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Suggestions Best mid-level flatbed printer?

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signheremd

New Member
We have a new FluidColor with gen 6 Ricoh heads and wow! Speed and resolution are awesome. It is available with Kyocera heads as an option if you want, but from what I understand only advantage would be if you do museum work. We print large format down to nametags with ours and are completely happy with the resolution - if you send the file at 900x1200 and set the printer on .25 screen at a speed of .8 you might have a hard time finding a head that prints better. Purging heads is quick, as Stratojet mentions it forces a lot of ink through quickly. Ricoh Gen 6 Heads are a great, reliable choice regardless of the brand printer they are in.
 
StratoJet

StratoJet

Merchant Member
Graphic Realm said:
Just curious. What gives a sharper 3-4pt type?
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Our ADP (Advanced Dot Placement) tech will give you legible 2pt (as well as reversed) at all speeds. ADP takes advantage of the variable picoliter size but can control the enlightenment and overlap of the dot. You’ll get a sharp edge (font, line-art) and a much better transition between grayscale and colors.
 
balstestrat

balstestrat

Problem Solver
StratoJet said:
Our ADP (Advanced Dot Placement) tech will give you legible 2pt (as well as reversed) at all speeds. ADP takes advantage of the variable picoliter size but can control the enlightenment and overlap of the dot. You’ll get a sharp edge (font, line-art) and a much better transition between grayscale and colors.
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How about you share some pictures of 2pt tests in production speed? Normal and reverse. I'm curious to see.
 
Z

Zach Starr

Head of Printing Operations
Graphic Realm said:
$150-250k - Vutek, EFI 30f, Oce, Digitech, Vanguard, Strojet?
While speed is great I am looking for info for best quality. I would take a slower machine with better quality but still want 20+ boards an hour
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I would not go the Digitech route, had a friend of mine get one of their printers he's been stuck with alot breakdowns and heavy bills on maintenance. Its very fast for sure, but gets costly overtime.

We currently use Stratojet Flatbeds Shark EFB 4x8. With 150-200k budget you should be able to go for the 5x10 for super fast in production runs and white ink parking features.

Agfa is a good option too, very decent printers. They are bit pricey though...
 
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Graphic Realm

New Member
Zach Starr said:
I would not go the Digitech route, had a friend of mine get one of their printers he's been stuck with alot breakdowns and heavy bills on maintenance. Its very fast for sure, but gets costly overtime.

We currently use Stratojet Flatbeds Shark EFB 4x8. With 150-200k budget you should be able to go for the 5x10 for super fast in production runs and white ink parking features.

Agfa is a good option too, very decent printers. They are bit pricey though...
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How long has he had the Digitech?
 
P

parrott

New Member
I am curious to know as well. This sounds very suspect…..

Digitech machines are incredibly reliable and extremely easy to work on. If his machine is constantly broken, I think there is more to the story. They don’t price gouge like most other OEMs which would make it almost difficult to be stuck with “heavy bills”.

We have run approximately 500k square feet on ours with in 6 months and have not had a single issue. There is a reason you don’t hear a ton of end users talking about these machines…it’s because they don’t want their competition to know about them. They truly are the best kept secret in the industry.
 
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parrott

New Member
Also, not really sure why stratojet and Digitech are in the same category. Same for a lot of the other printers mentioned. We are running true speeds of 50 boards an hour including load/unload times. The is real sellable quality with vibrant color.

Are there any other printers in this thread that are achieving this speed? I know there are machines that are claiming this but fall way short when in real life production. Curious to hear from real end users, not people who “have friends” or have seen videos. Not throwing shade at any of these OEMs, but feel like there is a big gap between some of the manufacuters in this thread.
 
Pauly

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
Some people a bias usually to what they have. Asking for opinions can only go so far.
Best way is to see machines is to get a demo or samples. Trade shows are ideal.

I can admit i was bias to Oce years ago when there wasn't much around in the market and everything else was pretty crap. i still like their printers, although these days there are better machines out there.
IMO if you need speed for boards, general signs basic sizes etc, you're better off with a hybrid.
Flatbeds obviously have their place. I wouldn't go to a hybrid do to our work we do.
 
Pauly

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
GiveUsSigns said:
Our Summa 1612 is the smaller version flatbed and has been quite efficient, fast and reliable. And the price was pretty darn good to boot.
You can go to the next size Summa and get more table size,
Airmark is offering a free routing head module set up currently with the purchase.

Chaos Graphics in WA state.
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It kind of helps if you read what was asked in the thread first before replying.
 
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Graphic Realm

New Member
Since this is my original post....We decided to go with Digitech. I am sure we are the smallest shop with one of their LT/X2. We vetted them all. So far so good. A couple of little hiccups but haven’t missed a beat! This thing is a monster! Our machine actually prints better than any of the demos we did with them. We are not just a down and dirty Coro shop. We do a lot of art agency stuff and even at some of our highest quality settings we are still 25 to 30 boards an hour.
 
P

parrott

New Member
That’s exciting to hear. We had a few hiccups in the begging as well but it was mostly due to learning the exact settings we needed. We are not a large shop either and cover a lot of different markets. We are in the middle of a 150k square foot job that we will have done in less than 3 weeks. Could not imagine running this on any other machine than a Digitech. Quality, color and adhesion is perfect.

The quality build and simplicity of the machine is like nothing else I have seen. Very excited to hear how it works out for you.
 
G

Graphic Realm

New Member
Zach Starr said:
I would not go the Digitech route, had a friend of mine get one of their printers he's been stuck with alot breakdowns and heavy bills on maintenance. Its very fast for sure, but gets costly overtime.

We currently use Stratojet Flatbeds Shark EFB 4x8. With 150-200k budget you should be able to go for the 5x10 for super fast in production runs and white ink parking features.

Agfa is a good option too, very decent printers. They are bit pricey though...
Click to expand...
Any more info on your friends’s issues
 
Troy Lesher

Troy Lesher

Merchant Member
Graphic Realm said:
Any more info on your friends’s issues
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Hey Guys I just want to tell you all how much I appreciate you guys how much we appreciate the confidence, and having our back on these " I have a friend" type posts, Ive looked into our entire TruFire database and have found no one with lots of problems and costly service and didn't find anything. You guys know we will bend over backwards to make customers happy, after all that's how we started, a s service company, and from the Top Down its about Customer service with us. Thanks again!
 
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