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I was wondering if anyone in letterville has purchased a VE ValueCut plotter from GBC Sign Warehouse? I would be interested to hear about how it performs.
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if your gona "play" at signs....sure...its will do ya. if your gona do signs and run the poop outa your plotter....DONT GET THAT ONE. like anything else you by....you get what you pay for. my thinking would be a used ROLAND, GRAPHTEC, SUMA, MIMAKI. check ebay.....before you by that VU VALUECUT...name sorta tells it all.
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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If you actually want to do signwork and not rip your hair out or clean up the mess after heaving a cutter out the window, take Joe's advice and go brand name. My first cutter was an off-name from GBC. Day it left is one of the 2 happiest days of my life. I now have a Roland that I'll give up when you pry my cold dead fingers from it.
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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After being a sign painter for thirty five years, I bought a Gerber 4B. Unfortunately it was not fast enough to work with any speed with the interface card. I then bought a "Brand Name" plotter from Anagraph which was a nightmare. I now have 2 GBC plotters which I love and love the fact that they answer the phone when I call Tech Support. The Vinyl Express software is great too. I don't know the Value Cut plotter but I would buy the best one you can afford.
-------------------- Jerry Starpoli Starpoli Signs... since 1952
845-795-2438 Posts: 446 | From: Milton, NY US | Registered: Jun 2000
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Always buy a name brand machine.. I spent a few extra and got a Anagraph one of the best cutters I've ever had the pleasure to run.
Cheaper means truoble. IE: One machine I know of has to have weights attached to the material to make it run straight. Another cannot track straight no matter what is done. And, low end cutters usually are a sign of non committed thus earns the user a dabbler label.
Second. Just a couple of weeks ago we had someone in chat needing advice using a lower priced machine. No one could answer right away and one spent about 4 hours looking for the answer. Off brands use off standard drivers, instuction sets, firmware and a host of other unexpected problems. Soem people won't spend their limited time looking for some one time obscure fix. It is alost impossible to get manuals etc..
Strange off name software is another problem in itself. Every one can help with Corel but very few can help with some no name driver bridge cutter program.
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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One further thought... Whatever machine you are interested in... Find out in advance about Tech Support. Anagraph used to take days to return my calls. GBC usually picks up the phone. I do think that their cutters are relabeled Roland. I do know the VE software is Flexi and I could not find a difference in the programs from the Flexi demo that cost almost three times as much as the Vinyl Express.
-------------------- Jerry Starpoli Starpoli Signs... since 1952
845-795-2438 Posts: 446 | From: Milton, NY US | Registered: Jun 2000
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I guarantee you that GBC's Lynx line are NOT relabeled Rolands. If they were Rolands, they would have tracked, wouldn't have needed the sensor taped over to operate and wouldn't have taken several people hours to find the printer driver for it on a taiwan website.
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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I can't ever get tech support to answer or call back quickly enough through GBC. My plotter has never tracked properly and the VE software that they say works with XP does not show the fonts in a list.
-------------------- Amy Brown Life Skills 101 Private Address Posts: 3502 | From: Lake Helen, FL, USA | Registered: Feb 2001
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i guess 1 good one outa 3 is good odds.....but in an sport....1 outa 3 is a LOSER!!!!!
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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I bought my panther from Signwarehouse. I love it ! They have always helped me when i needed it . There tech support has always called me back usually within a few hours.
-------------------- Paul Bradshaw The Image Factory
8301 wabasis ave rockford, mi 49341 bradshaw@iserv.net Posts: 5 | From: rockford, mi | Registered: Feb 2004
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Way to go Paul. GBC has stood by everything I ever bought through them. I forget there are a lot of negative types on this site. White is black or vice versa, depending on who started the conversation.
-------------------- Jerry Starpoli Starpoli Signs... since 1952
845-795-2438 Posts: 446 | From: Milton, NY US | Registered: Jun 2000
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That's it, just label everyone who disagrees with you as negative.
Amy & I have both had nightmares dealing with GBC. I remember calling their tech support and getting a real person. That person's job was NOT to offer tech support but to take your name & number & tell you their policy was to return calls within an hour. After getting frustrated at having to call them several times a day without any return call from them, I finally asked the glorified answering service what their accountability was if they didn't return the call within the hour. She couldn't answer that one.
The machines would not track for either of us. I had to tape over a sensor on mine to get it to cut more than a few inches. I was flat out lied to by their salesman. If I remember correctly, they sent at least 1 of Amy's order to the wrong state!
But I guess we're just negative people, huh?
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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Chris, I had similar experiences with my Anagraph, but I guess I was lucky. They went out of business. It now sits in a box taking up space on a shelf. But there was a post here that Anagraph is great. I know three people that would disagree with that. My comment to the post was to be sure that Tech Support was there. I have had great experiences with GBC. I have had minor problems that were immediately addressed and corrected.
-------------------- Jerry Starpoli Starpoli Signs... since 1952
845-795-2438 Posts: 446 | From: Milton, NY US | Registered: Jun 2000
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Jerry, sorry u had a bad experience with Anagraph.. In fact.. If you wish, call me and lets talk about selling me your machine. 985 781 3011
My experience has always been great. The machine runs all the time, tracks perfect, and is easy to operate with loads of software.
I called Ana grpah tech support three times. Once when i dropped something on the input pad. They told me how to change it and sent me the parts. It only took about 10 mins for the entire phone call.
The second time I was considering the Design Art 2k. Talked with tech support person immediately and fairly. Got thru to the tech suport with seconds.
The third time I called for another user and was thru to tech support within seconds, got the parts ordered and was guided thru the install later. Never once did I hear "send it back with a $90 bux service charge". They were willing to help over the phone.
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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