FILM OUTPUT OPTIONS

[downtowntshirts]

Hey guys,
  I using and epson 3800 now and it is fine but slow. also, if it goes down im in a bind. I'm thinking of adding a second printer for both speed and as a back up. was thinking of another 3800 but just wanted to see if you guys had any ideas.
thanks,
tom

[blue moon]

4880 should be your first choice, 4800 after that. Search the forum for discussions about them. . .

pierre

[downtowntshirts]

thanks pierre

[RICK STEFANICK]

A cheap route would be a Epson 1430 as a backup.

[kingscreen]

For the money, you can't really beat a 1430.  Cobra has a bulk dye set up for under $500.
Ours have been reliable and it's probably the cheapest back up you can buy.
It only does up to 13x19, but that should cover most of the jobs you're doing.

[blue moon]

agreed, 1430 is a good backup, but for just a little bit more he can go with a 17" wide roll fed printer and use his 3800 as backup. It would speed things up, save money on film (rolls vs sheets) and would allow the use of AccuInk from Chromaline.
This is a small upgrade in price for a rather large upgrade in performance. While 1430 and bulk ink work, I believe the 4880 and AccuInk to be second only to an Imagesetter. Used defective 48xx series are regularly sold for under $200. Our film printer only has one good channel (yellow), that's all it takes.

pierre

[Northland]

Hey guys,
  I using and epson 3800 now and it is fine but slow. also, if it goes down im in a bind. I'm thinking of adding a second printer for both speed and as a back up. was thinking of another 3800 but just wanted to see if you guys had any ideas.
thanks,
tom

You may need to consider what your RIP will work with.... Filmmaker V4 should work with any of the options suggested (Epson 1430,3800,4800,4880)

[Sbrem]

We run a 3800, it's been a good machine (we picked it up when our 4800 died, and the repair was twice what we paid for it), but we have the T3270 now, it's running great, and the 3800 is our backup. (Actually we run both, just to make sure they don't freeze up). I've heard only good things from folks with the 1430, but Pierre's mention of the 4880 and 4800 are probably best, it's great printing of the roll.

Steve

[inkstain]

agreed, 1430 is a good backup, but for just a little bit more he can go with a 17" wide roll fed printer and use his 3800 as backup. It would speed things up, save money on film (rolls vs sheets) and would allow the use of AccuInk from Chromaline.
This is a small upgrade in price for a rather large upgrade in performance. While 1430 and bulk ink work, I believe the 4880 and AccuInk to be second only to an Imagesetter. Used defective 48xx series are regularly sold for under $200. Our film printer only has one good channel (yellow), that's all it takes.

pierre

Hi Pierre.  What's the difference between a 4800/4880 and the 4900?  I had the 4900 and that thing died.  So pissed cause it costed a ton!  Now I have the P800 which is nice but there's no bulk ink option for which sucks.  Also, have the 1430 which is an awesome printer.  I use Accurip with both.

[merchmonster]

We've ran both 4800 and 1430. 4800 can be picked up cheap and roll printing will save you money vs sheets. Also bulk ink carts mean you're not changing ink carts every 20 films.

[Maxie]

I have a 4880 and a T3270.
I have Accurip and will be updating to Black Pearl, my version won't run the T3270.
The 4880 is set up for all black and the T3270 has 5 cassettes, I have set up 4 for sublimation and 1 for black.   It's fairly new, the UV blocking dye I use in 4880 is drying up in the T3270, Steve what Black are you using?
I don't know how much film you use but it's much cheaper using roll film, for pockets we print a 4" wide strip.     

[blue moon]

agreed, 1430 is a good backup, but for just a little bit more he can go with a 17" wide roll fed printer and use his 3800 as backup. It would speed things up, save money on film (rolls vs sheets) and would allow the use of AccuInk from Chromaline.
This is a small upgrade in price for a rather large upgrade in performance. While 1430 and bulk ink work, I believe the 4880 and AccuInk to be second only to an Imagesetter. Used defective 48xx series are regularly sold for under $200. Our film printer only has one good channel (yellow), that's all it takes.

pierre

Hi Pierre.  What's the difference between a 4800/4880 and the 4900?  I had the 4900 and that thing died.  So pissed cause it costed a ton!  Now I have the P800 which is nice but there's no bulk ink option for which sucks.  Also, have the 1430 which is an awesome printer.  I use Accurip with both.

4900 is almost disposable. Some of the ink lines in it are actually made of aluminum foil and many ppl are complaining about the ink and build quality issues. 48xx series is built like a tank and is having significantly less problems. The early 4800 series are becoming pretty old and we might start seeing some plastic fatigue which could cause them to start breaking down. That's why I suggest a 4880 over the earlier models. Even then though, at $200 for a printer that has some colors blocked, it will work for our purposes and is a much better solution than other printers (and I've tried the wax Xerox, Epson 3000, 1400 and 4800).

pierre

[Nation03]

agreed, 1430 is a good backup, but for just a little bit more he can go with a 17" wide roll fed printer and use his 3800 as backup. It would speed things up, save money on film (rolls vs sheets) and would allow the use of AccuInk from Chromaline.
This is a small upgrade in price for a rather large upgrade in performance. While 1430 and bulk ink work, I believe the 4880 and AccuInk to be second only to an Imagesetter. Used defective 48xx series are regularly sold for under $200. Our film printer only has one good channel (yellow), that's all it takes.

pierre

Hi Pierre.  What's the difference between a 4800/4880 and the 4900?  I had the 4900 and that thing died.  So pissed cause it costed a ton!  Now I have the P800 which is nice but there's no bulk ink option for which sucks.  Also, have the 1430 which is an awesome printer.  I use Accurip with both.

I've been looking at the P800 but didn't like no bulk option. I did some searching around and it looks like a company called Marrutt makes a refillable system for them.

[blue moon]

agreed, 1430 is a good backup, but for just a little bit more he can go with a 17" wide roll fed printer and use his 3800 as backup. It would speed things up, save money on film (rolls vs sheets) and would allow the use of AccuInk from Chromaline.
This is a small upgrade in price for a rather large upgrade in performance. While 1430 and bulk ink work, I believe the 4880 and AccuInk to be second only to an Imagesetter. Used defective 48xx series are regularly sold for under $200. Our film printer only has one good channel (yellow), that's all it takes.

pierre

Hi Pierre.  What's the difference between a 4800/4880 and the 4900?  I had the 4900 and that thing died.  So pissed cause it costed a ton!  Now I have the P800 which is nice but there's no bulk ink option for which sucks.  Also, have the 1430 which is an awesome printer.  I use Accurip with both.

4900 is almost disposable. Some of the ink lines in it are actually made of aluminum foil and many ppl are complaining about the ink and build quality issues. 48xx series is built like a tank and is having significantly less problems. The early 4800 series are becoming pretty old and we might start seeing some plastic fatigue which could cause them to start breaking down. That's why I suggest a 4880 over the earlier models. Even then though, at $200 for a printer that has some colors blocked, it will work for our purposes and is a much better solution than other printers (and I've tried the wax Xerox, Epson 3000, 1400 and 4800).

pierre

sorry, I should add that the new T3270 and P800 will probably be a better option once the small introductory kinks are worked out and bulk ink becomes available. They seem to be pretty serious, purpose built systems.

pierre

[inkstain]

agreed, 1430 is a good backup, but for just a little bit more he can go with a 17" wide roll fed printer and use his 3800 as backup. It would speed things up, save money on film (rolls vs sheets) and would allow the use of AccuInk from Chromaline.
This is a small upgrade in price for a rather large upgrade in performance. While 1430 and bulk ink work, I believe the 4880 and AccuInk to be second only to an Imagesetter. Used defective 48xx series are regularly sold for under $200. Our film printer only has one good channel (yellow), that's all it takes.

pierre

Hi Pierre.  What's the difference between a 4800/4880 and the 4900?  I had the 4900 and that thing died.  So pissed cause it costed a ton!  Now I have the P800 which is nice but there's no bulk ink option for which sucks.  Also, have the 1430 which is an awesome printer.  I use Accurip with both.

I've been looking at the P800 but didn't like no bulk option. I did some searching around and it looks like a company called Marrutt makes a refillable system for them.

Very curious to see if it works as I've seen some videos people have made about the epson p800 not being able to accept refillable cartridges.  I may be wrong though.

Also, thanks Pierre for the info about the difference between the 4800/4880 printers compared to the 4900.