mimaki jv3 or mutoh value jet

[pero]

Hello to you all.

I am in big dilema, as you can see. I came to the point where I want and need a digital printer but I can't decide betwene these two. I don\t know mutch about d. printers and don\t know week spots of either. So if you kindly could tell me the good and bad sides for these printers and what is the better one and why.

Regards
Pero

[GB2]

In your situation, I think the biggest factor will be availability of service, support and supplies. They are both good pieces of equipment that compete in a similar manner. The Mimaki is a mild solvent and the Mutoh is an eco-solvent I believe. You need to see them and try them both with your own digital files to make a comparison. The Mimaki is a tested, tried and true reliable machine. The Mutoh is a totally new designed machine for a company that has not been renowned for dependability, but from most accounts it seems to be a very successful model that many people are happy with. Do a search for both on this forum and others and you'll find plenty of comments.

[Pro Image]

Howdee from VA.......................................

Service, Service,and more Service............that what you need to find out about the companys before you decide on a printer...........

[iSign]

Mimaki is full solvent. Prints are awesome. It does require a 5 to 10 minutes of cleaning, that really should be done daily, though you can sneak by with every other day. It also requires venting the fumes. I love mine.

I'm sure all printers will do the job though, so I agree 100% that you should buy based on service and support primarily.

[Bob Price]

Mimaki offers two or three OEM ink sets for the JV3; SS2 is the most widely used, and is considered a light-solvent inkset. ES3 is an eco-solvent inkset. They also have a heavy solvent inkset for the JV5, but I don't know if it works in the JV3. 3rd party ink manufacturers (INX, Lyson, et al) also offer non-OEM inks for the Mimaki JV3 printer.

Bob

[pero]

Thank You all.

Well the problem is that I also think that the Mimaki is the sure thing to buy, and I have seen lots of them. I don't like the banding and I think that the colors are not so vivid, pretty much slow. The Valuejet is a new thing, loks amazing with the I2 tec. but the main problem for me is that I can't see one in vivo, no one has it yet here in my country (as far as I know). I have seen only the printouts that my dealer showned me. The black looks ok but the red is no diferent than on Mimaki, dark and not so vivid ( Coca-cola red seems to be inpossible!)
One more questions: does bouth of them need to be laminated before car graphics? And does anyone do the lamination by hand?

[GXSignCo]

Lamination should be done in either case, both for abrasion resistance and UV inhibiting. Lamination can be done by hand successfully via the Big Squeegee, though a true laminating machine is still superior IMHO. Another brand it seems you're not considering is the Roland...such as the older SP-540, newer VP-540 and much faster XC-540.

[pero]

Well, we do have Roland old cutter CAMM 1, and the brand is ok, but it seams to me that everybody is buying something else for dig. printer, I don't know why, I just asumed that is for some good reason that I am not awere. Maybe You can tell me that. Last thing I heared from my Mimaki dealer is that the Value jet prints cost more than Mimaki's " yes the printouts lokes good, but it will cost you up to 6euros per m2 + cost of media! And noone will appriciate the loks over costs." I somehove simply don't believe in this. But it would mean a lot if I hiere it from some of You for opinion.

[ChicagoGraphics]

Thank You all.

Well the problem is that I also think that the Mimaki is the sure thing to buy, and I have seen lots of them. I don't like the banding and I think that the colors are not so vivid, pretty much slow. The Valuejet is a new thing, loks amazing with the I2 tec. but the main problem for me is that I can't see one in vivo, no one has it yet here in my country (as far as I know). I have seen only the printouts that my dealer showned me. The black looks ok but the red is no diferent than on Mimaki, dark and not so vivid ( Coca-cola red seems to be inpossible!)
One more questions: does bouth of them need to be laminated before car graphics? And does anyone do the lamination by hand?


You can get your coca cola reds and bright vivid colours and deep black's with a Mimaki, as long as you have a good colour management software.

I know this for a fact, I print like that every day...

[eforer]

I am a very happy JV3 owner. If your attentive with your media compensation, banding isn't an issue. The SS2 inks are quite good, but I recently switched to triangle and am running the new WG Magenta and Light magenta and the color gammut is impressive to say the least. I looked at the VJ but ultimately decided that the Mimaki's reputation for manufacturing quality and durability is well deserved and that the more aggressive inks saved alot of aggravation.

[Sign-Man Signs]

We have a Mutoh Jr. Outdoor. Never really any problems. Have been running it for about a year now. CMYK, carts cost about $60.00 dollars each. Bought it from Sign Warehouse. If I had do do it over again, I would have opted for the print and cut. Moving media to a seperate cutter is the absolute pain in the azz when doing a contour cut.

[eforer]

If your laminating, you need to move it anyways. Also, with the two separate machines you can contour cut while you print another job.

[Jackpine]

You should buy based on service and support primarily. Two separate machines in my opinion are better. You can contour cut while you print another job. Both are good as is the Roland printers. I have a Mutoh Falcon Jr and have had good luck with it. They all require maintenance and parts do wear out and have to be replaced. I laminate everything by hand using "The Big Squeegee". It works and is cost effective.