I love my eco-sol (Roland) too. I feel that most of the guys that upgraded to an HP had a lower level eco-sol printer. Basic print/cut machines, stuff like that.
Shops with big printers aren't going to downsize to a consumables monster like an HP.
My printer runs on liter bottles that cost a little over 100.00 per liter.
Maybe replace a pair of seven dollar dampers once a year, and a head every two to three years. If you know where to source the heads you can get them well under OEM cost.
If I went from an entry level roland to a L25500, I'd be in love, but I bit the bullet back in the day and dropped a lot of coin on my 745ex, and I can't justify the cost to drop to a smaller printer and pay a good amount in consumables.
My 5500 was great, but I had a lot of inventory in heads and ink to keep it going. That's why I switched to Roland.
Also, I mentioned a while back about ink pricing going up and I was "poo-pooed" at even bringing up the subject. HP has increased the cost of ink by 50.00 a cart in eight weeks. It will be as much as eco-sol at some point.
I've got a ton of print samples here from HP. They are all 11 pass samples and they don't look any better than my stuff printed at 4-8 pass on the 745.
Don't get me wrong. I like a lot of about the HP. Single carts per color channel is great. I hated having to replace one cart on my machine and then a day later the other would go out in the same color channel. Annoying. OEM ink costs for Roland are disgusting. I was spending 1600.00 for a set of ink. Horrible. A bulk system fixed that problem.
OMAS on the HP is awesome. I wish I had it. Also, HP changed the game with new ink chemistry. I'm grateful that the industry is moving to a "greener" solution. Although I feel latex is no greener than eco-sol at this point, with energy cost, pvc substrates, etc. Latex is a game changer, but may not be the answer.
Another thing I LOVE about the HP is the ability to print on fabric. It does it well too! I'd buy the HP just for that. I don't do enough fabric to justify the cost, but that's the aspect of the latex printer that I adore.
I feel that Roland will follow Mimaki with resin inks. Not to mention any eco-sol can be converted to resin rather easily. The market is huge for conversions.
I love my Roland and I'm glad I own it. I can certainly see why people made the switch to Latex, and if I had a lesser model printer, I may have upgraded, but I'm good for now.
If I am fortunate enough to get more fabric work, I will park a latex machine in the stable with my 745ex and 645ex. Just not looking forward to the cost of ownership.
notworthy
