702displays
New Member
I'm looking for a 10' printer, but the only one I see so far is the HP Latex 1500. It has about a 20' footprint and was wondering if anyone else has a good 10' printer that has a little smaller footprint.
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Best 126" printer
- Thread starter 702displays
- Start date
F1225hgB42w
Guest
Can you clarify what dimension the 20' is referring to? If you mean it's 20' on the 126" width than that seems about right but maybe a little big - we typically see about 18 ft. in width for a 126" machine and then factor about 18 - 20 ft. for working area and printer in the other direction (so 20x20 is our normal expected footprint for 126). There are a lot of options out there, all the footprints will be about the same (because you need area to move 10ft. rolls around, etc.). We have a CET Q5 1000H which is a nice machine (also allows for printing rigid media - but increases the footprint), CET also has a RTR option only that might have a smaller footprint. One caution about CET, I bought my CET through a reseller/distributor and shortly after the purchase they ended their agreement with CET and now I have a different company doing the service/selling me ink, CET also lost some key employees to a competitor and my experiences haven't been great with CET support since they lost those key support staff.
We are buying another 126" RTR printer this year and are going to buy it from Fuji (probably), it's their Acuity 3200R - which is a rebranded version of Mimaki UJV55-320 (Super Wide-Format UV-LED Printer | UJV55-320 | Mimaki USA). The reason we'd buy the Fuji is because we already have flatbeds from Fuji and keeping everything under one vendor makes sense. The machine itself is very impressive, we printed several UV fabrics from Aurora Textiles and they looked as nice/rich color as a die sub print (and I know anyone who has a dedicated dye sub grand format printer will ready this and disagree - but I have no skin in this game so I'm not biased and the truth is they looked as good or better than die sub direct to garment or a paper transfer), also it has the ability to load two rolls at once, and a fabric feed/take up system (we never actually measured the test prints so we don't know if the step was accurate or not - but that would be something we would dial in when we own one). Machine isn't super fast (I'd say 250 - 500 sq. ft. an hour in sellable quality, but it pretty much runs like a set it and forget it machine so if you have long runs you could leave it overnight and get 2000-4000 sq. ft. in a night. I think this lines up pretty closely with the speed/quality of the HP you referenced. I don't know the HP price but the Fuji/Mimaki is probably going to cost about $80K when you factor in freight/install plus maybe some additional costs for wiring in a 220V machine (but I think you'd probably need to do that with the HP), which means you could by two of this machine for maybe less than what one of the HP's cost.
Another option to look at is the Agfa RTR (Hybrid Anapurna LED series) they offer both a high speed and entry level model (which is a lot slower than the Fuji/Mimaki). Don't know much about the printer other than it's a high quality UV LED machine.
You can check out Novus which was bought up by MR - they have a new 3200RTR (ULTRA 3200 UV LED Roll-to-Roll Inkjet Printer :: Novus Imaging Large Format Digital Printers) which looks nice (also looks a lot like the EFI Quantum line) (Barak Product Line– The Ultimate Hybrid Grand Format UV Printers). I don't know the price of these machines, but from my experience many of the printer manufacturers buy a machine base from one our two factories in China and then modify the printer (not sure there is much they can do besides paint them and put different decals/side panels on the machines). My experience has been most of these machines preform very similarly and the main thing to look at is service, cost, and what features do you need/want.
Finally, there is a company listed on Sign and Graphics Magazine website that also makes 126 RTR but it looks like it's just a Chinese import company as well, so it might be a machine that was already listed above. Twinner 5000r/3200r
Best of luck!
We are buying another 126" RTR printer this year and are going to buy it from Fuji (probably), it's their Acuity 3200R - which is a rebranded version of Mimaki UJV55-320 (Super Wide-Format UV-LED Printer | UJV55-320 | Mimaki USA). The reason we'd buy the Fuji is because we already have flatbeds from Fuji and keeping everything under one vendor makes sense. The machine itself is very impressive, we printed several UV fabrics from Aurora Textiles and they looked as nice/rich color as a die sub print (and I know anyone who has a dedicated dye sub grand format printer will ready this and disagree - but I have no skin in this game so I'm not biased and the truth is they looked as good or better than die sub direct to garment or a paper transfer), also it has the ability to load two rolls at once, and a fabric feed/take up system (we never actually measured the test prints so we don't know if the step was accurate or not - but that would be something we would dial in when we own one). Machine isn't super fast (I'd say 250 - 500 sq. ft. an hour in sellable quality, but it pretty much runs like a set it and forget it machine so if you have long runs you could leave it overnight and get 2000-4000 sq. ft. in a night. I think this lines up pretty closely with the speed/quality of the HP you referenced. I don't know the HP price but the Fuji/Mimaki is probably going to cost about $80K when you factor in freight/install plus maybe some additional costs for wiring in a 220V machine (but I think you'd probably need to do that with the HP), which means you could by two of this machine for maybe less than what one of the HP's cost.
Another option to look at is the Agfa RTR (Hybrid Anapurna LED series) they offer both a high speed and entry level model (which is a lot slower than the Fuji/Mimaki). Don't know much about the printer other than it's a high quality UV LED machine.
You can check out Novus which was bought up by MR - they have a new 3200RTR (ULTRA 3200 UV LED Roll-to-Roll Inkjet Printer :: Novus Imaging Large Format Digital Printers) which looks nice (also looks a lot like the EFI Quantum line) (Barak Product Line– The Ultimate Hybrid Grand Format UV Printers). I don't know the price of these machines, but from my experience many of the printer manufacturers buy a machine base from one our two factories in China and then modify the printer (not sure there is much they can do besides paint them and put different decals/side panels on the machines). My experience has been most of these machines preform very similarly and the main thing to look at is service, cost, and what features do you need/want.
Finally, there is a company listed on Sign and Graphics Magazine website that also makes 126 RTR but it looks like it's just a Chinese import company as well, so it might be a machine that was already listed above. Twinner 5000r/3200r
Best of luck!
BigfishDM
Merchant Member
Like others mentioned, I would check out the Mimaki UJV55-320! Really great machine, I am a dealer of this unit also so if you need some info just let me know.
Robert Gruner
New Member
I know the BigFish is a strong endorser of HP Latex technology as witnessed by many of his posts in the past. It would be prudent to look closely at HP's 10' Latex.
BigfishDM
Merchant Member
Lol yes I am a big fan of latex, but when it comes to the 10' solutions I am a big fan of the White ink and UV with that Mimaki. I think for the cost, I can get more bang from the Mimaki.
702displays
New Member
702displays
New Member
Wow, thanks for this valuable info. The Mimaki seems like the best value. Do you know of any cons to this? Also, does anyone know the ink cost to run this one. The HP Latex is saying .10-.20 per sf. I checked out the Fuji Acuity and it does look like the same printer as the Mimaki. Do you know if it's the same price range? I like the idea of the hybrid Anapurna series but I can imagine they cost a lot with the flatbed availability.
702displays
New Member
I do like the Mimaki. Do you know any average operating expenses for it? Ink cost?
BigfishDM
Merchant Member
Yes it will be right in line with those numbers.
BigfishDM
Merchant Member
Yeah no problem, PM your info and I will send you everything I can.