I'm sooooo sorry for this taking so long to write up. I did some basic comparisons between these three plotters and a couple of weeks ago I got REALLY busy with paying work...so I do apologize for not getting to my write-up sooner. I know there are several people waiting for these reviews...
First I need to mention that I have not had a chance to even open the box for the US Cutter LaserPoint that was sent to me, but I should be doing that either tomorrow or in the next couple of days. I'll add that plotter to this comparison as soon as I can (Rodney, I may need you to edit my first post in this thread when I do complete that comparison.).
Out of the Box Graphtec CE5000-60
I remember when we first bought our Graphtec CE5000-60 in July of last year that I was quite intimidated by it. We very carefully opened the box when Mark came home from work and set it up. It was a beautiful thing. Thankfully Mark had tons of experience with plotters, so I could turn to him for support, because the support that we did get from the vendor we bought from was almost non-existent.
The instructions for setting up the plotter were a little on the thin side, but it was fairly straight-forward. The stand was easy to assemble, and putting the plotter on the stand was self-explanitory.
It's when we went to make our first cut that something hit the fan. We were getting an error whenever we tried to "print" with our plotter. Okay, we didn't read the instructions, so part of that was our fault, but even after taht, part of it was Graphtec's fault. The error we got was an HPGL Error. I'm not sure if EVERYONE has this error, but you need to go into the machine's settings and change one of them to get things to run with our software...the software that comes with the plotter itself. It SHOULD have been set properly in the first place.
Okay, a call to our vendor led us to calling Graphtec, and they tried to assist us. We got ONE thing to cut, got off the phone with them, and nothing happened again. We kept getting the error.
I finally found the solution to our problem on our vendor's website (the HPGL Error), and we also discovered that when cutting from CorelDRAW (which was a MAJOR selling-point to us), you don't use the "Print" command, but you use the Application Launcher to launch the Cutting Master 2 plugin for Corel.
We were up and running after a few hours of setup.
That's the night I made my very first cuts with a plotter with my Circle of Stars design. When we saw that design cut and weeded, we were totally sold on our Graphtec.
It was a pain to set up properly, and very frustrating, but we knew we made the right decision (at the time).
Copam 2500
The instructions that came with this plotter were a little confusing as far as setting it up on its stand. The instruction book had pictures of a different stand, and I didn't see the diagram of the correct stand until we'd already put it together.
All in all it wasn't difficult to put together, but until I saw the diagram of the correct stand I was confused by the media rollers and how those were supposed to be put together.
The machine itself seems to be VERY solidly built, and I'm sure with normal use it could last for years.
Setting it up on my computer was another issue altogether...The drivers disk that came with it (a mini-CDR) was BLANK! Not good. So I went on a hunt on the internet for the proper drivers. What I didn't realize until after a couple of hours was that the drivers that you need are not for the machine itself, but for the Serial to USB adapter to go from the plotter to your computer.
Once I had that little bit of information, I found the proper driver right away.
From there it was easy. I did my first cut within minutes of setting up that driver.
Roland GX-24
I received the stand for the GX-24 several days after setting this machine up, so at first I was using it on the floor (on a board) in front of my computer. But I'll pretend I got the stand at the same time...and...I suggest ANYONE get a stand for their GX-24. It's another $250-300, but well worth it.
The stand instructions, again, were slightly lacking, but I only made one mistake putting it together. I had the uprights mixed up. I reversed them and then everything went well.
Installing the drivers for this machine were...well...the simplest drivers I've ever installed. And they installed in the blink of an eye.
I was cutting within minutes of installing the drivers.
Software Graphtec CE5000-60
Once we figured out how to actually access the plotter software from CorelDRAW, it was straight-forward, and included all of the features that we expected in plotter software.
This is the plugin for CorelDRAW and Illustrator called Cutting Master 2.
The stand-along software, ROBO Master Pro, on the other hand, seemed to be very lacking. It's presented as a design and cutting program, but I would NEVER use it as a design program.
It wasn't until I received the GX-24 with CutStudio that I really delved into ROBO Master Pro, and when I did, I found it to be a little better than I'd thought. When you actually go to cut, it has all of the same features as Cutting Master 2, as well as the ability to create automatic contour cuts (a feature that I thought it had lacked until I really went into it).
I still would never use it as a design program, tho. If you need an inexpensive design program, download InkScape. Hey, you can't get any less expensive than FREE! Then export to DXF and import into ROBO Master Pro.
But, if you can afford Illustrator or CorelDRAW, get that and use the Cutting Master 2 plugin for those programs to cut.
Copam 2500
I caught a little flack for this, mostly because of my timing, but when I first installed SignBlazer Elements, my first impression of it was that it seemed a little..."cheap".
Now, keep in mind that I'm using WinXP with the Windows Classic Desktop Theme. I HATE the XP theme because it looks like it was designed for 12 year olds. That's the impression I got with SignBlazer. Big, fancy buttons with elaborate icons (I prefer a simple rectangle with bevelled edges and a simple graphic or text label).
Again, those were my very first impressions, not my final conclusion.
Other than looking a little on the immature side, it seemed to have all the features that you would need for cutting vinyl.
One important note about the Copam 2500, no matter what software you use: your software cannot read your media size directly from your plotter. You need to manually type in your media size from the dimensions that your plotter displays on its display screen (in millimeters). Minor inconvenience.
Roland GX-24
I hate to say this, but I found CutStudio to be a VERY stripped down and basic program. I was pretty disappointed in it (The ONLY thing I've been disappointed in with this machine), especially with some of the features that you need for cutting vinyl.
A few of those features would be:
- Cut by Color
- Multiple Copies with Interactive Spacing
- Automatic Weeding Borders and Weeding Lines
- Rotation
Now, you can get your copies, but if you mess up on your spacing and go out of your media boundaries, you need to undo and try again until you get it right. Weeding borders and lines can be added in your design, but Cut by Color is one that I think is very important...and missing.
You can Rotate your image, but it's not all that intuitive.
The good parts of this software come in the ability for it to automatically create contour cutting paths. So in that respect, it's on par with ROBO Master Pro that comes with the Graphtec.
Cutting Apparel Vinyl
For my initial cutting tests I used Imprintables' Eco-Film.
This will be a short section...
Graphtec CE5000-60
Cutting is VERY easy on the Graphtec. You just set your tool to the correct number (there's an offset setting in there somewhere, but normally you just set it to the correct tool (.9mm as opposed to 1.2mm or Pen) and go.
The Graphtec impressed the hell out of both me and Mark with my Circle of Stars design as posted later in the original comparison thread that Josh started.
Copam 2500
This one frustrated me a bit. Using the "correct" offset fo .25mm, it was lifting the smallest stars and the inner star had rounded corners. It took some time to finally get perfect corners, and I never actually got a perfect result with the Circle of Stars design like I did with the Graphtec and Roland. But I will say that, for the price, it was satisfactory.
Mark works with older machines at his full-time job that couldn't come close to what the Copam was able to acheive, but it still wasn't as good as the Graphtec and Roland.
Roland GX-24
Again, I just set the proper offset and downforce, and it cut my Circle of Stars PERFECTLY the very first time. No tweeking involved.
Overall First Impressions
I'd say that the Roland and Graphtec are about on par with each other as far as cutting vinyl goes, tho the Graphtec has an edge because of software. But the Roland...the machine itself...will cut anything from vinyl that the Graphtec will, and vice-versa.
The Copam, tho, is a very good machine for the price. It's not quite as capable as the other two machines, but it's still a very good machine. The main difference is that the Copam will NOT contour Cut.
But...if you have the money, buy either the Graphtec or the Roland. They're just more capable machines.
When I get to my contour cutting test post, I'll expand on this a little further.
Copam 2500, Roland GX-24, Graphtec Ce5000-60, US Cutter LaserPoint: First Impressions 
