the 2nd or 3th time of posting on this topic 😀
It has got to be your decision only you know if your going to be in this game for the long haul, if you are take the next step up mate, i’ve had numerous cutters in the past including the pcut, it was good for what i needed it for at the time, it everything that i asked of it.
If you serious about staying in the business, UPGRADE. 😀 -
Even though this make of cutter doesn’t have it’s own forum in the "vinyl cutter" section it is if you haven’t already checked them out, worth taking a look at the GCC SignPal range of cutters.
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Cheers for the replys. My business is actually a car window tinting business but when I opened nearly 8 years ago I bought a vinyl cutter to add vinyl lettering as an extra service which I never took seriously. Now I want to concentrate on building this side of the business up and altough the pcut does what I ask of it I want a machine that does so with less hassle and better quality work so wanted to hear from people who have already done what I want to do. I always listen to people saying that the chinese machines are pretty much useless and branded ones are far better but I have heard this with cars n stuff in the past and always got greedy wanting bigger and better cars and to be honest all the cars have been pretty much the same regardless of price altough they are a bit more refined when you pay the extra cash so I want to hear if people are happy they switched or if they think it was waste of money.
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Hello Nigel
Was looking at them earlier as a matter of fact but don’t I havent heard much about them so was sticking to what I would class as the three main brands
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Ewan, hard for me to reply without it been seen as some sales spin, goes against forum rules and I agree with those rules, but feel free to contact me if you get time to do so.
Nigel
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I had the 610mm Jaguar cutter from Grafityp for over 8 years and it never missed a beat, ran it with SignPal Master. Great bit of kit, but now run a Summa D160. Still miss my Jaguar though.
Peter
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Thanks again for the replies. I will have a look into the gravityp machines. Still leaning towards Roland or graphtec though
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I have the FC7000 but I have to admit the firmware on the machine is not very good, for such an expensive machine it does do some strange things from time to time, what you expect a Chinese machine to do.
However, we do like it but the newer model was a bit of a re-design so I believe.
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I gave a Graphtec FC3100-60 (10 years+ old) and a Summa T750pro 7 years+ old) Both work daily, have been no trouble, cut accurately down to 5mm lettering and were easy to set up with SignLab. If your Chinese cutter can do this, stick with it, if not upgrade.
Alan D -
We have a GCC jaguar and a graphtec FC7000.
The jaguar was faultless and still works 7 years down the line. Unfortunately it needed replacing because it was the model before the optical eye.
For a big contract We bought a graphtec to replace the jaguar believing the extra cost would make a difference in quality and speed and personally I don’t really rate it.Arrange a demo on each machine its the only way to decide, do not be persuaded by ‘industry named products’ as they aren’t always that great.
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Thanks for your honest reply Stephen. I was just having a look at some of the logos I have done for clothing with my pcut and I didin’t realise that some of the text is less than 3mm so it’s not such a bad machine after all. It is kinda annoying keeping the vinyl alinged on this machine and the tracking isn’t the best in jobs over two meters but only had that problem when cutting stripes
I have just been reading so many posts saying that the big brands are far better than the chinese machines so thought they would be easier to use and better quality. Before I go ahead and purchase the graphtec or the roland. I will contact uk cutter who act as support for these machines and see if they can advise of the exact offset and overcut using flexi 10 starter as I have read a few contradicting posts regards to the setup.
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I have a GCC Jaguar (well two actually and might sell one soon) bought my first one from Nigel @ Graphityp and like others have said it never let me down.
John 😀
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When I setup around 10 years ago I had some good advise regarding suppliers and types of machines to get.
I got a Summa D60 and I’m still using it today as my main cutter. It’s never had anything other than blades and it’s cutting as good now as when I bought it.Steve
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Just thought I would add my comment about GCC Jaguar plotters.
When I took the plunge into self employment nearly 8 years
ago I decided to buy a Jaguar because the sign company I had
worked for used them. They had two 1220mm plotters that were
used all day every day.I am still using the one I purchased 8 years on!
Cheers
Chris
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Thanks again for the replies. Have been messing around with the settings on flexi with my pcut and thanks to John on the pcut section I think I might have it cutting 3mm text no probs, will see how it go’s. I am also going for a demo with the graphtec ge5000 to compare. I have been using pcuts for 7 years and not had much bother apart from weeding small letters and vinyl running off course. I had been reading so many posts by people saying that the big brands are far better and as I am doing more vinyl I thought it may have been time to upgrade but I will get some demos first as my machine does the job maybe not quite as good but that remains to be seen. Thanks for the help.
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if its not broke…. don’t fix it. Good luck
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Summa for us
Started with a D 60 ten plus years ago
Got a S160T when they first came out and just bought a second S160T all three working daily.If you cut vinyl on a daily basis these machines are your bread and butter if they failo you cant do without them for a day (every machine fails one day)
S160T is the machine no pretenders
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i use the no brand cutter it works fine but id much rather a brand name lol more simple to work and better support for them all n all you get what you pay for
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