whats the best and cheapest printer

[Lee Ballard]

Unfortunatly best and cheapest don’t always go together especially if you must have excellent print quality at all times.

Personally we have just ordered a 54" JV3 which many people swear by.

I’m sure others will be able to offer their own advice for other printers.

[Robert Lambie]

quote Lee Ballard:

Unfortunatly best and cheapest don’t always go together especially if you must have excellent print quality at all times

100% correct…

best i know of are the JV3, Soljet, Grenadier….

however, an alternative in price but compromises speed.. would be the new wider versacamms or Cadets.

[M Brown]

thank you for your help, i have been looking at a JV3 and cutter combination.

Is the JV3 good for printing hi-res canvas prints, does it band after a while. I once used a brand new Cadet and within 2 weeks I noticed deflections in the print head and it was looked after and maintained weekly like we were told to do. So the print was very grainy, nowhere near good enough to do quality canvas prints.

[Karl Williams]

Quality – Reliability. Jv3 every time.

[Martin Pearson]

What sort of printer are you using at the moment for canvas prints? Shane does some work for photographers and does some of his own canvas printing using a versacam I believe. The JV3 is a proven reliable workhorse and is suitable for most types of signage but if your main business is canvas prints then something else might be better suited.

[Robert Lambie]

quote lifesigns:

I once used a brand new Cadet and within 2 weeks I noticed deflections in the print head and it was looked after and maintained weekly like we were told to do. So the print was very grainy, nowhere near good enough to do quality canvas prints.

not meant in any way bad mate but, banding etc "in most cases" is normally down to operator inexperience. there are so many reasons why you do not get perfect prints and various reasons why banding occurs.
cadets are great machines and are more than capable of printing high quality onto canvas.

Cadet, Versacamm, Grenadier, Soljet, JV3 etc etc all excellent tried and tested for years machines. you will only get what you pay for at the end of the day.

[Vale 46]

I have printed several beautiful hi res images with my Versacamm onto cotton canvas for a local graphic design company.

Correct me if I am wrong on this, but I was given the impression by a supplier that you get a much nicer cotton canvas for Eco-sol machines as the full solvents need a coating on the cotton as it is so harsh. Certainly the one we use is a lovely weight and grain.

[Neil Herbert]

Hi we have just had a 64" Value Jet installed yesterday, we chose that machine at the sign show because of the weaving system which seams to sorts out any banding problems. So far so good. We have been using a 54" Resolve and have tried printing problem files on the new machine and great results on all so far.

Neil

[Robert Lambie]

quote Vale 46:

Correct me if I am wrong on this, but I was given the impression by a supplier that you get a much nicer cotton canvas for Eco-sol machines as the full solvents need a coating on the cotton as it is so harsh. Certainly the one we use is a lovely weight and grain.

i havent heard or been told that a solvent machine should use a different canvas from an eco-solvent machine by any of the sources we bought canvas from.

good to hear some feedback on the new 64" Value Jet mate, thanks for that!

[Stephen Morriss]

Mark from what I’ve seen if you’ve been using a hp5000 then you’ll not get quite the results from a solvent printer.

The results from the Versacamm are nearly as good though (you have to look closly though) and are much cheaper to run and the results are much more durable.