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Printer & Laminator advice please?
Hi there,
I’m about to buy some new equipment. I do mainly indoor graphics (roll-ups, pop-ups, indoor posters). I need both a printer and a laminator. I would be grateful if you share your experience – i just want to avoid some "ignorance landmines".
Laminator – i’m thinking about seal 62 ultra – they say it can encapsulate in one-pass though it has only one hot roller ( due to media availbility i need hot laminator i think). What do you think about it and are there any other choices i should consider?
About the printer – that will be really hard 🙂 I think about HP 5000 or 5500 UV – mainly because i do indoor not outdoor. I’m a bit concerned about the quality though – this is – in terms of design – an ancient printer. I would really like to have some nice, saturated colours – i really want to avoid "bland" print-outs. However, i recently observed a bit of progress among the eco- and mild-solvent printer. Maybe valuejet would be a better choice ? It would allow me to be a bit more flexible (maybe some small outdoor volumes), if it only is suitable for indoor graphics. I understand that it mainly depeneds on the ink quality, but at least for now i would like to stick to originals in case of solvent (heard too many horror stories 🙂 ) and with oem inks with HP 5000 (it is really expensive in terms of consumables) – do any good replacements exist?
Also, i know something about piezo printers, but HP is thermal printer. What about its printheads? How long do they last ?
Anyway, i hope you can help me guys! 🙂
Regards
Nick -
3 Replies
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have you looked at the Roland Sol-jet 2? comes with contour cut fascilities also… i have run a grenadier for 4.5 years now, which is a rebadged version of this using solvent inks. great machine… grenadiers are still available but NOT as the Roland. However, you can still buy the roland using its orginal inks, with what you have said in mind, ide recommend it.
you can purchase Roland machines or obtain more info here:
http://www.solventinkjet.eu/
http://www.grafityp.co.uk/i have not used the motuh valuejet but i have heard allot of good reports about its print quality etc you can purchase or obtain more info here:
http://www.artsystems.co.uk/value.aspwe have a 65inch wide laminator, bought it through B&P 4.5 years ago.
great machine for what we want it to do… maybe not what you are after though but they do offer alternatives.
http://www.graphicsystems.bplightbrigad … series.phpGrafityp, Europoint and Artsystems all do laminators too… maybe an idea to have a look over their website for options.
im rather new to UV and still reading up on it, so i maybe wrong here… but buying a uv machine, will this not limit you on quality and prohibit you from laminating certain jobs? yes you can laminate but due to the UV ink curing it creates a sort of textured embossed ink on the media?
dont get me wrong, UV machines print ecellent photographic prints, but i doubt at the standard you have in mind for point of sale and exhibition work?best of luck…
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Hi Rob,
Thanks for the tips. About UV i had PIGMENT in mind (HP 5500 UV is a pigment printer) not UV-curable. Any ideas about second-hand market (laminators) ?
Do you really think solvents like valuejet or soljets can compete with dye and pigment printers in terms of colour quality ?
Regards
Nick -
If you only need a printer for indoor use, have a look at the Canon ipf8100.
I have the 60 inch version (ipf9100) it has real photographic quality (12 inks)
Steve
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