equipment question

[skasigns]

Hi. I'm new to the site. My husband and I run a small sign business from our home. Right now we have a Roland PC-60. We're wanting to get a larger/separate printer and cutter. We've been looking at several - VersaCamm, Mimaki, Mutoh and PrismJet. Just wanting opinions on what others think the best machines are.

[Buddy]

Mutoh ValueJet

[Jackpine]

I use a Mutoh and have had very good results. I believe the ValueJet is a good choice. I would stay with a printer AND a cutter. The work flow is better. I had a PNC 600 and made money with it. All equipment have their limits and purpose. What you want to do and how much money you can spend will determine what you buy. Just buy the best quality software and equipment you can afford.

P.S. Welcome to the group.

[Fred Weiss]

Whichever brand you get, insure that you get a ventilation system. Even ecosolvent fumes will have long term health risks.

[Sign-Man Signs]

Mutoh Prisam Jet. I would op for the print and cut feature. Well woth it.

[Speeddm]

I would seriously look at a Versacamm SP300v . You can get into these quite easy and the software operates very similarly to you colourcamm. We went from a PC60 to a PC600 them a SP300 and soon we will be moving up to a SP540v. You will get alot of presure to go with a 54" machine but do whats right for you. You have to do ALOT of printing to warrent the holding cost of all the 54" material and the initial cost of the 54" machine.

What kind of digital work do you do curently?

[schurms]

Have heard nothing but good on here about Valuejet, but the other Mutch products suck. Look at all the problems posted here.

[Buddy]

schurms........From what I've read & some limited experience with owning the ValueJet I suspect you are 'dead on' right.....ValueJet is great....other Mutoh's suck.

[iSign]

I wouldn't get any Mutoh, which is why I didn't

[skasigns]

We didn't have any information on the Mutoh ValueJet. We were sent information on the Mutoh PrismJet. What's the difference? We also got information on the Mimaki 160. Any opinions on the PrismJet and Mimaki?

[iSign]

I got a Mimaki JV3160
it's an awesome machine.
It requires more cleaning maintenance then some machines, but my supplier has seen far less service calls then with Mimaki's then they have with Mutoh machines. I chose it over Roland machines also.

I didn't mention it earlier because everyone replies to these posts to say "Buy what I have" ...but that's human nature I guess. What i often say is that they will all produce a nice print... so who is your supplier for the various machines you are considering? I would want to get my machine from a vendor i had a long term business relationship with, because the quality of service after the sale can be worth far far more then the difference between 2 good printers.

[Fred Weiss]

We didn't have any information on the Mutoh ValueJet. We were sent information on the Mutoh PrismJet. What's the difference? We also got information on the Mimaki 160. Any opinions on the PrismJet and Mimaki?

What iSign is telling you is the best advice you will get. Many would not recommend the company that markets the PrismJet because of a poor after the sale history.

Since you are in Indiana, you are likely within a short distance of any number of well established sign supply distributors with excellent reputations and histories of supporting what they sell. i would suggest contacting the nearest branch of Advantage Sign Supply, Grimco, or Sign Supply USA and buy the dealer ... not the printer.

[2NinerNiner2]

What iSign and Fred said! :) ....

and bonjour de Montréal http://www.cfwzz.com/salut.gif

[Replicator]

I've been considering a Mutoh value-jet because of the wave print technology

which supposedly fixes any and all banding issues, however I've made no

decisions and will likely do a lot more research, as this purchase will not be until

next year at the earliest . . .

[iSign]

while we're naming names... I bought my Mimaki from Matt at the Grand Rapids Michigan branch of Advantage Sign Supply.

In ten years as a business owner, & another 10 in purchasing roles at sign companies I worked for Matt has led his teams reputation to tremendous heights of superior service beyond anything else I've experienced in 20 years. Virtually EVERY scrap of printable media AND inks (& resins) for both my Edge & my Mimaki... are bought & shipped to Hawaii from Michigan simply because the quality of their service means mistakes almost NEVER happen... and when a small one or two has occured... instant resolution to my satisfaction (or beyond my expectations) has always followed.

Believe me I could locate these same supplies (& all the original machine purchases) from dozens of closer suppliers saving me lots of freight costs... but just one complementary tech service call they mede in the first year of owning my printer (even though my warrenty didn't include covering their airfare or service labor) ...saved me more money in a weekend then all the extra freight costs for the previous AND the subsequent year... add to that the value of getting things right the first time (unlike every other supplier I've had the misfortune to deal with)... you can't measure the value of having an outfit like Advantage on your team as a supplier.

[skasigns]

We're talking to Sullco, Grimco, Advantage and Sign Warehouse. We've also been thinking about getting into Sublimation.

[RE-APP]

You might want to try Ordway Sign Supply. Their link is on the bottom of this page as they are a merchant member of this site. Very honest and helpful people.

[mladams7259]

Welcome to Signs101!

[Print-Kwik]

I like my ValueJet so far. I actually bought mine from Signwarehose. They sold me an acutal ValueJet, not PrismJet V. Great price, can't comment on service since I haven't needed it yet.

[skasigns]

We appreciate everybody's opinions. I think we're leaning toward the Mimaki.

One person quoted Finecut software and another quoted Onyx Postershop Rip. Any opinions on software? We use SignMate Print Cut Pro right now.

Thanks for all your help!

[ChicagoGraphics]

Grimco is a great company to buy supplies, I hear there support on fixing printers is not all that good. Id go with Charrette/pitman they are close to Indiana and there tech service is #1
Tey also carry Mimaki, Mutho, and Vutek

[Checkers]

Not to sound demeaning, but do you realize that solvent printers are a totally different animal when compared to the PC-60?
Also, what type of work do you or are you planning to produce? Are you going to be liquid laminating the prints or are you looking into a laminator? That could be another $5,000+ question.
I would hold off on sublimation and make sure you totally understand and get comfortable the solvent printer first. Sublimation printing can throw you some curves because what you print sometimes isn't what the finished product will look like. And without some color management skills, you can end up wasting a lot of time and money.
I've only used Onyx Postershop for printing, so I don't have anything to compare it to. However, I found it easy to configure and use.

Checkers

[skasigns]

I don't think you're being demeaning at all. Everybody on this site has been really helpful and nice. We appreciate everyone's opinion.

Yes, we realize that solvent printers are totally different compared to our PC-60. We've been looking at a laminator, but aren't getting one at this time. We've purchased the Graphtec plotter,the Mimaki printer, and went with Flexi software. We don't have the Mimaki yet, but so far we love the Graphtec and Flexi. I'm sure we have a lot to learn, but are willing to give it a try.

Thanks for your replies. Again, we appreciate everybody's input!!

[andy]

I would say you need the laminator. It isn't a luxury nor is it an optional extra.

If I buy digital print for exterior use it's got to be laminated or else I don't want it. Solvent prints aren't durable enough despite the hype. Lamination protects the print, enhances the UV stability and gives extra peace of mind for the customer and the supplier- do I really want to have to redo a wrap cos I thought I'd save a few pence by not laminating? No!

A lot of print buyers think the same- no lamination no purchase.

[mark in tx]

No matter what printer you decide on, make sure you understand the maintenance of the printer inside and out.
If a tech comes and sets it up at your shop, make that tech walks you through the manual step by step until you know how to clean and maintain and troubleshoot in your sleep.

[Checkers]

Contratulations on your purchase. Expect to get really fustrated at times because digital printing can be challenging.
If you don't know about it yet, another site you may want to visit is www.printingdigital.net

Checkers

[petepaz]

we bought the roland versacamm sp-300
1-price for a print cut technology was great $11,000 with the rip and sign engine(but mostley we use illust. and photoshop
2-30" was a good size to start with easy for one person to handle
3-price....
they all seem to put out roughly the same quality
and whhhho sssayssss eeeco ecco solvents have bad healllth effects
i feel fine no venting needed