L25500 or vs640?

[hitye]

Hi all..
I'm just a newbie of this bbs. In the begining of this year, I intend to buy a out door printing machine. I really like hp machine, I got a hp Z5200 last year and it was going well. I just use hp instant printing software to print all the jobs, it is very easy. So I asked a quote from a local agency. In their showroom, they show me the L25500 and also the roland VS640, they told me the price of both are same, but L25500 is quick dry and ready to laminate when print out and roland can print white and metallic colour and can cut when printing. Latex ink is green, healthy...
Now I have a roland GX24, so it is not quite urgent to have a new plotter.
But someone suggest me to have the roland one, as they think it is printer+cutter, can save more space, white and metallic ink is so cool, I can do others can't do.......
But I think the latex ink is cheaper than eco-maxsol, and solvent ink can't dry so fast and...my shop is not so big and has no ventilation, latex ink maybe better..
There are so many reasons to choose the two machine...how to choose?
Thx

 

[Salmoneye]

I have an xc-540, I think that it is faster than the latex but the ability to not store media while off gassing but instead immediately laminate and mount sounds awesome.

 

[MontereySigns]

I also have a Roland XC 540 and love it. Great color, low maintenance, good speed, and prints reliably on nearly everything. If you don't want any risk and are looking for a proven printing solution then you can't go wrong with the Roland product, especially if price and service from your dealer are equal.

On the other hand, the HP latex printer is very appealing. As you mentioned you can laminate right after printing and that speeds turnaround (and payday) up considerably. There are also some nice environmental aspects of this printer, although I am told the power consumption is higher that comparable products. Plus, there are some issues printing on some materials. Being a new technology, there are still some materials the latex printer has a difficult time printing on.

Your choice depends upon your business, your market. My next purchase will be the latex printer since our customer base wants as "green" a solution as possible. I'm willing to take a little more risk to reap this reward.