Sportsman / Diamond back comparison

[Croft]

HI I have a 2005 sportsman 6 colour that is used daily and is a great machine , I have looked off and on at an upgrade but with the cost of a new machine ,exchange rates , duty and shipping it really isn't going to happen for a while.
 A 2013 diamond back S 8 colour has come up close to me with 46000 prints and looks new and is a decent price , just wondering how they compare.

[RICK STEFANICK]

I think the Diamond back is more of a entry level machine. They are slower than the sportsman I think. Nice quality M/R machine though.

[Alex M]

HI I have a 2005 sportsman 6 colour that is used daily and is a great machine , I have looked off and on at an upgrade but with the cost of a new machine ,exchange rates , duty and shipping it really isn't going to happen for a while.
 A 2013 diamond back S 8 colour has come up close to me with 46000 prints and looks new and is a decent price , just wondering how they compare.

Compared to your 05 sporty it will be almost identical in how it prints. The sporty you have was the entry level back then. Not until the intro of the dback around 07/08 did the sporty get its current features.


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[dirkdiggler]

Dont do it! Microing on side clamps SUX when you are used to the Sporty.  I own the diamondback S number 1, still a great machine, but I prefer front and back clamps.  I can give pros and cons of both, but the Sporty would win in the end.  My opinion.

[Nation03]

I have a Diamondback S. Like others have said, it's a fine machine. My last press was all air so the servo indexing is a nice feature. Not sure if the 05 Sporty has a servo or not.

Micros on side clamps definitely aren't ideal. I've gotten better at guessing which way I need to go with them but it's still not great. I'd like to upgrade to a newer Sportsman EX eventually. Or a Roq. Time will tell.

[Croft]

I have a Diamondback S. Like others have said, it's a fine machine. My last press was all air so the servo indexing is a nice feature. Not sure if the 05 Sporty has a servo or not.

Micros on side clamps definitely aren't ideal. I've gotten better at guessing which way I need to go with them but it's still not great. I'd like to upgrade to a newer Sportsman EX eventually. Or a Roq. Time will tell.

No servo on the old sporty , thanks for the info on the micros. Have been aiming for a 10 colour Sportsman ex but at approx 35%+ premium to the price its hard to get into new.

[mk162]

Side clamps are a big adjustment.  I've gotten used to them, but I still prefer end clamps.

[Admiral]

If you only have / need one auto I would recommend with Diamondback E.  It basically replaces the current Sportsman.  Yes it has side clamps though but if only 1 press, getting used to it shouldn't be a problem imo.  We started with a Diamondback R and I printed on that quite a bit and side clamps are fine.  Nice for ganging up images on screen and adjusting actually. 

The updated Sportsman at the end of the year should be worth it though over the Diamondback E, no clue on real ETA there though.

[3Deep]

What's wrong with side clamps I have them on my machine, I kinda like them myself, but maybe that is because I've not used front/back clamps in years, far as press if you can get anything with some kind of servo go for it, all air works but servo is so much smoother.

[Nation03]

What's wrong with side clamps I have them on my machine, I kinda like them myself, but maybe that is because I've not used front/back clamps in years, far as press if you can get anything with some kind of servo go for it, all air works but servo is so much smoother.

I think the Anatol micros are just better engineered in general. Diamondback micros tend to skew when adjusting and I sometimes get a slight shift when I tighten them back up. I've been using the registration tape on multi color jobs to limit the amount of scrap shirts I go through and it helps me better predict the movements of these micros. Still not perfect but it's getting easier. Although I still have the days where the press demons hate me. Everything is registered on one pallet then slightly off on another. My bandaid fix is overly choking the underbase.