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What DTG machine do you own and how did you make your decision on it :)

221K views 239 replies 146 participants last post by  PiratePolos 
#1 · (Edited)
I have seen alot of good and bad about Dtg machines recently on here and I thought it would be nice to learn a little about each members experience with their machine and how they made the choice they did on the machine they own. If you can, cut and paste the questions below and fill in the answers for your machine. That way when others are researching, they can get real info from real users :) I will go first and answer in the next post as to leave the questions empty to make it easier to cut and paste :) Please lets keep this post friendly so it can be good research for others out there :)



What machine do you own?


What were the sources of information you researched to make your decision?

What is your business model?

Are you happy with your decision?

What are the pros you have learned of your machine?

What are the negatives you have learned of your machine?

What type of maintenance do you do?

How long have you owned your machine?

How long did it take you to learn to use?

Is there anything you wished you had known before you bought your machine that you know now?

Is there anything else you would like to add or let others know?

Would you recommend this machine to others?
 
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#54 · (Edited)
What machine do you own? Belquette Mod1

What were the sources of information you researched to make your decision? Youtube video and a couple conversations with Jerid from Screeners Choice.

What is your business model? Retail Website, contract printing, dropshipping.

Are you happy with your decision? Very much. This machine is roughly double or more the speed of our other 2 machines.

What are the pros you have learned of your machine? Speed and innovative engineering makes this machine stand out from the others. One of the innovations is the quick 2nd pass so the board doesn't have to come all the way out to print the second layer. If you choose to use the advanced features in the rip software you can highly automate the artwork to printer steps. The low price is another good thing. $17,000 with shipping and extra board.

What are the negatives you have learned of your machine? Can't think of too many. For a new dtg user the lack of a large detailed manual might make the learning curve slightly tougher. However, Mark, Brett and Renee give very knowledgable phone support.

What type of maintenance do you do? I do the maintenence belquette suggested. Daily washing / cleaning of wiper and capping station. The Mod 1 has a handy software control panel that allows you to make the wiper blade come out for easy access.

How long have you owned your machine? Few weeks.

How long did it take you to learn to use? Having 2 other machines we had this one figured out quickly. Took a week or so to get our automated stuff setup.
Had this been our first machine it would be no different than learning another DTG machine.

Is there anything you wished you had known before you bought your machine that you know now?
Nothing really. Wish these were around before I bought T-Jet blazers :)

Is there anything else you would like to add or let others know?
As with any DTG machine be prepared to print 4-5 days a week, control the climate, and do the daily maintenance. If you don't follow these simple things you will have constant troubles with any DTG.

Would you recommend this machine to others? Yes.
 
#55 ·
What machine do you own? Kiosk II w/ Wims


What were the sources of information you researched to make your decision?
This Forum for the majority of information. Talked to SWF Mesa and liked their service and want to help me. Watched youtube videos.



What is your business model? Wholesale

Are you happy with your decision? Very much so

What are the pros you have learned of your machine? Simple to Learn. It's a workhorse. Love the software.

What are the negatives you have learned of your machine? The only negative I can think of is white ink printing, but this goes for all DTG machines with dark shirt capabilities. At least this one has the Wims for less trouble. Some people swear by white ink durability, but I just don't believe it.

What type of maintenance do you do? Clean daily, head clean, print daily, wiper clean, capping station clean, clean encoder strip once a week.

How long have you owned your machine? 6 months

How long did it take you to learn to use?
A couple days, but a couple weeks to fully learn it.

Is there anything you wished you had known before you bought your machine that you know now? No


Is there anything else you would like to add or let others know? It's a great machine at a great price point that won't let you down. I can safely say that the DTG Kiosk has made our business

Would you recommend this machine to others? Most definitely
 
#56 ·
FreeJet 320TX ; orig had TJet

Learned about by reading forums and seeing in person at dealers .

I operate from my home. Print for churches; civic organizations; have my own website.

Pros: good print quality when working properly
wet capping system for print head

Cons: Maintainance ; had to have it serviced
three times w/o warranty .print head
had to be replaced - over $450.
Last week , one of the circuit boards
fried .

I purchased this unit as a demo but based on my experience I could not recommend this printer . The Epson head requires too much maintainance and the cleaning solution is expensive too .
I will look to get this replaced now under warranty and then hopefully be able to trade up to a Brother 541. mistermugsy
 
#57 ·
Thanks to everybody but specially sunnydayz for starting this thread. I am absolutely new to this business and are very excited about it. I have done a lot of research and ready for the challenges to come (specially the white on dark) which will probably be most of my business anyways.

However, I am still a little overwhelmed with all the info. out there. I m probably going to buy a printer within the next 30-60 days. My primary interest at this point are the dtg hm1, viper, and will meet with a rep from m&r to check out an i dot. once i do i will come back here and share with everybody my unexperienced review. I very interested in brother but scared of the cost of ink.

I will greatly appreciate any recomendations on which decision to make.

Go with MSONE - you will be tremendously happy and will not regret - does all colors, leather, tile amazing! www.msprintingsolutionsusa.com

all the best!
 
#58 ·
If you all could please keep this thread to machine surveys it would be great :) Otherwise the other posts take the subject off of the surveys themselves. For this thread if you particularly appreciate a certain survey, then the thanks button is a great way to let that member know it was helpful.

This thread is for people looking for a machine and being able to compare in a survey type setting, so just saying buy this machine is not going to help them compare. If you do own a machine and want to tell others why you think they should go with that machine, simply copy and paste the questions from the first page, and fill in the answers. That way they can get a fair comparison of that machine as well.

Thanks so much for everyone's cooperation in keeping this thread an easy read for those doing research.
 
#59 ·
After carefully analyzing the different DTGs on the market, I made my decision with an industrial sized direct to garment printer (Mimaki GP-604D).

I have been using this machine for 2 years now and my clients are very happy with the apparel I've been printing for them. The quality of the prints are vibrant and has a very soft-hand. The platen size is larger than the rest 16" x 24" than the rest of the DTGs out there. Not once, were the heads clogged like some of the other stories I've been hearing. The rip system for the Mimaki is also very easy to use. You can basically transfer any image directly from your computer and the rip system will transfer it to the printer. I highly recommend Mimaki if you are looking for a professional direct to garment printer.
 
#61 ·
Chesterwayne and Nancy, could you do me a favor and copy and paste the answers from the first page of this thread and fill in the answers? That would be really awesome so that others can do a comparison based on those questions. Thanks :D you all are awesome for helping.
 
#62 ·
What machine do you own? Kornit 931DS.... Started with a T-Jet 2


What were the sources of information you researched to make your decision? Visited other users, and online.

What is your business model? E Commerce and Wholesale

Are you happy with your decision? For the most part yes.

What are the pros you have learned of your machine? Prints great quality prints in a short amount of time.

What are the negatives you have learned of your machine? Lack of customer support by the manufacturer.

What type of maintenance do you do? Daily, weekly cleaning.

How long have you owned your machine? 2 years

How long did it take you to learn to use? 6 months efficiently with artwork and settings.

Is there anything you wished you had known before you bought your machine that you know now? Ink Costs

Is there anything else you would like to add or let others know? The kornit is a great machine after the bugs are worked out. Don't expect a lot out of the manufacturer after the warranty is up. The dealers however have been pretty good.

Would you recommend this machine to others? Yes.
 
#63 ·
What machine do you own? Melco Jet (Ana Jet)


What were the sources of information you researched to make your decision?
Research on the internet

What is your business model?
I started out doing sports teams and it now has unfolded in to other areas

Are you happy with your decision?
Yes

What are the pros you have learned of your machine?
It prints photo quality shirts

What are the negatives you have learned of your machine?
Darks are hard to set up. Some is operator error

What type of maintenance do you do?
I do a clean print head before printing each day. Twice a week i clean the print head

How long have you owned your machine?
6 months

How long did it take you to learn to use?
1 week. Still learning on darks

Is there anything you wished you had known before you bought your machine that you know now?
Pretreatment cost and ability to print on drk shirts

Is there anything else you would like to add or let others know?

Would you recommend this machine to others?
Yes
 
#66 ·
take it from someone who learned the hard way . I tried two different machines that used Epson print heads and both were terrible . Machines were down all the time.

Finally wised up and got the Brother 541GT. No comparison to the others . It is a workhorse and I have run it every day without any issues at all .
 
#67 ·
Re: What machine do you own and how did you make your decision on it :)

What machine do you own? Brother 541

What were the sources of information you researched to make your decision? Lot of online research, ISS shows, this forum.
What is your business model?
Promotional Products dist.
Are you happy with your decision?
Yes

What are the pros you have learned of your machine?
Great print quality. Colors can be a little tricky.

What are the negatives you have learned of your machine?
Colors can be tricky.
What type of maintenance do you do? Not much. Thats what I love about it.
How long have you owned your machine? I started printing with my machine sept. 2008

How long did it take you to learn to use?
Took a while to get the system down, had to go through one operator. Now we have a great system.

Is there anything you wished you had known before you bought your machine that you know now? Nope


Is there anything else you would like to add or let others know?
Need a good operator. Dont try to have some schmoe off the street run it and expect good results.

Would you recommend this machine to others? Yes.
 
G
#68 ·
What machine do you own? Brother GT 541

What were the sources of information you researched to make your decision? Travelled to different distributors with artwork and got duplicate prints with all artwork. Marked necks with printer name in sharpy and washed one shirt from each to compare.

What is your business model? Retail and online sales

Are you happy with your decision?
Yes

What are the pros you have learned of your machine? Speed, ease of use, ability to train someone to run in about 10 minutes. I virtually eliminated the need for a screen printer. Samples in minutes from art to cure.

What are the negatives you have learned of your machine? Fades a bit on polyester (is designed for 100% cotton). Inability to print white ink -but I order screen printed transfers for those orders.

What type of maintenance do you do? Clean the cap station when I change the black ink cart. Lint roll the platens before shutting off for the day (Lint is about the only thing that will affect the print). Other than that, it's self cleaning.

How long have you owned your machine? I purchased when there were only Mimaki, Brother, and T-Jet on the market: installed back in November 2005.

How long did it take you to learn to use?
10 minutes - had presold $2000 worth of printing in advance of delivery with samples. Was printing within moments of installation - had pre-production print approved in 30 minutes and was off and running at once.

Is there anything you wished you had known before you bought your machine that you know now? Not really, it's been a wonderful piece of equipment that has consistently made money for me.

Is there anything else you would like to add or let others know? There is no rip software with this machine, this is an advantage to me because it was one less thing to learn. With any inkjet garment printer you need to have climate controlled environment. I installed an A/C unit for the summer and a good humidifier for the winter (with forced hot air heat this is essential). This is an important step to prevent ink clogs on ANY printer.

Would you recommend this machine to others? Yes, I have repeatedly. Best investment in 12 years of business.

Lisa
 
#69 ·
What machine do you own?
I own an M & R i-Dot

What were the sources of information you researched to make your decision?

I read T-Shirt Forums, Searched the internet for DTG machines, Went to trade shows, Sent files to the companys and asked for samples so I could compare quality.

What is your business model?
I am a Graphic Artist, Signmaker and Airbrush Artist- Retail custom signs, vehicle graphics, t-shirts and logos

Are you happy with your decision?
I am defintely Satisfied with my decision to purchase an i-Dot

What are the pros you have learned of your machine?
From my research I think the software works great, very good quality on prints and excellent customer service!!!

What are the negatives you have learned of your machine?
I have not found any negatives. It does what i thought it would do and more.

What type of maintenance do you do?
I clean the capping staion and any areas that get ink on them from the daily use. i set the printer in nozzel checks which are done about every four hours when not in use and i run a basic cleaning mode at the end of the day.

How long have you owned your machine?
I have owned my machine since July of 2009

How long did it take you to learn to use?
I was able to start printing the day I got it. I did receive instruction on how to run the printer when I went to Chicago. It took about a month to get comfortable with what I learned in Chicago. Mostly me remembering what I was taught.

Is there anything you wished you had known before you bought your machine that you know now?
I feel that the research I did prior to purchasing made it very easy to make a decision.

Is there anything else you would like to add or let others know?
I am very satified with my purchase. One of the key things to DTG printing is that the printers are made to print. If you let them sit and do not remember to follow normal maintenance instructions you will have problems, but if you do follow them you will be very happy with the results.

Would you recommend this machine to others?
Difintely!!!!
 
#70 ·
What machine do you own?
DTG Kiosk & the oh-so-rare, obscolete DTG Express

What were the sources of information you researched to make your decision?
We're not spoiled for choice in that price bracket in Australia; online only, quite a few phone calls

What is your business model?
We're a family trust trading as a T-shirt printing service, in Adelaide, South Australia, working from a shop front & a home based workshop

Are you happy with your decision?
Some days yes; other days not at all. On the whole we love to hate the machines, maintenance is nasty, printing is far slower than screen printing & less predictable, but they can get superb results at times. We bought our trashed kiosk second hand and it has its moments in spite of reconditioning.

What are the pros you have learned of your machine?
This is a brief summary - my husband will contribute more, he's the kiosk king. The Express is my terrain so here's its pros: an exquisite machine. We got it second hand and with reconditioning and a few spare parts, a couple of major breakdowns and a lot of hard work we have it working beautifully about 80% of the time. Pros are it doesn't even attempt white ink, so you know where you stand; the large format means serious efficiency in bulk printing (about 3X the hourly rate of the kiosk - we do orders up to 2000); large format means I can also do fabric printing & banners, giving my business more scope.


What are the negatives you have learned of your machine?
It doesn't do dark coloured shirts; adjusting clearance manually isn't very reliable, and it's imperative to have a very very flat print surface (far more sensitive than the kiosk & harder to keep flat); the plattens we were provided with were a DISASTER and we are constantly re-engineering new solutions for quick-loading, reliably positioned, flat plattens for bulk production; I go mad with streaky nozzles & wasted ink on head cleans; 2 pass printing remains more reliable which makes it slower, but still faster than the kiosk. Slower than screen printing & people want similar prices so we do a lot of late nights.

What type of maintenance do you do?
Head wipes, general cleaning; has a very reliable self clean, though it wastes a lot of ink; because no white ink it's far better behaved than the Kiosk.

How long have you owned your machine?
nearly 2 years

How long did it take you to learn to use?
We're still learning. Every new ink set, every new job, every new & unusual customer demand makes us push its (very flexible) boundaries on a weekly basis.

Is there anything you wished you had known before you bought your machine that you know now?
That Steve the marketing man has gift of the gab & at the same time as being talented & capable, needs to be taken with a grain of salt; however also that when it behaves the machine is MAGNIFICENT, which would have saved me a lot of anxiety in the low patches when I thought we'd bought a lemon.

Is there anything else you would like to add or let others know?
It's not on the market any more sadly, because there are things it can do, like unusually big print areas, and printing the pieces of fabric before the shirt's assembled for an all-over print, and doing cushion covers and even quilts, that are what has helped our business to succeed.

Would you recommend this machine to others?
be very wary if you see one second hand as there are major design flaws and it does take a LOT of work to get it to a comfortable level of consistency & reliability.
 
#72 ·
I got to see a demonstration of the Viper from the Seattle office and I was not impressed. I spent 8 hours with them working with the Viper and they could not print my design that I gave them off of a flash drive. They tried tweaking the design like I said for 8 hours and could not get it right. They said i needed to create the artwork different. I went to Chicago and saw the i-Dot from M&R. I gave them the flash drive and they opened the file and pushed print and it came out the exact way I gave them the file. So in just a few minutes I got a shirt with great quality with no adjusting. I was sold and i have owned mine for about 4 months and I am still very impressed. The i-Dot printer had meet and exceeded my expectations.
iDot from M&R - interesting! I'll look it up. How does the price compare? That's the big question for us!! Re the viper - the guys who distribute it in Australia are really fantastic; they have supported us to the hilt with emergency troubleshooting at all hours, taking parts out of their own machine to help us out etc; but the kiosk (and I imagine the Viper) are very hard work. Constant head flushing & head replacement (@$450 a head), the need to know the machine inside out, know exactly how to prepare files to get the right result, variation in the result depending on the age of the head, burst dampers, clogging, streakiness, oversaturation, undersaturation... My husband is extremely good at getting the best results from it & knows a lot of variables, but it's really costing more than it's earning at the moment.
Can you give me more specifications on the machine you're mentioning so that I can find out whether it's available in Australia? Thanks heaps! Alice
 
#73 ·
Its probably best to start a new thread with specific questions about a printer, that way it will keep this one on topic of the survey of machines. There is a M & R sub section in the dtg section of the forums that can be found here M & R Digital - T-Shirt Forums, where it would be the perfect place to ask this question, and keeping this one on topic :) Thanks.
 
#74 ·
I was told it is available in Australia. I hear the guy to talk to uis Rick Bach. I have some numbers for you to call.
Toll Free:800-736-6431
Outside US: 847-967-4461

Just tell them you are from Australia.
The Price comparison is about the same. I bought extra plattens and extra inks along with the bulk ink system. I believe with all of the add ons I added the difference was less than $1,000.00

I have had my i-Dot for about 4 monthsw now and there is maintenace that you need to follow but if you run the nozzel check when you are not working and a head cleaning (which is pennies) you should be fine. I have not needed to power cleanings which do use alot of ink but maybe once in the last 3 months. That was because I let the printer sit for days and did not print. If you print every day a least something with the white ink the basic nozzel checks every 4 hours when not in use and wipe the capping staion and squeegee one a day you will be fine. Mine just keeps working. I have had some problems but it was always user error and not the printer.
 
#75 ·
I'm going to be straight up about this... I've seen quite a few DTG prints and NOTHING can compare to a well manned, well maintained Kornit with somebody behind the operating mechanics who knows colors and the software! Hands down!

Just my two cents from experience.
 
#78 ·
Please keep this going everyone! It is helping me in my research for a dtg printer more than words can say. I appreciate everyones comments (even if they get a little off topic), but also thank you Sunnydaze for keeping it on track. Leaning towards i dot. But am also impressed with DTG. Would LOVE the new Brother 7sumpthin, but $50,000?!? Say's on their website that prints on dark's may average $2.50-$3.50 per shirt including pretreatment. Sounds a little high considering the already high cost of the printer.
 
#79 ·
Re: What machine do you own and how did you make your decision on it :)

What machine do you own? HAD THE OLD RED T -JET 1 NOW BLAZER PRO , FLEXI JET LONG


What were the sources of information you researched to make your decision? INTERNET US SCREEN INFO

What is your business model? INTERNET SALES

Are you happy with your decision? VERY MUCH SO THE BLAZER IS FANTASTIC

What are the pros you have learned of your machine? THE BLAZER IS EXCELENT AND PRINTS GREAT WITH FEW REAL PROBLEMS - THE RED T JET WAS A BIG LEARNING CURVE AND HELPED BUT I LOST ALOT OF HAIR!

What are the negatives you have learned of your machine?LEARNING THE HARD WAY ABOUT MAINTAINACE AND WHAT ERROR CODES MEAN!

What type of maintenance do you do? CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN EVERYTHING DAILY!

How long have you owned your machine? BLAZER 1 YEAR RED T JET 2.5 YEARS . LONG , NOT USED YET

How long did it take you to learn to use? 1 WEEK SETTING UP MAINLY AS DIDNT HAVE MUCH HELP

Is there anything you wished you had known before you bought your machine that you know now? NO I KNEW THE PROS AND CONS BEFORE BUYING AND THE BLAZER PRO IS FANTASTIC A DREAM COMPARED TO THE RED T JET 1

Is there anything else you would like to add or let others know? JUST MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN EVERYTHING AND HAVE SPARES OF EVERYTHING SO THERE IS NO DOWN TIME

Would you recommend this machine to others? YES ON THE PRO I AM BUYING ANOTHER THIS WEEK
 
#80 ·
What machine do you own? veloci jet


What were the sources of information you researched to make your decision?

I went to shows and talked to many salesman!!! That just left me with ????? a lot of research her on this forum and the web.

What is your business model?
T shirts and signs

Are you happy with your decision?
very happy will buy another one soon.

What are the pros you have learned of your machine?
Ink cost are great. would be nice if they were lower but the ink used vs the reported use is lower and no wasted ink ink cartiges left behind.

What are the negatives you have learned of your machine?
some times the machine is slow but it is mostly due to my equipment and speed that the prints are processed.

What type of maintenance do you do?
very simple. after you print is complete end of the day, clean around the print head, clean capping station, run some cleaning solution to the waste bottle, clean the wipper. close your bottle caps, **wha.la** put her to bed.

How long have you owned your machine?
3 mths

How long did it take you to learn to use?
2 days. they came to my shop and trained us. twiking will take longer. there is a learning cure, but as with anything if you dont know what you are doing, you have to learn.

Is there anything you wished you had known before you bought your machine that you know now?
not realy, equipment zone realy left no unaswered questions and still today have an open door policy for help, have been pleased with the printer and the company and the people who sale it.

Is there anything else you would like to add or let others know?
there is a process to getting shirts done in a timely manor. at first I was pretreating shirts then printing them. now I have a cycle. pretreat a shirt then press dry, print the shirt and while that one is printing pretreat and dry the next, cuts time in half.

Would you recommend this machine to others?
yes very much so. worth looking at.
 
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