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Need advice on a Roland SP540 vs VP540
Hello everyone. I am in need of a replacement machine, my budget stretches to a Roland SP540 or VP540. I was hoping someone could advise on either machines in terms of running, maintenance etc. Is the VP540 a better option overall?
thanks
Adam.
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11 Replies
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quote Adam Ali:Hello everyone. I am in need of a replacement machine, my budget stretches to a Roland SP540 or VP540. I was hoping someone could advise on either machines in terms of running, maintenance etc. Is the VP540 a better option overall?thanks
Adam.
Hi adam i run a vp540 and i think its a great machine the print quality is great ,i run mine on euro point ink so ink cost is it too bad ive attached a job we printed the other day on our machine
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Adam,
You’ll need to check, but I think one of the principle differences it that the SP runs with Windows XP and no higher whereas the VP will run with later versions of the Windows OS.
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I’m not aware of the OS version incompatibility but main difference is the SP runs 2 heads and the VP runs 4 heads. SP also runs USB and VP runs ethernet.
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That picture looked really good Jonathan
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quote Stafford Cox:I’m not aware of the OS version incompatibility but main difference is the SP runs 2 heads and the VP runs 4 heads. SP also runs USB and VP runs ethernet.
and ethernet, i didn’t know that. I take it the VP540 is a much better machine overall?
Thanks
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I think so. But it was also a more expensive machine. Bare in mind there is a an SPi and VPi too, which were later models and mostly identical to each other apart from the head config. Early SP is an SP300V or 540V and has a motorised capping station unlike the VP.
Confused? I was for years 🙂
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Personally I would look at this in a different way.
Am guessing you have a budget of around £4-5k. I would look at the VS range or VSi and stick the rest on finance.
First up these will be a lot faster than a SP. you would also be buying through a dealer (there’s plenty of horror stories on these boards from eBay purchases). Most will come a warranty but there is also Roland care packages (which we have and I recommend). I would also if it’s not already get it swapped to the eco sol max 3 ink. I’ve never ran the eco sol (or two) but the drying time is faster. I see a few others on the board panicking about gassing out times and we do from time to time have to print and produce health and safety boards or rush jobs in 24 hours. There’s no curl from the media once laminated and despite these meaning to be temporary they have been up for months at time and no failures or faults. Not that we rush through permanent signs, we leave them for longer than recommend quite often.
From my limited knowledge of computers a XP system will be old and slow. We bought a new system last year that I sought advice over and it nearly went in the canal last Friday trying to rip a 8ft x 4ft board with lots of detail. It took longer than expected. Nearly an hour out of my day. When we first bought the machine we had a old laptop to run it and even simple garment prints took a minute or two to rip.
Lastly I would look at where you want to be in the future. Having a machine that can cope well with your work load now is fine, but if you intend to double or triple your work rate you will never keep and end up working long hours, stress and making mistakes.
Don’t forget the Mimaki machines also. I have been temped a few times.
Sorry for long post and apologies if it’s thrown a spanner in the works but a possible option, certainly one I would explore.
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Hi
I have a SP540v and was bought as a refurb from a dealer as a ‘dip the toe in the water’ and it has been a great addition to our business, it has been very reliable, and it is a general work horse of a printer and relatively cheap to run.
We are not churning out lots and lots of prints everyday and when we do have longer runs we added a take-up unit, which means we can leave it going overnight with no problems.
As a general sign printer its a great machine, but if you need speed and more colour range than just having CMYK inks, for like skin tones etc, when it comes to upgrade time this is what I would be considering.
But as a start-up machine I would say you wouldn’t go far wrong.
All the best -
I’ve been reliably informed that the SP540 does have Ethernet but the SP300 doesn’t.
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My SP540v does have ethernet connection, connects to a hub which connects to the PC.
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Yes the SP540V has ethernet, the SP300 is USB.
Versaworks also works fine on Windows 8, I didn’t try it on Windows 10 though.
Steve
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