My biggest waste was for a thermal printer Graphtec gc1300 some seven years back. It cost around 10,000 at the time. Was supposed to do everything the edge could do but failed miserably. Threw out more prints than I actually sold. Have five tears finance on it too so had to stick with it till it was paid off and then got my Edge. I never buy anything anymore unless it has been two years in the marketplace. Very costly being a guinea pig for some of these products
Posted by PKing (Member # 337) on :
Sorry you had to learn the HARD WAY. Sometimes the price of experience doesn't always come out of your wallet.
By the way..them new fangle machines won't even climb a ladder!
hope this helps
Posted by David Wright (Member # 111) on :
A Fargo thermal printer about 8 years back. It had a 30 day money back guarantee,but I lost a lot on supplies, shipping etc. Still glad I sent it back.
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
ALPS MD-1300 PRINTER anyone want one???? was $399.00 and they are outa business......
Posted by Bob Stephens (Member # 858) on :
Mine was the Roland PC-60. I know I never made back what I paid for it.
Posted by Jimmy Hill (Member # 4413) on :
That ALPS MD 1300 Printer you have might just be worth some money.
There are a number of them on E-Bay for sale and I know the problem of getting parts and that the company no longer sells these printers in the USA but they are great printers and many people are buying them just for parts.
I was floored at the price of the ALPS 1000 which I wanted to buy and the the only one I could find was on E-Bay and was used but in good condition.
They are excellent printers for certain things like making decals but finding parts is a pain in the neck.
You may find it worth more then you think.
J. Hill
Posted by Jillbeans (Member # 1912) on :
$15K in 1999 for a '96 Chevy Silverado pick-up that is on its 4th transmission. (a glitch with that model, so they say) Got rid of the hubby, he took his truck with him, and I had to have something ASAP for hauling materials & deliveries. I was only able to get a 10-year home equity loan for it. I will probably be paying $260/month for it long after it is sitting on top of the heap at Marshall's Junk Yard. Love...Jill Posted by Michael Boone (Member # 308) on :
wedding cake
Posted by TransLab (Member # 470) on :
Ah ... you're talking about Trophies ... got a few
Bought a color copier last year (a steal at 13k), I'm replacing it already because ...
1. operating cost on newest generation machines is 50% lower, avg 3800 color prints a month ... you do the math 2. Lost main board 2 months after warranty expired ($4300 part) ... (new one will have 5 yr FSMA...) expensive boat anchor
Epson 2000P - nice toy, just not productive enough for shop use, six color process (2 carts); cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, yellow, black invariably emptied the yellow part of the color cartridge before the other 4 colors were even ½ empty
Funny you mention fargo, my first color printer was a fargo primera pro(1992), It paid for itself with t-shirts & mugs... 3 minutes per 11" color print vs 22 color prints per minute a decade later.
Posted by Rick Chavez (Member # 2146) on :
Flexi -Sign Pro-at 4g's plus the upgrade costs, I still do everything in Illustrator, the most expensive bridge program ever!!! At the time I was a newbie with computers and this was the "IN" thing in sign design....phooooooey!!!!
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Yellow Pages ads!
Posted by Kevin Alan (Member # 4556) on :
Without a doubt I'd have to say a PNC5000. The most expensive door-stop on the market at the time. I think the print head went faulty as I pulled it out of the box. By far the worst machine I've had the un-pleasure of owning so far.
Posted by William DeBekker (Member # 3848) on :
SYQUEST Back up hard drives, (Like a Zip drive but Crappier) First Major back up we did it crapped out and lost all my Info.
Posted by Kissymatina (Member # 2028) on :
Roland PC-12. Sample prints they sent were georgous... if only they'd tell me how to get the thing to print that way. Very long learning curve, no technical support at all other than to tell me to use their garbage bridge program, then not tell me HOW to use their garbage bridge program when I ask how.
Edit: Forgot about the second one: ROTO-ZIP. How I have managed to not hurl it through the picture window yet amazes me.
[ March 18, 2004, 09:41 PM: Message edited by: Kissymatina ]
Posted by Source Signs (Member # 1164) on :
Used Mutoh SpectraJet(1995 era) 36" printer with no instructions or lessons.....very dumb....don't know how to bleed the lines either....hope to learn then I can at least print some large indoor posters.
Fargo Pictura 310s...Has paid for itself, but sooooooo much waste because it does not register properly with full color. It still works great for spot colors...although it hic-ups every once in a while....maybe I should advertise it in the Letterhead classied section.
Dome Kit (really cool effects) but didn't use the stuff before it expired. More waste!
I have to learn to be practical....not impulsive! I say this on the eve of finalizing my new Gerber Edge 1 purchase...any words of wisdom before I sign the papers? (This time I have done my some thorough homework...the salesman is probably tired of all my questions)
Posted by Joey Madden (Member # 1192) on :
Just sold my ALPS MD1300 for $250 on Ebay this past week and actually made money.
As I told the judge at my divorce hearing 20 years back, If I would of known this wasn't gonna work, I would have been collecting life insurance instead of wasting my time in court.
Outside of my wife, I never had a tool that didn't work Posted by Rick Beisiegel (Member # 3723) on :
I gotta agree with Rick C. on this one. Flexi Plus 5.8 is nothing but a paper weight for me. Not just the program, but the company itself. I lived through the "merger" with 8-10 day call backs from tech support. I got mad and got a Gerber system......SO MUCH DIFFERENT----BETTER! Gerber's tech support is second to none! SO, my 4K for the software was my greatestwaste since being in business.
Posted by Bill Modzel (Member # 22) on :
I jumped into the digital printing void way too early with a NovaJet III and a hardware RIP to the tune of 14K.
It worked OK if you used it every day but leave it set for two and it was a three hour job to get all the print heads firing again. It got so frustrating that I wouldn't even take jobs for it because of the time investment involved in getting that first print. I finally gave the whole thing away to the local Voc Ed center for them to play with.
I fortunately was able to get into GSP's beta program for MacImprint in 99 and never looked back. Got back into large format a couple of years ago with an HP 5000. This one has been a pleasure to use all the way.
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
Susan you should be thrilled with your edge purchase. It's proven technology that works.
I'm happy to say I have no tools that have been a waste to date. Posted by KARYN BUSH (Member # 1948) on :
letter art software...junk...a year later i got an edge so i've been with gerber. aside from buying all sorts of stupid purty colors of vinyl(when i first started) that no one would want...i finally tossed those out...i must have heaved about 50 partial rolls of 9 yr old sparcal 15"...even tried to give them away...obvious they couldn't take them soon enough...when i'm through i want it out of my face at that very momment.
i was a syquest victim also...almost forgot about that $500 no good piece a sh!t..
oooh and i paid $2,500 for a hp deskjet in 93 when they were the size and weight of a small elephant. what a slow p.o.s. aah the memories!
[ March 19, 2004, 10:39 AM: Message edited by: KARYN BUSH ]
Posted by Golden (Member # 164) on :
You guys are much too new to the business!
Back when 600 dpi was the "top end" of most home and small business printers, I felt I needed to go higher for our "camera ready art". I spent $10,000 for a nice 1000 black and white dpi printer. Remember, 600 dpi was way out there and expensive compared to the 300 and 400 dpi printers. It worked fine for several years, but eventually needed some service work. With a $10,000 investment setting there, I sent it in for a full service job and paid several hundred dollars plus shipping both directions. About one month later, a fine wire broke that was connected to a cheap plastic part and ruined the whole thing. They didn't stand behind their service work and I ate the whole thing.
Now, of course, you can get a 1400 dpi color printer for $350.
For the rest of you young pups , you might find it interesting to know the first Gerber 4bs sold for $7,450 with one font. There was no dealing or dickering either. Each additional font cost $295 and it only held a total of 10 fonts. That was one font-one weight for $295. Looking at it from today's standards, it was a terrible investment, but at the time, it was a valuable tool and worth every penny.
I can certainly feel Kevin's pain with that big investment. Been there, done that.
Mike Jackson
Posted by Bill Burris (Member # 3570) on :
pc60 never made money with it, wasted lots of ribbons when it waould mess up half way through a job,no support.10g mistake. now what about the sp-300, new machine same compay ps-kissy told you not to buy the 12 at mass mania 3 sorry.
Posted by Stephen Broughton (Member # 2237) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kevin Alan: Without a doubt I'd have to say a PNC5000. The most expensive door-stop on the market at the time. I think the print head went faulty as I pulled it out of the box. By far the worst machine I've had the un-pleasure of owning so far.
Yup Kev total pile of junk Posted by John Byrd (Member # 825) on :
PC-600...no explanation necessary.
Posted by Danny Palmer (Member # 95) on :
Ditto on the PC-60. 5 print heads in 4 months.
Posted by Robert Thomas (Member # 1356) on :
I am glad I did not jump on the new technology bandwagon like you guys. My biggest waste of money lasy year was $20,000 spent on rent & expenses to run my shop, my lanlord made more money than me!
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