Looking to find somebody who may be running a SOLJET Pro II SC-540 print & cut machine.
If you're out there would you mind sharing your likes and dislikes.
Thank you in advance.
Posted by Dave Cox - That Sign Guy (Member # 3517) on :
I'd like to hear it as well, I am looking to purchase fairly soon.
tanks
Posted by Bob Stephens (Member # 858) on :
Bump....
Or.........
What can anybody tell me about the Prism-Jet or the Mimaki jv3 true solvent printers?
Posted by Paul Luszcz (Member # 4042) on :
I have the Pigmented Ink version of the SJ 540, called the CJ 540.
There is a significant problem with the new Roland Series II printer/cutters.
Due to legal complications, Roland had to change RIP's after introducing the product. The new RIP has many serious flaws, in addition to being an older, less intuitive RIP to use (it's a Wasatch).
Problems are being slowly corrected, but if I knew about the problems I would have waited.
No one I know of yet supports the printer, so you can't use a third party RIP either.
Roland has a bulletin board on their website, and people with older models seem to love them.
Too bad about the new RIP.
Posted by Bob Stephens (Member # 858) on :
Thank you Paul for the feedback. I have been doing my research and heard elsewhere that some problems existed. I'm going to the Orlando show in three weeks and plan to look at many printers.
I definately am leaning towards true solvent at this point and from what I understand, the Roland isnt.
Getting so close I can almost see the pixels.
Posted by TransLab (Member # 470) on :
In the case of a solvent printer you'll be tasting the pixels as well as seeing them Bob Posted by Dave Cox - That Sign Guy (Member # 3517) on :
any info on Summa's DC3? that my other contender right now...
Posted by chris_tech (Member # 813) on :
Hi,
I was surprised to see that some people out there thought that no third party rips support the Roland Pro II printers. Cadlink and Roland have a long standing relationship in terms of printer support and we definitely support the Pro II line of printers.
CADlink offers a stand alone rip called "Photoscript" and it also ships with Signlab.
You will find extensive support for the Roland machines as well at the mimaki JV3 and others.
I hope Bob, that you have a good time at the show and whichever machine you eventually choose, keep in mind that there is always an alternative Rip out there should you encounter any problems.
Regards, Chris
Posted by Kenneth Sandlin (Member # 3014) on :
The SolJets are Eco-Solvent printers and therefore are outdoor durable, but you are limited in media compatibility. They do allow you to print fairly high resolution, good quality output.
Depending on how much printing you will be doing, having an integrated cutter may not be a benefit as you aren't printing when you're cutting, therefore reducing your output volume. You may want to consider cutting in your regular plotter if it is wide enough.
The PrismJet is SignWarehouse's rebranded version of the Mutoh Falcon Outdoor. This machine is very similar to the SolJet in performance capability. A heads up here though, Mutoh is releasing new "true" solvent inks which are supposed to print directly to uncoated medias. We'll see how it works when it hits the market and we get real-world feedback.
The JV3 is a very good entry-level solvent printer. Decent speed, good resolution, good user feedback so far. Color vibrancy is a little lower than the Aqueous and Eco-solvent printers (but this is true for many of the solvent printers).
Roland's ColorChoice RIP was previously their rebranded version of Flexi, so Flexi will probably still support it. ONYX supports almost everything on the market. I'll check into this new wrinkle, this is the first I'd heard of it.
The DC3 is an excellent thermal transfer printer with their inherant strengths and weaknesses.
Good luck!
Posted by Bob Stephens (Member # 858) on :
Thanks Kenneth for the information. That pretty much sums up what I have discovered so far in doing my research.
I plan to look at the Mimaki JV3 machine in Orlando at the show in two weeks. I really dont need the cut feature on a printer and the roland isnt true solvent so I think that ones out. I'm not even looking for high dpi resolution. Square feet per hour is my main concern and I'm only looking at one of the solvent based machines as an interim measure to get me by till the first of the year.
There are some new flatbed UV machines that will be out then that I'm more interested in.
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