Personally I think all the good brands of laser produce a very similar product, and pretty much all of them have the same causes for subpar product. Poor maintenance. Regardless of what brand you get, just like making a
sign, cheap product and poor care for the equipment means garbage results. Make sure your acrylic is cast acrylic too, it's more expensive but it lasers so much better.
I agree, no one can say one is better than the other, until you get into the upper end of the market. Universal and Epilog and in the middle of the market. If I showed you finished parts, side by side, it would be hard to tell which one did what. It's the fine details that matter, and those are based on the work you do and your requirements. I liked the Epilog, I thought it was a good machine. I LOVE the Universal because it has some controls over it that help me do things I need to do. I do a fair amount of very fine detailed work. 3 point fonts. I have options on the ULS that allow me to make that text razor sharp on different materials, where I didn't have the control over the Epilog.
However, if you're vector cutting, it won't matter. As mentioned, the "speed factor" on vector cutting is determined by power. More power can mean more speed (not always). If I had to buy another laser, it would not be less than 60W. I do know Universal has been doing some deals where you can pay for a 30 watt and get a 60 watt cartridge as a free upgrade.
There is a big
sign show in Atlantic City Dec.4-6 and all mfg's will be at the show, and I am positive they will all have "Show Specials". You should contact all your reps and ask them what the "
Sign World 2009" show specials are going to be. Might save yourself some serious cash.
One difference for cutting acrylic, you need air assist. The 2 systems work completely different on that. The Epilog uses a wash system where it's a bent piece of tubing that blows across the face of the work. The Universal uses a nose cone and it blows air through that, and the beam goes through the middle of that nose cone, so it's actually forcing air directly into the cut, rather than blowing air over the top.
I say that only to let you know that there are serious price differences in those 2 methods. One is low cost, one is not. One uses a $40 air brush compressor and one requires dry, clean air and it can be expensive.
Neither are bad machines and the support level on both is about the same. If it goes down, both will have you parts next day. Got a odd problem they can't figure out? Both will wet the bed on that one. But simple stuff, you'll be back up the next day, and both offer free phone support for life, whether you bought the machine new or used.
