[Gthatsnice]

Hi all, I contacted my supplier in regards to finding out more about the Sawgrass Dye Sublimation printer. I am trying to figure out which will be better in the long run and most cost-effective. But I do know that I cannot always have my cake and eat it too. I am looking into the SG1000 but this is what my supplier sent me

The ink is INCREDIBLY expensive. Like $2/ml. Other than that it’s a good printer.
The Epson line of starter dye sub printers have an ink cost of 13¢/ml and produce great color quality.

I sell both and will get you anything you’d like, but the sawgrass is obsolete because of the ink cost in my opinion. Check out the links below to see them both. Obviously, we have larger, but these are the new ones. The smaller F170 is available now and the F570 should be available in a week or two if you order now. Let me know!

Epson SureColor F570 24" Dye-Sublimation Printer
Epson SureColor F170 Dye-Sublimation Printer

Now the SG1000 is being sold for $ 1,275 on their website and the Epson Surecolor 570 is $2,495. I'm looking into printing large designs and maybe eventually on mugs and hats later on but as of now, the focus is Poly shirts. Any advice and ideas would be a great help.

Thank you!!!

 

[splathead]

Your supplier is right. While the price difference seems double, once you factor in ink costs, you'll save a ton with the Epson.

An Epson machine more comparable to the SG1000 is the ET15000. It's an Ecotank and while it is not sold as a dye sublimation printer, there is nothing stopping you from using dye sublimation ink in it instead of the ink it comes with. It runs $600 and can print up to 13X19. You could use either Epson dye sub ink in it or buy from 3rd party suppliers like Cobra, Inkowl or Cosmos.

 

[NoXid]

Yup. Because all Epson printers have piezo print heads, they can be used with sublimation ink, and have been for years and years. The EcoTanks make this simpler, as now you don't have to find 3rd-party carts/chips in order to use 3rd-party inks, just dump the stuff in the tanks and go. Go with one of the well known ink brands listed above, as they will either come with icc profiles or be designed to work in your printer without one. Look for a 4-color Epson EcoTank in the width that you need. For 13x19, that is the ET-15000. You'll probably find that supplies are currently spotty, but that is true of many things at the moment due to pandemic induced supply chain disruptions.

 

[Gthatsnice]

Your supplier is right. While the price difference seems double, once you factor in ink costs, you'll save a ton with the Epson.

An Epson machine more comparable to the SG1000 is the ET15000. It's an Ecotank and while it is not sold as a dye sublimation printer, there is nothing stopping you from using dye sublimation ink in it instead of the ink it comes with. It runs $600 and can print up to 13X19. You could use either Epson dye sub ink in it or buy from 3rd party suppliers like Cobra, Inkowl or Cosmos.

Thank you for your time and knowledge! As you can imagine it's not easy figuring this stuff out brand new but it defiantly helps to know that there are people to reach out to!