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I was going to buy a Summa D-60, then a friend pointed out a very local company he gets his supplies from about 30 minutes from my place. They sell Ioline and can sell me a I/S 60 for a couple hundered less than the D60. Plus I don't have to go to Seattle. (traffic suxxx). What is the general opinion of Ioline. I know they are manufactured in Woodinville, WA, which is about 2 hrs away from my place. Advice would be appreciated. I plan on making a decision today.
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Hey Jim....I don't know anything about either plotter. I just wanted to say hi. Hope you are having fun with your signs. Seattle traffic is terrible! You just have to learn what time of the day to head which direction....and have some good tunes to listen to!
Posts: 3729 | From: Seattle | Registered: Sep 1999
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We have 5.5 years of heavy cutting on a T650pro summa- it's bulletproof- a real workhorse. Had to buy a gerber enVision (sprocket) plotter--- Half the plotter for twice the money. Gene
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Hi Cheryl. I need to call you for coffee one of these days. I wish there was more feedback. I did get a call from Drew at Summa about an hour after I posted this. Drew seems like a real nice guy. He won't talk down on his competitors. I think Summa is probably the better value. I get the feeling that the other place is selling me second hand stuff. They're not, it just feels like it. It's new, in a box, but been around a while. I hate making decisions like this. I don't feel like I have enough information. Sometimes I guess you gotta go on your gut feeling.
I own a Ioline SmartTrac 30" plotter, wish I had bought something else.
It took receiving 3 different units from the distributor, to get the final one that works so-so compared to my old Gerber IVB. First plotter turned out to be a DEMO unit - can't blame Ioline for that one, the second plotter tracked fine on paper but would cut vinyl with an arc. Ioline kept telling me it was a software problem (using GA 6.2). In fact, they told me that their plotter supported my software BEFORE I made the purchase then REVERSED their statement AFTER I owned it. Distributor asked what kind of tolerances I needed, and treated me like I was being too picky.
To make a long story short, after five months, the third unit I received, as a loaner, seemed to work properly. Second unit did in FACT have a problem that the factory found; loose servo motor.
The plotter still has some things that don't work properly: It still has tracking issues on long plots, the real headache is that the actual line length on plots is always short. And yes, I have gone thru the calabration procedure numerous times.
Never received a formal apology from the distributor or Ioline.
Sure miss my IVB!!!
Hope this info isn't too late, Bruce
-------------------- Bruce & Deb Newton Graphic Lettering San Marcos, CA Posts: 126 | From: San Marcos, CA | Registered: Sep 2001
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Thanks Bruce, Not too late. I decided to think about this over the weekend, but I was leaning towards the Summa. This just shoved me more towards that direction. I really appreciate the feedback.
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