Advice on Film Output Printer

[alan802]

As many of you know, our 4800 is down and likely out till we can get someone to refurb/rebuild the printhead and all the associated parts to it.  We consulted with an epson tech today and there is a guy in Houston that said he could fix it in an hour, but we got to send the printer to him and it's going to be $800 minimum.  A brand new 4880 is $1900 so we are weighing our options.  We are currently using the r1800 for film output but it has developed a splatter problem that with many hours of treatment and reading tips from everyone all over the world, it still splatters and I'm personally tired of dealing with it.  It prints decent film, but the splatter does affect higher mesh counts and halftones a bit. 

We are looking at getting a backup/new film output printer, maybe the epson 1400 or something like that.  The 4800 will likely be our output device once it gets going again, but in the meantime, I want some advice on what others are using for film output.  I'd like to keep it around the price range and print size of the 1900 since this will be used more as a backup and only full time for a few weeks right now.  What is everyone using and what are the pros and cons of your current printer?  Let me hear everything you guys know!

[ZooCity]

1400 makes a great back-up printer, especially for the price.  You can task it out as a proofing printer for the rest of the time when it's not on film duty.  The stock Claira inks work great on Fixxons/Microjet film if you want an ink you can run to the store and buy.  Get one with the replacement plan so you can just run it into staples or wherever and grab another one if it's down.  I really like the peace of mind of having ours so I won't freak if something's amiss with the 4800. 

As far as replacing the 4800 with another film outputter, I've been doing some diligence on this topic and honestly can't see much else out there in the world besides wide-format epsons and imagesetters.  As cool as imagesetters are they are really, really gad damn expensive with scary high potential replacement parts costs and media costs. The combination makes them unattractive to me financially.  You would need to be doing some critical, fine line work, probably on something other than T shirts on a regular basis to really justify it.  I'm sure other will disagree here but that's what I'm getting out of it.  For us we need at least 24" wide output now so I guess it'll be a 7700/7890.  I like our 4800 a lot though, it's very reliable and easy to work on.

[stitches4815]

We are using the 1400 with excellent results.  It is a good printer.

[Denis Kolar]

Epson 1100 could be worth a look at $129.
Not as many bells and whistles as 1400, but it works for me.
It took a few tries to get the best result, but since I got the right settings and after I bought the CIS from eBay, I do not have any issues with it.
I do not print as many seps as you guys, but it did not give any problems as of yet.

[RICK STEFANICK]

I also use a epson R1800 for my higher end designs..but day in day out i use a xante screenwriter 4 with great results and no registration problems.. i think its due to using good film..

[alan802]

The 1400 is on the top of my list and I was wondering who here was running one.  I was also interested to see if anyone was using an HP or something besides the popular epsons.  I wish the epson 3000 was a little cheaper.

[mk162]

the 3000 is a workhorse.  I know what you mean about cheaper...ouch.

[Prosperi-Tees]

1400 here with the all black dye carts, never has failed me.

[JBLUE]

Started with a 1400 and it worked great. It was replaced by a 4000 over a year ago but I use it from time to time to keep the head clean. Great little printer and I have printed a tone of jobs through it.

[IntegrityShirts]

The 1400 is on the top of my list and I was wondering who here was running one.  I was also interested to see if anyone was using an HP or something besides the popular epsons.  I wish the epson 3000 was a little cheaper.

I've been using an HP Designjet 9800 the past couple years with great results in my opinion.  HP software has an ink volume setting you can bump way up and I buy refurb cartridges for $6 each.  You do have to get different film with the optical strip, I use Folex transparencies from Coastal Business supply, nothing special, not waterproof, but cheap.  The hardest part with using HP printers is finding the right film.  You keep your films right Alan?  I toss mine each time as eventually the ink will spread with humidity and I only have a handful of customers that do reorders so I keep physical screens for them.

I also just picked up a Designjet T1100 off craigslist for $100, 24" printer that I bought a roll of transparency for.  Not as dark as I'd like so I'm still testing it out and trying to find cheats to get darker prints.  Wouldn't recommend it yet until I can figure out the right combination of settings to get a super dark opaque print.

I've been looking at the Officejet 7000 on Amazon as a new tester, only $124, but looks like it has ink tanks instead of cartridges with heads, so it's more like Epson in that regard.  Could be worth a shot for the price or could be a paperweight, pretty cheap though!  I beat the crap out of these HP's and they keep taking it day in and day out, but I don't print as many films as you do on a daily basis.

[Homer]

I have 2 1400's and accurip. Run both side by side with fixxons film -can't beat it for the price -PLUS the refillable carts are cheap, 20.00/set on the bay. . .I love mine, but we don't due super critical high end prints like Pierre so I'm sure it has it's limits. . . just buy one, worst case you can sell it on here, they are cheap enough if it breaks, I don't invest time or money to fix it, you toss it and get another.

[mk162]

I don't think I will let go of the 3000, I have a RIP that just kicks butt and the setup I have is sweet.  I have a single bulk ink for the film printer and a full color bulk ink system for the work order printer.  The second printer can be easily converted into doing films if needed, just switch the cables and black ink and I am set.

[Frog]

I've been using an HP Designjet 9800 the past couple years with great results in my opinion.  HP software has an ink volume setting you can bump way up and I buy refurb cartridges for $6 each.  You do have to get different film with the optical strip, I use Folex transparencies from Coastal Business supply, nothing special, not waterproof, but cheap.  The hardest part with using HP printers is finding the right film.  You keep your films right Alan?  I toss mine each time as eventually the ink will spread with humidity and I only have a handful of customers that do reorders so I keep physical screens for them.

What happens if you don't have a sensing strip?

[IntegrityShirts]

I've been using an HP Designjet 9800 the past couple years with great results in my opinion.  HP software has an ink volume setting you can bump way up and I buy refurb cartridges for $6 each.  You do have to get different film with the optical strip, I use Folex transparencies from Coastal Business supply, nothing special, not waterproof, but cheap.  The hardest part with using HP printers is finding the right film.  You keep your films right Alan?  I toss mine each time as eventually the ink will spread with humidity and I only have a handful of customers that do reorders so I keep physical screens for them.

What happens if you don't have a sensing strip?

It throws a load error because it thinks there's no "paper" in it.  You could use a piece of masking tape on there if you wanted to use non hp film but that's another added step.

[Clark]

I have printed thousands upon thousands upon thousands of films with my 1400 and never a moment of downtime.  Fixxons film, with refillable carts from filmdirectonline.com


The 1400 has been the best, least problematic printer I have ever owned.