Mutoh ValueJet - Anyone have any thoughts?

[grandprixse94]

The specs and price on this new valuejet (began shipping in June 06) sounds pretty appealing. Does anyone have any info on them? I can't find any information... Am I going to have to be the guinea pig

http://www.mutoh.com/products/ValueJet/pd_ValueJet.html

[Flame]

From the looks of it, it's a cheaper and simpler version of their Falcon series printer. Same inks, less DPI options, probably a little bit slower (you never know RLS) and most likely a LOT cheaper. Dang it. Now joe-blow, price slasher guys are going to be getting these. Just what the sign world needs...

[grandprixse94]

From the looks of it, it's a cheaper and simpler version of their Falcon series printer. Same inks, less DPI options, probably a little bit slower (you never know RLS) and most likely a LOT cheaper. Dang it. Now joe-blow, price slasher guys are going to be getting these. Just what the sign world needs...

Now give me some reasoning behind your statements. It has the same 1400x1400 dpi, it's MUCH faster printing than the falcon, and it claims of a new technology that reduces banding. Plus it prints a true 48" width.

In case you didn't know, there is a post discussing the Falcon being discontinued (except Signwarehouse will still be carrying their OEM brand).

[grandprixse94]

Print speed

ValueJet 720 x 360 93 sf/hr
720 x720 77 sf/hr
540 x 720 77 sf/hr
1440 x 720 57 sf/hr
1440 x 1440 29 sf/hr

Falcon Outdoor
360 x 180 156 sf/hr
720 x 720 39 sf/hr
1440 x 1440 7 sf/hr

[Derf]

Keep your options open and look at the service end of the picture too!

However it looks to me like Mutoh is making a all-around nice printer for the average sign shop! Prints a 48":thumb: One print head to fix:thumb:

But it's still a Mutoh.. I have a falcon now and I don't think I would buy another Mutoh at this point.

1) Limited aftermarket parts and inks
2) Service with Calgraph... Not good
3) Crapy internal parts

That's my 2¢

[Flame]

Now give me some reasoning behind your statements. It has the same 1400x1400 dpi, it's MUCH faster printing than the falcon, and it claims of a new technology that reduces banding. Plus it prints a true 48" width.

In case you didn't know, there is a post discussing the Falcon being discontinued (except Signwarehouse will still be carrying their OEM brand).


I know the Falcon is no longer going to be carried in the US, that wasn't my point. As far as speeds, I pretty much just went off of their claimed top speed (Facon - 156, VJ - 100). Never went into real detail comparing the two. No banding huh? Never had a problem with my Falcon banding other than from the heaters. And the DPI options look kinda weird, that's all. Oh yeah, and we could also look at the name VALUEjet. Something about the word "value" scares me these days. It says CHEAP!

Not saying it's a bad printer, just my first impressions were....uh... I guess I'm going to hold out on my opinions and first impressions until I learn more about it. It may turn out to be a fine machine.

[scsignguy]

i first saw the vj at the orlando show. bought the mutoh 48" cutter then and is great. bought the vj in may and should arive next week. mutoh america called me last week with a report that they were getting speeds close to 150 fph in 720x720. far better than expected. something abought waving the ink down instead of straight lines. excitment is high my shop

[Jackpine]

Now give me some reasoning behind your statements. It has the same 1400x1400 dpi, it's MUCH faster printing than the falcon, and it claims of a new technology that reduces banding. Plus it prints a true 48" width.

In case you didn't know, there is a post discussing the Falcon being discontinued (except Signwarehouse will still be carrying their OEM brand).

All you say is true. I got the same information form Mutoh. 2 1/2 times faster with a true variable dot print (Falcon Outdoor has a 2 dot techology ) and no banding. I have a Falcon Jr and I'm a bit gun shy right now with Mutoh. Seems they left alot of users hanging with discontinuing that line. I love my Mutoh but....! ValueJet also requires 51" material or smaller.

[grandprixse94]

i first saw the vj at the orlando show. bought the mutoh 48" cutter then and is great. bought the vj in may and should arive next week. mutoh america called me last week with a report that they were getting speeds close to 150 fph in 720x720. far better than expected. something abought waving the ink down instead of straight lines. excitment is high my shop

Keep us updated with the progress of your new printer when you receive it.

Thanks!

[mark in tx]

Just hope they don't kill off the product line after a year to put out another printer.
That might seem familiar to Falcon owners.

[Derf]

Or have to wait 5 weeks for a part!...... Still waiting for my damn capping station.

[bob]

Or have to wait 5 weeks for a part!...... Still waiting for my damn capping station.

Interesting. I called Calgraph [Denver] last week or so and make arrangements for their regional tech weenie to stop by and resuscitate my ailing Falcon 48. Cross country moving apparently had some ill effect. Probably altitude sickness or something.

The tech called and said he was having some parts shipped direct to me, dampers and a capping station, and lo they arrived in a couple of days. He's coming to fix things this very afternoon. I thought of you and your plight when the parts arrived in such a timely fashion.

Since I'm paying for this out of pocket I have a feeling that my next communique will be from debtor's prison.

[Steve C.]

Signs of the Times, July 2006, page 70. This article has given me
new hope for Mutoh. 93 sq.ft./hr. at 720x360. thats 3 4x8 banners
in one hr. The article clames that at its best, could produce up to 4
4x8s per hr. My Falcon does good to print 2 an hour at 360x360. And
even at its highest (1440x1440) resolution in bidiretional mode you get
29 sq.ft./hr.

For $14,995 the printer comes with Scanvec Amiable RIP. This is not
Flexi Pro, so you will still need some kind of design software.

I too am a bit gun shy about Mutoh, but I'll be keeping a eye on the
ValueJet.

[signsbydale]

I saw a prototype of the VJ in indianapolis. The Mutoh rep said that the heaters are wider in the new machines. The wider heaters require less heat to dry the ink. It does a nice job but I did not see much difference in the quality of the new Ultra ink over the old plus inks. It is still hard to get a good red.

I have had pretty good luck getting parts fast but I have not tried lately. I suspect that they are bogged down with getting changeovers done on all the old machines. I think the ink change over kit was lacking.

I have not tried to print with my Falcon for nearly a month. I flushed it out with solvent so I could move it and I will make the change in ink after I get moved. I am thinking of using a differnt brand of ink than the Ultra. Any suggestions?

[uneedasign]

I just saw this printer at a regional show in Long Beach CA. It seems to be a decent printer for the money, however the max media width is 51.2" and that is not available. 48" is the largest it will accept that is available, and if you want to contour cut, you have no extra media for your plotter. Just thought some of you might like to know.

[mbisson]

I've read through the ValueJet threads and would like to provide some factual information to help clear the confusion.

The ValueJet is a 51" printer easily capable of printing on 48" common size media - it is capable of full bleed printing in unidirectional mode and 47" inch coverage in bidirectional mode (greater speed). Mutoh is consistantly printing at speeds of 140 sq/hr on banner and ABV (bi-directional) with superior quality.

The name ValueJet may conjure up a perception of cheapness in some minds; however, the name originates from the value obtained through use of the printer. At speeds consistantly in the 140 sq/hr range and at a price point of $14,995, it truely is a great value!

The printer is designed for ease of use and in virtually evey installation to date, customers were outputting production prints the first day. Several customers have called to say the printer has already paid for itself - not bad for a product in its second month of distribution.

Mike Bisson
Scv Mgr
Mutoh America Inc.

[Castek Resources]

I have no doubt that the ValueJet printer is an upgrade from the Falcon Outdoor line. Frankly, that is not saying all that much. The problem as I see it is that from a media standpoint, the width of the printer is effectively 48 inches. There is next to no media availability that I see in the 48 inch width (with some notable exceptions).

Why this machine was not built with a 54 inch media capability, to be compatible with the rest of the market amazes me. Typical of Mutoh, however, marching to the beat of their own drummer.

[Robertw]

Mutoh's newest printers offer much more then was originally expected.
We have numerous installations in shops where there may be another more "production" oriented printer or as a step up from say a HP Designjet.

At less than 15K this is a profitable add on to any sign shop and if you currently have a larger solvent printer consider this a fill in for shorter runs. I also noticed that most of the responses didn't consider or know that their other models cover additional widths of 64" and now a 98" version with 6-inks.

Until recently there was not a large number of correctly sized media products for this printer. We have changed this for everyone. Unica digital's newest line of media products "DuraSOLV+" come in sizes from 24" and include many 30"/36"/48" and yes 50" rolls. We have custom roll lengths up to 150'.

Products include: Economy Scrim banner, 2-styles of double sided smooth banner, several styles of PSA vinyl and an entire line of CAST vinyl and overlams.

We saw a great demand for this printer and stepped up to incorporate our "DuraSOLV+" line for nearly every market. Our custom profiles for each product are available for Wasatch SoftRIP and Onyx Postershop.

So, for all of you doubters of Mutoh and their newest Valuejet, give it another look. Don't use the excuse that there isn't a quality line of Eco Solvent media products for this printer. There is.

Robertw

[Valentino]

im ordering my tomorrow, WOOT WOOT! how exciting.

[graphicoptions]

got one, I have speeds up to 120 sq. ft an hour on full 48" wide printing, so far working great, but I always keep my fingers crossed.

[Valentino]

ordered!

valuejet, 54" graphtec and a 53" laminator!

[f3rri]

I want to clarify something about the Valejet. There is no other printer on the marketthat is printing wave pattern technology. Mutoh holds the patent and if you think about it. This technology does just about the same as what digital cammo did for the military for the print industry. It breaks ups the visual lines that printers get with banding. I am still amazed at the quality of our demo unit. Infact I like not having to clean it once a week. We keep it on a 6hr clean and it works perfectly. As for print speeds 100-140/sqft has been achieved. We don't print any less unless there is 6pt fonts invoved. There is no need to print more than the 720x720.
As for material we keep an abundance of oracal 3651g. in stock. It devours it like candy. This seems to be our favorite material other than bantex. I had an opportunity to print on canvas and it has turned out phenominally.


I would recommend getting one through an authorized dealer vs SWH. Mutoh won't give you tech support and training wont cost you an arm and a leg.

-Chris

[wylie]

we bought a valuejet 64 with the take up reel about 2 months ago. i had been studying printers for almost 2 years, many good printers out there.
we have had great success so far, machine is simple to use. the falcon outdoor had several problems which seem to have been fixed by this machine, but an important issue is support and service. make sure your rep can provide service. know of one other shop with a 64" printer and 2 shops with the 48" printer, all are happy with the machines but for the extra dollars for the 64' printer you won't be sorry. take up reel is a must for long prints & increased print size for larger banners and vehicle wraps.
the machine will pay for itself if you have the work thru reduced cost of
of production, about $1.00 per sq ft substrate and ink, as many colors as you want, no weeding of materials and increased quality. you will need a laminator for extended outdoor use and scratch resistance. the printer uses eco solvent inks and we smell nothing while printing. once the material is laminated it does'nt matter what type of ink is used because it is sealed.

[Urban Image]

The ValueJet is far more reliable than the Falcon series. When it first came out there were hundreds on the field and there were only two service calls. I happen to know that at least one of them was a very simple user error.

The VJ seems to give you what you want fast, cheap, good, and easy. You'll have a bigger learning curve with a doorknob.

I attached a test print we ran on the ValueJet in our show room. It's an interior view of a cathedral on Photo Pro Glossy Tear Resistant Solvent Paper at 720x720 dpi. I don't have the best camera on the market so forgive me. I don't know how long it took to print because I set it to print and walked off to do something else. We also printed up a poster with The Incredibles that looked similar to this (http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/incredibles/) and the colors had so much pop we practically had to take cover. Unfortunately, they took it off somewhere before I could get a picture. It was at 1440 dpi, I believe.

Some people swear solvent printers print lower quality images than aqueous but when I look at the ValueJet's prints at just 720x720 and compare them to the HP 5500 and even the Kodak 1200i I tend to disagree.

[tjybcy]

Hello,
We have a fairly new ValueJet printer & tried printing on regular 30 mil Magnetic
material based on the suggestion of a sign supply company who said we
could successfully do this with the Mutoh.

However, the heads of the printer actually moved the magnet material
during printing, so we stopped the machine immediately. Since that time,
there are horizontal lines in the black & cyan only, but not yellow &
magenta. We have completed several cleaning cycles, but this has not
helped. Did we damage something?? Has anyone successfully printed directly on magnetic material on a ValueJet or on any other digital printer?

By the way, so far, we love our VJ!! It's great!
Thanks for any help.

[Valentino]

probably had a head strike. call mutoh technicial support. 1-800-900-MUTOH there support staff is really nice and always friendly with my barrage of questions.

I get my VALUEJET IN T minus 12 hours. how exciting. It is scheduled to come tomorrow at 1pm.

I can't wait to get it and start making money!

[Urban Image]

Almost any technician will tell you to never run magnetic material through a printer. There are computer chips and hundreds of metal components that it can or will damage. You can buy magnetic material separately and adhere the print to it but I never suggest running it through a printer, especially a brand new printer, for the same reason that you don't put magnets on your computer.