Need to Register?

Chani · July 25th, 2007

What would you do? Buy a printer/cutter combo unit (Roland VersaCAMM, etc...) or buy a seperate printer and cutter (with contour cutting)?

I like the idea of doing everything in one unit, but I've heard cautionary tales of buying a combo unit because of the life of printers being so much shorter than cutters.

Also, as far as I can see, it's cheaper to buy seperate units.

My other concern is that I'd like a printer for far more uses than just printing on vinyl. Will a VersaCAMM print on regular rolls of paper?

Thanks!

vctradingcubao · August 8th, 2007

Hi, Chani. If you're not going for the versacamm, what's the printer that you have in mind?

Chani · August 8th, 2007

To be honest, I don't know.

I haven't really looked into printers, but I saw someone post here a while ago that they suggested not getting a combo unit because the life of printers is so much shorter than cutters. I don't remember the exact post, but I was assuming from that one that there was an alternative to a combo unit for printing on vinyl.

Are there any stand-alone solvent printers?

vctradingcubao · August 8th, 2007

Yes, there are, but usually, the stand alones are the bigger/wider ones. What kind of jobs do you plan on doing with the printer/cutter combo or separate? What is your market?

Chani · August 8th, 2007

It would mostly be signs, but I'd like to do some t-shirts and stickers, too.

We won't be able to afford to anything like this for quite a while yet, tho...

vctradingcubao · August 8th, 2007

For stickers (& for t-shirt transfers), a print&cut machine is really the way to go. The versacamm or even the faster Soljet should be able to do the job. I have the SP300V, and a wider 7 feet solvent ink printer. I'm using my versacamm more often, and I wish I bought the 54" insted of the 30". It will be very difficult and time consuming if you do the smaller stickers on a separate machine. Lastly, the bigger machines usually prints in lower resolution than the versacamm.

Chani · August 8th, 2007

That's good to know! Especially about reslution.

Yeah, we'd prolly go with a VersaCamm if/when we do get one, and I'd like to get the 54", but we may start with the 30" only because of costs.

vctradingcubao · August 8th, 2007

One advantage of the bigger solvent printers though is that it usually uses the less expensive inks than the roland. They also usually prints faster.

Chani · August 8th, 2007

So it's really a trade-off.

We're still more likely to get a print/cut combo unit, but I guess we'll need to think about it. We have time.

vctradingcubao · August 8th, 2007

While waiting, maybe you can save some more so you can get the 54" versacamm. I can even tell you to "trust me on this one".

Chani · August 8th, 2007

LOL!

Maybe you're right.

mystysue · August 9th, 2007

I have the versacamm that is the 54 inch one and never regreted it. The thing to remember in the sizes especially if you are gonna use it for banners or signs is if you get the 30 inch one.. your printing space is gonna be a couple inches narrower than that.. and when you think of banners.. most people as a rule like 3 feet wide banners.. which you cant do on the smaller unit.. If you have the bigger one you can do 3 foot for 4 foot banners no problem and that is a real plus. Just remmber that they are big so you need space to put them.. lol. my machine takes up like 9 ft of wall space..

I dont as a rule use it just to cut vinyl altho it can.. But in the sign shop the printer is in use every day. and our machine cost us about 18,000 when we bought it.. and paid for itself in less than half a year..

THe ink cost are approx. 50.oo a cartridge but I am always amazed at just how long they last.. It really has alot of ink in each one..
seems i spend more in ink for my fax machine than i do in my roland..lol..
I just did a job for the city here.. that was 20 double sided banners in solid purple.. the job including install was a bit over 10,ooo and we used about 250-300 in ink for the whole thing..not bad..

vctradingcubao · August 9th, 2007

There you go Chani. Coming from our resident expert, the 54" is really the way to go if you want to also print banners. Thanks Susan!

queenVee · December 12th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by vctradingcubao


	For stickers (& for t-shirt transfers), a print&cut machine is really the way to go. The versacamm or even the faster Soljet should be able to do the job. I have the SP300V, and a wider 7 feet solvent ink printer. I'm using my versacamm more often, and I wish I bought the 54" insted of the 30". It will be very difficult and time consuming if you do the smaller stickers on a separate machine. Lastly, the bigger machines usually prints in lower resolution than the versacamm.

hi,
what makes you wish you bought the bigger one 54"???

vctradingcubao · December 12th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by queenVee


	hi, what makes you wish you bought the bigger one 54"???

Hi Vee,

1) because the banners usually ordered by customers have a width of more than 29 inches. Usually, 36 and 48 inches wide.

2) the sign materials usually available in the market comes in rolls of more than 30" wide, so if you only have the 30" printer, you're also limited to the materials you can order (& use).

Trust me, save some more for the 54 incher, because the Versacamm is really a versatile machine, you'll want to have the capability of using all the materials available in the market. You can even do full vehicle wraps with the 54" versacamm. I have bought the SP540V, 3 months after I made the mistake of buying the SP300V. So now I have 2, but I'm finding use for both of them anyway.