MASTER Vinyl Cutter Plotter (Desay Canada)

[bohica1981]

We were wanting to get a 54 inch plotter and we seen this one http://www.desaypc.com/cutterplotter.htm. Does anyone have any information about this company. A different forum said that it was made by GCC which would be great because weve used one from them for the last 5 years with little or no problems.

[WVB]

I think the Master is made by GRC, and the reason being is because it looks exactly like the Panthers signwarehouse.com sells. The difference is really cosmetic, the LCD panel is a tad different and there are ridges where as the Panther is smooth.

I have read other postings on other boards about these plotters, mostly how to get it to work with various software. Check out signweb and signindustry for postings on these plotters.

[heyfishguy]

I have a Master XY-300P 24" Plotter that I bought directly from Desay Canada. I dont know who makes them but they do look just like a few other brands Ive seen out their. Ive had my plotter for a year and have not had any problems with it. It came with Winpcsign software that is a dedicated sign program and it comes with a training CD. It looks like very powerful software that includes auto b/w vectorization. The very first job I did I took a black and white logo on a business card and followed the instructions in the tutorial on how to scan and vectorize and the logo turned out perfect on my first try. The machine paid for itself very quickly. On the down side it is pretty noisey, the fan and when its cutting it sounds more like its engraving metal compared to a graphtec that would be almost silent while operational. Ive talked to some other people with these machines and they all say that it is noisey. Desay has good customer service and a toll free number but they are chinese and dont speak english that great so it can be hard to understand them on the phone sometimes, as well as you might have noticed that this translates on their web site, there poor understanding of the english language. The sign software has the same problem it is by a canadian company in the province of Quebec where french is the language of choice, so the tutorial cd can be hard to understand sometimes when the english is spoken with a strong french axcent. Anyways I would suggest that if you decide to get one to go to ebay as Desay canada sells them their under the name dcsign I believe and the buy it now price is way cheaper than on thier website. For example I believe that on their website they list the 24" machine for $1359 US dollars and on ebay they the buy it now price is $699 US dollars!!! Thats like 50% off..., Anyways good luck.

[rockongraphix]

i just upgraded from a stika 15" to the master 32" , the prices have gone down , the 24" was $699 , i firgured for the extra $300 it was worth it , a few of my customers pre ordered there larger decals so the machine is almost paid for , my many consern would be the nosies they make , my stika made some noises depending on the vinyl i was cutting, so the noise make it so you cant work in the same room when it is cutting ?

[Grady]

I'd say something is wrong...Shouldn't be very loud.

[rockongraphix]

been running the new machine about a few days now , and it sounds like the spool that makes more nosie , the cutter make the same as the stika i had .

[Meatball]

hi,
just wondering about this plotter, what software do you have working with it? I know it comes with one, but I was refering to corel draw, signlab, casmate..etc.
I too am thinking of buying one.
thanks,
robert

update:
I just found out from ebay site. looks like it handles them all. sorry for the post.

[juniorcdn]

Ever since the first day I started cutting, my Master 300-XP makes a pretty loud rattle. I can't pinpoint the vibration to stop this horible sound. Other than that, it cuts great everytime. Does anyone else have this problem with thier master cutter and know how to fix it. The whole casing seems to make this vibrating sound.

[WVB]

You can try to line it with Dynamat, that will cut down vibrations along with noise.

[rockongraphix]

you can check the black cutting box it may not be on the tracks all the way ,if the machine has been shifted around it could fall off the track and cause that nosie to increase.
working with flexi starter with the master plotter looking to upgrade soon to Pro series , but works great with tranfers from stika programing.
mike rockongraphix

[jessp]

[quote=heyfishguy;18991]I have a Master XY-300P 24" Plotter that I


My son recently purchased this same plotter but with no drivers. Do you know where he can get the drivers or could you consider sending it to me for him?

jessp@bak.rr.com

Thanks,

Jess

[p7050]

I get this when I go to look up design

No longer a registered user

[p7050]

here is there new store
http://www.masterwarehouse.com/

[Sign Prophet]

Boat anchors. I had bad luck with one of these units. I agree that the customer service is ok, but their english is very bad to say the least. The problems with my unit was resolved by the sending me a new unit. I use the unit rarely now as I have a graphtec which is a superior plotter. Not trying to bash these plotters, just trying to give you my individual experiance with the unit.

[OldPaint]

LIVE AND LEARN....all i gota say......real professionals....use profesional equipment......
sorta like when it was only painters, those of us who did paint use brushes that most people wouldnt belive the cost of.......but when they want to make a sign the get some brushes that are cheap......and THEIR SIGNS SHOWED IT..... only the equipment has changed..........buy garbage produce garbage....

[Replicator]

Real Professionals . . . Use Professional Equipment !

Hit the nail on the head OP . . . :thumb:

[mark-s]

I have a master 300xp....2 years now use winsign pro 14
a little noisey....but works great....0 problems

mark-s

[Buddy]

Master Decay plotter / cutters. :thumb:

I hope all my competition gets one...........haaaaaa

[toravinyl]

I you're starting off, I would suggest buying the Master plotter, learn and screw up that machine. But when you experience a real machine like a Graphtec, you'll just want to throw away the Master plotter. The reason why that machine is so loud is that it uses a cheaper stepper motor. Also, I'm not sure if it is the buffer memory or crappy engineering, but that machine often screws up when you send larger files to it. I learned the hard way, and bought it, but now I have that thing sitting in a box in my garage.

[chopper]

I dont want to get into another arguement about these plotters,
some will tell you they are great,but they have never owned a better machine to compare it to.. the best thing you can do is scrape up a few more bucks and buy a graphtec, roland, summa, ioline, even if you get a used one it would be better than a new master, I dont want you to be miss lead buy people who have masters becouse they dont undrestand what they are missing, take the time go to your local yellow pages look for a sign supply store that sells roland. graphtec, etc.. make an appointment for a demo and go see what you will be missing, I went the route of the cheap plotter and thought that what I got was really great till I bought a summa and WOW WHAT A DIFFRENCE it dosent pay to be cheap, yea you will have to do a few more jobs to pay for the machine but it will be a step forward not backwards, learn from others or learn the hard way its your choice good luck//chopper

[Buddy]

It's easy to get caught up in a 'savings' fixation which turns into the idea that you are actually making money. When in fact....buying a cheaper machine does not make you money....at best it only saves you money.

But when evaluating 'making money'....that is done using the machine you bought and making signs. Theretical you should be able to at least make a few thousand dollars per month if not per year with a plotter. Therein is the 'making money'.....NOT by saving a few hundred dollars or even a thousand dollars.

I've had that same fixation before. The feeling of not being able to afford to get into computerized sign business and wanting so bad to get in that you begin to look endlessly at "cheaper" methods to seemingly accomplish the same thing.

The problem is........you will never be accomplishing the same thing. If that were true.......we ALL would have cheap plotters, cheap computers, cheap vinyl, cheap help......and we'd be making money.

It's not like we all don't know about cheap plotters and where to buy one.

We recently bought an $8,000 plotter. Is that because we didn't know about Decay brand plotters ? Darn the luck...I wish somebody would have told us.

No....it's merely that we have learned. You 'make money' by making signs.....not by saving a few hundred dollars or even a few thousand.

The time spent in trying to "beat the system" could better be spent in learning new design software and soliciting new customers so you could be 'making money' instead of saving a buck.

[Replicator]

Riddle Me This - Riddle Me That . . .

Ya ever see Desay at the SGIA show or NBM or at a Wrap Academy class . . .

Go Pro with one of the Big Boys, or Go Home . . . !

[FisherDesigns]

While I have to agree with everyone that a good name brand machine is the way to go, I don't nessisarily agree that nice work can't be accomplished while using one of these machines. I have used Gerbers, Rolands, Iolines and others at jobs I've had at sign shops over the years. I have a older small Roland that I have on the shelf as a backup, but I also have a Master that I bought in a pinch with the thought of just using it for a few months untill I get a good plotter. Well, it's been a year now with this machine, and while it is noisier than a good plotter and doesn't have that well made machine feel to it, it still works fine. I firmly believe the difference in great work and not so great work is Not in the equipment used, but the person using the equipment. You can have the finest lettering brush in the world, but if you don't have "it", the finished product will never look great. On the other hand, give a great hand letterer a 50 cent walmart craft brush and watch the magic happen.

Mark

[Replicator]

Touche` FisherDesigns . . .

I will concede that great artistry is essential to great work,

but I will never concede to a product from desay . . . !

[Techman]

Well, it's been a year now with this machine, and while it is noisier than a good plotter and doesn't have that well made machine feel to it, it still works fine
Anyone who spends money on something will have a hard time realizing they could have it better. Even a frog in the pot will feel good about his clean water as long as the cook doesn't light the stove.

And...

While those who own a lower end machine are babysitting machine making sure it tracks right, or doesn't jam, or doesn't do one of its famous run across the job with a stray cut deals.. All the while it is screaming so loud you can't hear anything else unless it runs in another room..

We will use our old name brand machines that has some of its guidlines worn off from so much usage, with its steal roller bearings running true,, and answer the phone in the same room, and listen to the tunes at the same time..

Then while this name brand machine is cutting the next layer accurately unatennded.. our helpers will be power weeding because the cuts are perfectly connected and applying the first layer.

This is the difference.


And now that these lower priced cat, bird, d'say" cheap cutters have just about been beaten to death. And have so many postings from those who feel they are good. With at least an equal number of posting from those who realized they are not so good. And with even more postings from those who observed their peer suffer the pleasure of owning the same. Lets admit these low end machines are junk and move on.

[Bigdawg]

I guess that's the point Techman... they aren't "junk." Granted they are not ideal - when we got ours we never intended to cut vinyl - only thermoflex. Does it do the job? Yes it does the majority of the time. If I had it to do over - knowing what i would ultimately use the machine for - I would get a better cutter to start with. But ours has paid for itself many times over INCLUDING wasted vinyl for those stray cuts. And TiaMarie could make this machine rock and roll - without babysitting. A little aggravating, a lot loud, but it has cut everything I have needed.
Higher end is usually better, but it isn't always what your budget can afford.That's why we have what we have. I wouldn't recommend a desay machine to someone who has the money to gte better. We were going to upgrade it, but to be honest I am trying to get away from cut vinyl and move toward more printed so I probably won't do it anytime soon. For what we use it for (And we have cut 8' x 22' two color banners with it - in sections), our Masters' has served us well.

[BDR Graphics]

I guess I just don't understand this site at all people come in here and try to better themselve's by doing what they like or love to do and all they do is get bashed for buying a lower end cutter. I have installed vinyl for about 5 years worked in a sign shop for a year learning the basic's and to help a good friend out when his sign guy left his shop. Now I have started my own little busniess with a business plan the proper permits and guess what a master cutter, and you put my work up against other's work and you cant tell it was made by an off brand company. My business plan does have goals and up grade's in my my cutter by the end of 2007 not all of us have the funds to start out at the top but I will get there i love when people tell me i can't do something i tend to prove them wrong.I bet the best sign makers in here could work there magic on any system they used.It's comes down to how bad do you want it I want it bad and i know i got a long way to go but i will get there.

[Fred Weiss]

I guess I just don't understand this site at all people come in here and try to better themselve's by doing what they like or love to do and all they do is get bashed for buying a lower end cutter.

I think a lot of honest feelings being expressed in writing from people one has never met is easy to call bashing. If one is here long enough it becomes more apparent that it really is not.

[Buddy]

Very good post Fred. Very true regarding people not really bashing but rather just letting the words fly. I know I certainly do that in abdunance.

Buying a cheap off brand machine like Desay maybe one could conclude is a handicap but like one poster said: "If you want it bad enough" then that is the real secret to success. When you think about it......there's a cutter brand even cheaper than the Desay. It's an exacto brand. And you could make signs with an exacto knife. Most of us wouln't but you could.

Everybody is right. It's a draw !! haaa

We some new material to argue about !!

How about billboard structures !@ haaa

This thread has been viewed over 2500 times. Is that a record ???

[Techman]

Actualy. It is NOT bashing. I don't want to see any more good, kind, and honest hard working people follow the same career path as those unfortunate others who suffer from a lesser then adequate machine. Its that simple.

It would be really easy to take that same money and get a great used machine and be done with it.

The frustration is all over the internet. Someone is always asking for help with about the same 4 machines. Too many good people spent too much good money with a low end machine,, only to get frustrated with the lesser machine and then leave a good way of life. Whereas it could have been a great way to expand one's horizons and a good self development path.

[signbug]

:biggrin: The best thing is we can start our business with these lower end cutter, and make real money with it. is that true?

I have a Master vinyl cutter for a year now, I can't say it has no down time, but it do help me start and make money and right now I can afford any brand name plotters which I can not image to have at a year before.

When you have 500 bucks, just do 500 bucks can do. The most important thing is get it started and not wait till you can afford a brand name plotter and lost your chance. The plotter is just A tool to help you make money, to make your dream come true.

I feel much better with my master vinyl cutter, I'd like to ask all the master vinyl cutter owner here one questions: Does it help you make profit? Does it help you getting started.?

I have learned a lots things during this year, some of them about the vinyl cutter, but most of them about the business, about customers relationship. I will never have a chance to learn all about these without Master cutter help me to getting started.

So to be positive to what you got from these lower end vinyl cutter. If I go back to one year before again, i'll do the same thing.

Does anybody know how much Gerber cutter sold 10 years ago? $25000.00 dollars,,and with much less features than the most lower end cutter,,,, then one day Roland comes, $5000.00 one pnc-1000,,,, that's how a great brand name product born in USA....

Just think about what we got from our invest, to be positive, we'll be more happy with what we've done, what we have spent.

Good luck, if you've less budget, just do what you budget can do. If you have to buy a lower end cutter, for me, Master cutter is good choice. I knew Master vinyl cutter will not be my last vinyl cutter, right now I have a brand name one, but IT IS MY FIRST ONE, and help me getting started,,,help me make real money,,,,,,that's enough. See ya....:cool1:
:thumb:

[Buddy]

You are right.....but ONLY from your own perspective.....a cash only perspective. I am right from my perspective.

For me.....I already had an up and running sign business of hand painted signs that I could barely keep up with. That's the reason I needed to computerize (early 90's) With 15 and 2% growth every year and a hectic pace trying to keep up.......the LAST thing I needed was any down time dealing with a defunct plotter. It was difficult enough learning how to design signs with software and learning how to network the hardware together..........let alone put all that intense learning pressure into our day to day business and THEN have some cheap a$$ printer go down on you. Personally....if that would of been me....I'da shot the plotter dead on with a 12 ga goose load and then went and bought a Graphtec and kicked myself for not having bought it in the first place. That is exactly what I try to avoid. Wasting $500. It happens....too much. Buy cheap to "get by" and end up buying what you should have anyway and feeling like the $500 was an absolute waste.

My plan worked for me because I was in business already. Maybe not for you because you didn't already have a business up and running to be concerned about. My plan was I borrow the money to buy the equipment ($10,000 at the time). The monthly payment to service the debt was only a fraction....pennies compared to the added business the equipment brought in revenues........also, the monthly payment was only a fraction to what it would have cost me to have hired an employee to manage our increased growth.

I could barely keep up as it was and the last thing I needed was "down time" even one day or two is sometimes disaserous and would have cost me a heck of a lot more than the cost of a plotter.

Maybe it depends then on if you do $1,000 per day in business (not saying I do that much....but close).....or if you do $100 per day in busness.

That might be the real question to ask.....the criteria that determines whether you get a Decay plotter or not.

[signbug]

You got it right... Your suggestion are better for people in business for years, and need upgrade the equipment, then brand name one will be there choice, because they don't shortage that couples of thoursand dollars.

I believe 90% of us here, are talking about when you only have that 500 bucks or little more, what should you do if you want to get started?

Borrow that kind of money (like u said, $10000.) could be a choice if we could find a bank or friend or whatever resources to get that money. You got another frustrate that you need pay the bank or somebody else, you got burden on your back on each buck you made....

The alternative way is that make that money by your $500. Like most of us do, we got cheaper unit and do the same sign as roland' does, after few months, when we make that much money and get your paycheck, we can afford for any brand name equipment without borrow any money,,, life is good.... so go for it..

So cheaper equipment such as Desay Master cutter will always have his customers, like me. For newbie, when getting started, they dont have much experience, either with software, or with machine. Many things can make you frustrate other than using a cutter, such as trying to cut a scan image, it is never happened, not knowing the different between vector file and bitmap file, how to set up offset, more and more...

For newbie, if you messed up with Master vinyl cutter, you will mess up with Roand cutter too...We have frustrate from time to time, but we seems to put it too much on the cheaper unit other than our experience,,,,, it's nature of life, isn't it?

When you buy a toyota car, just don't put Cadillac thoughts on it... it will take you from home to office anyway... when someday we can afford Calillac Escalade, should I told everybody that I should get that Escalade at beginning and not waster that 1000 bucks on your first toyota? LOL...
:cool1:

[player]

When I was struggling with mine, I thought about how many people must buy these crappy machines and never get off the ground because it is such crap.

I have many years in on all types of plotters and cnc but I never thought a cutter could be made soooo pooorly.

I had a big job, and it was made 1000 times more difficult with that plotter. Again if I had no experience I could never have made it work.

The software is a real dud as well.

I also recommend a used Roland way over a new Master Crapper.

Player

[Pro Signs & Graphix]

The problem with the Desay cutter is greed (customer and manufacturer) and QC. Considering where it is made, and for about $50 USD, the machine could be greatly improved.

It is no wonder that Desay is not looking to make the improvements, with so many uninformed people willing buy the machines.

Things will eventually change. There is a new machine out that is actually intended for the scrap-booking people, but costs less than than the Creation and Graphtec Robo, about the same cost as the Desay, AND the best part is that is imported and supported by a US company!

[Valentino]

I dont understand why someone would buy a cheap plotter bigger then 30", they don't come with an optical eye, so you can't contour cut.

I see all these people buying uscutter's 50" plotter on ebay, and I want to tell the buyer, well....most suppliers only carry up to 30 inch rolls of vinyl. Also, are you really going to cut a 50" job even if you buy the vinyl?

[signboy]

I got a Master Vinyl Cutter (I am not a pro. I just use it for my own purposes) and I need to hook it up to another computer that does not
have a serial or parallel ports. I tried a serial to USB cord and it did not work. Then, I read a post from some time back that said the serial to USB converter had to be high speed. In his reply, the fellow said he bought one and it worked great. Has anyone had this problem and solved it with a high speed converter? If so, which one did you get?

[seanruppel]

Hey I just signed up for this forum. I have a Master plotter 24", and have been using it for 5 or 6 years. I make a lot of basic arrows, letters and things and have always struggled importing and vectorizing images. Many logos done on illustrator, when i import them, vectorize into blocks and often i can't make even simple images work. Fishguy says the training cd helped him, which i'll try. I use winpcsign and i wonder if it's a crap system, hasn't got the compatibility with newer illustrator's or what the deal is. Also, can you use the plotter directly from illustrator? What i typically do is import the image, change the resolution to 1, then do automatic vectorization. They rarely turn out and usually it simplifies the thing, i even tried importing a basic circle yesterday and it came out all funny. If anybody has suggestions i'd love to hear them, keeping in mind I'm not overly computer literate... thanks

[Techman]

seanruppel , signboy
IT's best to start your own threads.

[Techman]

have that 500 bucks or little more, what should you do if you want to get started?

Is not the question about not having the money. Actually, you do not wish to commit more than $500 bux is the reality. If all you have is $500 then make the commitment to save a little more. After all. you will spend more anyway to get it running right.

Actually if you would just commit a little more you can get a great used NAME BRAND cutter and never have to suffer the negatives of a casual use machine.

[gabagoo]

can you say crick cut? lol

[chadk574]

I am wanting to buy a cutter. I am just starting out. All I want to know is that the cutter I buys is going to last me until I can afford a really good one. All I am doing right now is t-shirts. I compared the prices and I know the 35" master cutter/plotter is awful big for just doing t-shirts. But I compared the prices of that to the smaller cutters and the prices are about the same. So I figured I would get a bigger since the price is about the same. What do you guys think??

[Fred Weiss]

I am wanting to buy a cutter. I am just starting out. All I want to know is that the cutter I buys is going to last me until I can afford a really good one. All I am doing right now is t-shirts. I compared the prices and I know the 35" master cutter/plotter is awful big for just doing t-shirts. But I compared the prices of that to the smaller cutters and the prices are about the same. So I figured I would get a bigger since the price is about the same. What do you guys think??

I think you will get a better set of answers if:

1. You introduce yourself in a separate thread and

2. Post a new thread for your question.

Here's a link (http://www.signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35086) to how to start a new thread.

[Buddy]

I am wanting to buy a cutter. I am just starting out. All I want to know is that the cutter I buys is going to last me until I can afford a really good one. All I am doing right now is t-shirts. I compared the prices and I know the 35" master cutter/plotter is awful big for just doing t-shirts. But I compared the prices of that to the smaller cutters and the prices are about the same. So I figured I would get a bigger since the price is about the same. What do you guys think??

I have a nice 2100 series Graphtec for sale. PM me or send email if you're interested.

BUDDY

[signgirl71]

I would like to chime in here. I have been in the sign industry since 1989. When my husband and I decided to open our own business we did not have the money to do it. So, he went on ebay and purchased a 24" master. Having used all the good brand named plotters out there - I was not happy at all with his purchase. But let me tell you - that 24" master plotter came with flexi for $400. Any problems we had, being needing drivers or tracking issues were quickly fixed by the excellent customer support we got from Desay (and granted this was purchased used and not directly from them). They sent us extra pinch wheels at no charge, drivers through the email and answered any questions we had. I hated this machine because it was so noisy I couldn't be near it while I spoke on the phone and could swear I could hear the thing cutting halfway down the street. Well, long story short - if you could use one plotter you could use them all. This cheap plotter made us enough money to buy several printers (we had a 44" pigment and a few larger eco-solvents). It made us enough money for our Roland printer we have now, our laminator and our graphtec plotter. We have it in a back room as a back up plotter just in case. I have done alot of really nice layered work with the master and personally I say, if you know what your doing you can work with just about any plotter - no matter how cheap or noisy - and it will make you enough money to buy a better brand. So, to start off with a tiny budget - go for it - just buy a set of ear plugs!

[imagep]

I am wanting to buy a cutter. I am just starting out. All I want to know is that the cutter I buys is going to last me until I can afford a really good one. All I am doing right now is t-shirts. I compared the prices and I know the 35" master cutter/plotter is awful big for just doing t-shirts. But I compared the prices of that to the smaller cutters and the prices are about the same. So I figured I would get a bigger since the price is about the same. What do you guys think??

A few years ago we bought a 54" master cutter just to do simple signs and banners. It did what we needed it to do, and if our only option would have been the $8,000 cuter that we have now, we would have never gotton into the industry.

Yes, they work, and most of the time it will do what you need it to do. But at some point, when you have the volume, you will need to go to a better cutter.

[andy]

Does anybody know how much Gerber cutter sold 10 years ago? $25000.00 dollars


That's not the point.... the real issue is how much money you could sell cut vinyl for back in the early 90's.... it was a lot more than you can get now.

If you spent 25 grand on a machine you made a hell of a lot more in return.

[signmeup]

Alas....the days of raping and pillaging are over.......

[The Equipment Guy]

I sold Gerber for years, then Mimaki and a bunch of stuff in between. I am in the same city as Desay. They are of course a small distributor, and they try hard over the phone, but they get stretched out when it comes to really trying to go the extra mile or especially if there is an issue where you might need to replace a lemon. Good price though. Most drivers are still available, if you are stuck I can usually find them.

I think the "knocking" is as a result of the pricing removing the barrier to entry for people who can become "sign makers" for less than $3000. This leads to a lot of inexperienced newbies that quite often did not learn the business first, but just "bought in". There are examples of this in every industry. I remember my mechanic years ago cursing every time the local hardware stores started making automotive tools more available to the end users. Its inevitable.

My personal opinion, and its only just an opinion, is that if you are looking for a backup, an event plotter or just don't do a lot of cutting, then these can be pretty good bargains, but you do have to accept some limitations and quirks. My business is used equipment, I prefer to see someone into a nice Used Graphtec or Summa for almost the same money and then they have a rugged machine that could last them for years and support growth and a higher volume. Lots more support too...both from the manufacturer and your peers.

One thing that bugs me is that Ebay pricing...If they are making money at the Ebay price....That means they must be selling to some unaware buyers at a 3 times markup...thats a TON more than I have ever made on a machine!

Craig

[signruler]

desay products are as valuable as the person operating it ,yes it's noisey,sometimes corrupts on large files,but like the vw it gets the job done just as well as roland,graphtec,gerber,etc. Garbage in Garbage out,no?

[petrosgraphics]

we have all started somewhere... on a shoestring, working for someone to get a little knowledge... not knowing what is out there from software for cutting, printing, design,
hardware for the same..seeing you can afford, that can even mean spending a little more
what ever that $ amount is...... years ago i bought a used Roland CAMM-1 24" plotter
did not pay a whole lot of money for it, i never had a problem with it.. still use it every now and then..... the little workhorse.. so it is all in what you can truly afford, when you start to make more money, you can move on to a bigger and better machine, as i am sure we all did.....

[Techman]

I think the "knocking" is as a result of the pricing removing the barrier to entry for people who can become "sign makers" for less than $3000

No, that barrier had nothing to do with it.
Its because the machines are a pile of junk. They caused more damage and pain to those who bought this pile of junk.

The company let good persons fail and forced them to come to site like this to get tech support they should be providing.

It got ridiculous on how many persons were posting here, there and every where else asking the same questions to fix the same problems over and over. Most of those problems should never been a problem. We almost never saw a noobie posting for help with a name brand machine. All to often the question could not be answered because there was no single answer for each problem.

As for we all started somewhere. That is no problem. The real problem is when some noobie comes in asking for help in the middle of a job he had no business attempting to perform in the first place. Then would reply back with some lame attack on the answer.

[thesignguy1986]

I'll be honest when I started out I bought a cheap plotter that was a creation pc cut. It honestly laster probably around 2 months. I then bought a Copam 24" plotter and to be honest it's the best $800 I think is out there and other then the noise I'd buy one over a roland anyday. I did just recently purchase a DGI Omega Plotter though that is just a workhorse and in my opinion is the best plotter available. Though Graphtec is awesome I'd still take a DGI. Now back to the subject of first starting out if you have a master and it's getting you by then all the better and keep it up. Though when your able to buy a newer better plotter I would defintally do so.

[cutkiller]

LIVE AND LEARN....all i gota say......real professionals....use profesional equipment......
sorta like when it was only painters, those of us who did paint use brushes that most people wouldnt belive the cost of.......but when they want to make a sign the get some brushes that are cheap......and THEIR SIGNS SHOWED IT..... only the equipment has changed..........buy garbage produce garbage....

Wow i can't believe it. Its been 2 years i didnt came here, and you keep bashing on these plotter!!! Do yourself a favor and GET A LIFE, at least an exiting one.

For my part, i found what the problem was. It was a comunication problem. I was runing on osx with a usb adaptor. THAT WAS THE PROBLEM. Nothing to do with static and humidity and **** like that. Its was only a comunication problem, nothing else. I switched on a pc and connect via the parallel port. Works like a charm. I can even cut a full 10yd roll with lots of details without any issue. I'm still using my xp-300p full time after 2 years. Yes its loud, yes the keypad will fail, yes customers service sucks (they are chinese after all), but hey, it does the job as well as a Graphtec or a Roland will do for 1/10 of the price and it has paid for itself over 1000 times. That said, i can live with the noise.

[Dave Drane]

I sold Gerber for years, then Mimaki and a bunch of stuff in between. I am in the same city as Desay. They are of course a small distributor, and they try hard over the phone, but they get stretched out when it comes to really trying to go the extra mile or especially if there is an issue where you might need to replace a lemon. Good price though. Most drivers are still available, if you are stuck I can usually find them.

I think the "knocking" is as a result of the pricing removing the barrier to entry for people who can become "sign makers" for less than $3000. This leads to a lot of inexperienced newbies that quite often did not learn the business first, but just "bought in". There are examples of this in every industry. I remember my mechanic years ago cursing every time the local hardware stores started making automotive tools more available to the end users. Its inevitable.

My personal opinion, and its only just an opinion, is that if you are looking for a backup, an event plotter or just don't do a lot of cutting, then these can be pretty good bargains, but you do have to accept some limitations and quirks. My business is used equipment, I prefer to see someone into a nice Used Graphtec or Summa for almost the same money and then they have a rugged machine that could last them for years and support growth and a higher volume. Lots more support too...both from the manufacturer and your peers.

One thing that bugs me is that Ebay pricing...If they are making money at the Ebay price....That means they must be selling to some unaware buyers at a 3 times markup...thats a TON more than I have ever made on a machine!

Craig

This is a very good reply.

[Techman]

Wow i can't believe it. Its been 2 years i didnt came here, and you keep bashing on these plotter!!! Do yourself a favor and GET A LIFE, at least an exiting one.

OOPS!
You quoted his line that was posted about 3 years ago,, Maybe you should get a get informed instead..

[OldPaint]

hey cutkiller, i got freinds in your town))))) MOD-Z-CHRIS, HOLY TABERNAC DEM DER U!!!!!!

[cutkiller]

OOPS!
You quoted his line that was posted about 3 years ago,, Maybe you should get a get informed instead..


OMG SORRY maybe i lost notion of time... I'm not that kind of guy who live and pass all his free time on the internet and forums like you and oldpaint do. Its funny that you keep yourself updated every days. IT SAYS IT ALL!

[horangin]

My first was Master brand and was perfectly fine with it. Only thing is it is little loud when cutting which I did not notice until I purchased Mimaki for the registration detection. It's workhorse and haven't failed me once.
Software is basic, but if you have illustrator (and KNOW how to use it), you can create whatever you want and import to cut. The purchased art clips are junk since some of them may have 2 or more cut lines on the same path which end up cutting through the vinyl and to the paper and ruining the entire job.
Based on my experience, it is a great start up machine or even as the back up machine.

[Jim Doggett]

I think the Master is made by GRC, and the reason being is because it looks exactly like the Panthers signwarehouse.com sells. The difference is really cosmetic, the LCD panel is a tad different and there are ridges where as the Panther is smooth.

I have read other postings on other boards about these plotters, mostly how to get it to work with various software. Check out signweb and signindustry for postings on these plotters.

Sorry. Master(Desay) is not even in the GCC class. GCC features, quality and reputation far surpass the cutters coming from Mainland China, which Desays do.

[Zoies Graphics]

My graphtec makes a knocking sound while cutting... Anyone know what might cause this??? It also doesnt cut, it like plots rather while making this sound...

[TyrantDesigner]

I love how this thread has a 6 year shelf life. That is better than a box of twinkies.

My graphtec makes a knocking sound while cutting... Anyone know what might cause this??? It also doesnt cut, it like plots rather while making this sound...

Little hard to understand this one, but lets see if I got it right ... your graphtec doesn't cut, just plots the points (so the knife doesn't come down correct?) and it makes a clunk noise while doing it ... if the knife mechanism isn't coming down ... it could be detached and the clunking could be from the motor arm hitting something in the head.

I really don't know a fix for that other than to try to open it up and re-attach it.

If that is not it, please do correct me.