[Need Help Selecting Which DTG Machine to Buy] Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
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Discuss the various aspects of direct to garment printing. DTG printers include Brother, T-Jet, Flexi-Jet, DTG Kiosk, Kornit, Mimaki, Tex-Jet and others! Discuss and learn about this up and coming printing technology.
[Need Help Selecting Which DTG Machine to Buy] Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
Re: Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
What is the size of printing field will it be big enough for your clients, how does it manage the white ink does in use a presurized system and is the printhead teflon coated, ie epson r1900 or epson 4880 as in the drg raptor or viper. On shut down does it remove ink from the head etc. How much will maintenance cost per month? Those are where I would start. I personally landed on the dtg series becouse I cant afford a brother at 55k. The viper will only run 20k. What else do you need such as pretreatment equipment.
Re: Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
You might want to read this document to get a good foundation of knowledge - www.multirip.com/dtg101.pdf. It is long, but you are considering investing a large amount of money it will be worth it. At the bottom of page 20, there is a link to a checklist with some questions to ask when you are comparing different printers at the trade show. Hope this helps.
Re: Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
One thing I can add is take your own artwork that you plan to print and have them print it on each machine while you watch! Then take them home and wash and compare. When you have them print your artwork you will see if anything needs to be done to output to get a good print, also time the process of each operation!
Re: Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
You want to find out if it is a first generation printer from a company and how many modifications have been made to the machine since it was introduced to the market. How long has it been in the market? How many units have been sold? What kind of support do they offer? Another good idea would be to talk to end users and NOT sales reps how they compare to other printers in the market as their views will be biased, especially at trade shows. Seek out owners in the crowds. They are sometimes the best source for info about how a printer REALLY operates and what kind of support they get for their printer.
__________________ www.resoluteink.com- Resolute White Inkjet Garment Printer Ink - Developed for Direct to Garment Printers With Epson Print Engines
Re: Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
Also make sure you are not locked into an ink deal, there is now a lot of difference in the inks available so this is also a very important part of the process to consider.
__________________
IGS-UK Colin Marsh http://www.igs-uk.co.uk
UK Dealers for the new Rainbow-Printer & StayBright4 Professional Textile Ink.
Re: Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
Second the take your own image along, my choice was made when the DTG printed a skull on fire design photorealistic flames and smoke I used something like this ....
For the DTG HM1 I bought no problem, but the Tjet I tested at the same time couldn't pull it off , smoke was just solid white and flames wher all solid like a it had been vector traced... More to do with the way the rip works more than the printer to be fair... Oh and the t-jet one washed off after one go LOL
Re: Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghetotige
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For the DTG HM1 I bought no problem, but the Tjet I tested at the same time couldn't pull it off , smoke was just solid white and flames wher all solid like a it had been vector traced... More to do with the way the rip works more than the printer to be fair... Oh and the t-jet one washed off after one go LOL
Doing somthing like this design well, has a lot to do with the operators knowledge. there are some choices that have to be made (machine and software are dumb) and to be perfectly fair, the sales people at any particular moment in a trade show environment may or may not have the skills to pull this off on the first try. Yes the RIP may or may not have an "easy button"(most do) for this type, but there are still a range of parameters that need to be chosen. If you see a pre-done example, ask about resolution settings, speed of print and ink cost. The show's purpose is to wow you, but you have to get a sense of how this will work in the real world.
__________________ imprimeo! ....Make your mark Btownpixelprint.com Are you kidding me?Free Embroidery software?
Re: Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
*What issues do real customers face after purchasing a printer from any given manufacturer?
*What is the process for handling them? Hopefully not the blame and shame process.
*How quickly are problems addressed?
*Are the customers required to be technicians to apply the fixes?
*Are the customers charged for updates/upgrades?
*Will all customers be supplied with upgrades for known defects, or only the ones that complain?
*Will all upgrades of software and hardware be published for customers, and will customers be notified? (or do they have to keep asking and comparing notes with other owners?)
*Will updates to techniques related to printing, curing, and maintenance be published regularly for all customers to benefit from?
*Do all sales staff actually have printers and use them regularly to be able to accurately represent the printer? Too often the sales people and even the techs do not know how to operate the printer in a production situation, understand the daily issues, nor understand their own RIP software.
Re: Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
Just remember a few things and you'll be A ok
Sales people are lowest life forms on earth, they will tell you anything you wanna hear, even tell you DTG will fly you to moon.
But in reality, don't believe what they say ink cost is, dont believe when they say it is maintenance free, and if they say machine aint Epson based, and its not a Brother or Kornit, point your finger at them and laugh.
Make sure RIP calculate ink cost, have them be with in 2 or 3 hours if breaks down
If there a new company, dont even waiste a breath on them
If they say there machine is best, walk away
If it looks like an Epson printer walk away
Test out file with deep reds and purples
Platen size is important too, the bigger the better, believe me on that one
Re: Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
Quote:
Sales people are lowest life forms on earth, they will tell you anything you wanna hear, even tell you DTG will fly you to moon.
Never believe anyone who paints any group of individuals as the lowest life forms on earth.
Sean - I personally take offense to your statement, any credibility that you may have had was washed away with your above statement. Perhaps we should copy all of the people you SELL (as in salesman) shirts to - let them know you are a proud member of the scum of the earth club.
Re: Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
I was not refering to "all" salesmen, but a majority of them are hacks.
Over years I dealt with people in alot of industries, and listen to there shameless things of how there product does this/that and doesn't live up.
Hell I been screwed on alotta expensive machines costing anywhere for 2 grands to 50 grand.
People I sell to find me honest, faith full and not full of sh*t, ask any of them, ask members on here who call me numerous times what kinda person I am : )
I not referring to you Don as one of these people, to be honest I think your top notch in your field and I actually mention to people you have a descent machine.
But for most part, alot of sales people bring you in door and shut the door on you when product is sold, at moment I have had dandy time with getting parts for a 100 grand machine of mine, which sales guy sales, oh I send you info. and never lives up to it.
Re: Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show.
Lol. I just throwing out there, I prob. should of worded better to say not all but a majority will sell a product and leave you hanging.
I would say your prob. one of best people on site besides Harry.
People who do ask about doing dark shirts to me via Pm or Call, I always say to go with your product, and not saying that to get brownie points
This is a discussion about Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show. that was posted in the Direct to Garment (DTG) Inkjet Printing section of the forums.
Good questions to ask when looking at machines at an upcomming trade show. 
