KellyP12
Production Artist
Hi all,
We're in the market for new printers. Trying to upgrade our current fleet after looking at some things at ISA this year. One thing I did not love is that when you're at shows like that, of course each vendor is trying to convince you that their technology is superior to the other guy's. Hence I feel like I got only biased comparisons of both of these technologies.
I'm looking for YOUR opinions based on experience of the pros and cons of a piezo printhead (a la those found in Mimaki, Epson, Canon, etc. printers), and thermal (to my knowledge only HP).
We have a Mimaki and have had really no problems with the piezo-style delivery itself. Our many many problems with that machine, I feel, stemmed from our third-party bulk ink system, not the printhead. Everyone and their mother talks up piezoelectric printheads as the greatest thing since sliced bread. We as a shop are used to being able to dispose our thermal printheads and do a little bit of troubleshooting on the machines, whereas with piezo heads, if it goes bad, well crap, you're out 2 days for a service tech to come replace it, and also $3,000.
We ALSO run, day in and day out, three HP DesignJets which have thermal heads, and have been pretty pleased with them for years and years. While they are more consumable and do have to be cleaned, disposed when they go bad, can cause banding issues, etc., we as the user have much more control over daily maintenance and print quality.
Basically - what are your thoughts? Is one really objectively a better type of printhead? We are considering the following printers: HP DesignJet z6800s, Epson P20000, and perhaps a Canon iPRO6000. Anything that's wide-format and has aqueous inks.
Thanks.
We're in the market for new printers. Trying to upgrade our current fleet after looking at some things at ISA this year. One thing I did not love is that when you're at shows like that, of course each vendor is trying to convince you that their technology is superior to the other guy's. Hence I feel like I got only biased comparisons of both of these technologies.
I'm looking for YOUR opinions based on experience of the pros and cons of a piezo printhead (a la those found in Mimaki, Epson, Canon, etc. printers), and thermal (to my knowledge only HP).
We have a Mimaki and have had really no problems with the piezo-style delivery itself. Our many many problems with that machine, I feel, stemmed from our third-party bulk ink system, not the printhead. Everyone and their mother talks up piezoelectric printheads as the greatest thing since sliced bread. We as a shop are used to being able to dispose our thermal printheads and do a little bit of troubleshooting on the machines, whereas with piezo heads, if it goes bad, well crap, you're out 2 days for a service tech to come replace it, and also $3,000.
We ALSO run, day in and day out, three HP DesignJets which have thermal heads, and have been pretty pleased with them for years and years. While they are more consumable and do have to be cleaned, disposed when they go bad, can cause banding issues, etc., we as the user have much more control over daily maintenance and print quality.
Basically - what are your thoughts? Is one really objectively a better type of printhead? We are considering the following printers: HP DesignJet z6800s, Epson P20000, and perhaps a Canon iPRO6000. Anything that's wide-format and has aqueous inks.
Thanks.