The price seems pretty low for a 54" eco solvent printer.
Make sure the printhead is good!!! Physically go to the seller and watch them print a file. See if it's grainy, banding, or just missing a color. Don't rely on a video or pictures. They ccan't pick up the little details that the eye can see in person. Printhead replacement is not cheap! The printhead alone can be a couple thousand (Yes, I said thousand) dollars. You can replace it yourself, but if you don't feel comfortable doing it, you'll have to shell out more cash to pay a tech to do it.
The most important thing with any brand, is to use it. Don't let it just sit. If you aren't printing daily, then at least do a nozzle check every day or every couple days. This will keep the ink moving and help prevent the head from clogging.
The cost for maintenance items like ink, material, cleanings, etc need to be weighed in as well. See if you can get info on the performed maintenance. This will also help determine if the machine was neglected at all. If the seller can't explain how to clean or maintain parts, they probably haven't done it in the first place, which could be a precurser as to why the price is low.
We laminate about 99% of our prints with either matte or glossy overlaminate. It's not entirely necessary for all jobs, but we use a 7 year vinyl, so we want our prints to last just as long. We are sticklers for not cutting corners and doing the job correctly the first time every time. So are our customers. Plus, it helps in installation by giving it a little "body" to work with. If you are going to wrap a vehicle, then yes, you MUST laminate it. Gasoline and strong car wash soaps can and will remove the ink from the vinyl.
You'll also need to make sure you get the ICC profiles for the vinyl you want to use. You can get these from the vinyl manufacturer or supplier.
Sometimes they are in the software and update with the normal updates. If you are looking into an eco solvent printer, by now you should know the difference between cast & calendared and vinyl rolls & digital medias.
We have a Mutoh with a separate plotter in our shop. We go through a TON of vinyl. We ship all over the country and do local installations with our regular customers for wraps, signs, banners, and a whole bunch of other stuff. We use the separate plotter because while it's cutting, we are speeding up our production by printing the next print on the printer. I would have the same sample print during the visual inspection cut on it while you are there to make sure that the unit cuts correctly, and ACCURATELY. You won't want to spend all day trying to cut stuff out with scissors or a razor blade when the machine should be able to do it for you. Let it make you money instead of you working for it.
Does the RIP software come with it? I think Roland uses VersaWorks. I would look into how much it is by itself in case it's not included.
