Help us create the "rubric" to compare printers

Creative Arts
#1

Hello - I’m your guide on the hotly debated item of the (to be purchase) DMS printer and we are going to need everyones collective help.
@pandabob @TLAR @talkers @Team_Creative_Arts

The current plan is to have members suggest printers for review at a meeting where we narrow it down to 3-5 printers to look at. We want to make sure (although it’s near impossible) to compare them neck and neck as best we can. This process will be something that will take time to decide on which printer best meets our collective needs and the budget of both DMS and the members. We won’t be buying this till the move is complete.

So, the best thing is to poll the membership and see what type of specific questions are necessary to compare apples to apples oranges gala honey crisp mandarins and the like.

Please suggest things you would like to see on a “quick-sheet” detailing the hot points of the potential printer (say that ten times fast)

  • obviously the name, model number, sku
  • initial cost of the printer + shipment
  • type of ink
  • cost per linear foot of prints
  • types of printing surfaces available
  • cost of inks
  • service needs
  • cost of printer
  • cost of accessories
  • available accessories
  • footprint of actual machine
  • power needs
  • does it need an air filter
  • cutter no cutter

Please keep going…tell me what’s important

#2
  • resolution
  • print speed
  • storgage conditions (if you can find that)
#3

I’ll add to this, but a few quick ones:
Width of paper
Platen option?
X-cut ( to slice sheet)
Contour Cutting (cuts in place, like vinyl cutter)
Smell
3rd party inks?

1 Like
#4

I don’t know anything about printers in this class so I’ll support the decisions of those that do!

#5

I’m OK with a good o’l normal inket photo printer. This model is just a newer version of the small Epson we have now.

Two main reasons to get the Epson 7900

  1. Refillable 3rd party ink. The 24" Epson were refilled with https://shop.inkjetmall.com/ cartridges and ink. Images came out superb and clean.

  2. The 24" wide roll seems like the sweet spot. It’ll also handle loose sheets of photo paper as small as 8.5x11.

2 Likes
#6

We also need a wide format printer
There was a search for one and folks had even went out and looked at them
Then the expansions and the change of committee chairs and the delay in buying it
is why we need to do this again

I wonder what material was gathered in the search for ie and if it would be useful now

#7

I’d first focus on use-cases. What do people want to print? What kinds of documents? What size is most important? How fast do they expect it to print? What quantities? What media types? And at what cost is it worth it to use?

Once you develop a picture of what the printer will really be used for, you can then decide if there’s a “one-size-fits-all” option available, or should you be looking at different machines for different use cases. (for example, if there’s a demand for 8 1/2x11 photo printing, is a wide format printer the best device for the job or do you really need a separate printer for that?

Then you can build a “feature list” and see what features are the most important, given your use cases. Add new features to the list if necessary.

I too often see a feature checklist drive product decisions, instead of mapping the machines against a set of use cases. A surprising number of products can check a lot of feature boxes, but they don’t actually do what people want to do very well in the end.

Finally, the operational aspects of the printer are critical in a shared-use environment like ours.
Is it Supportable, Upgradable, Serviceable, Scaleable, what about Consumables?
How much daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning and maintenance is needed?
How many people will need special training beyond user training to keep it up and running.
How easy/hard is it to break by a casual user who forgot what they learned in training?
What are the vendor’s service agreement for how quickly they can fix/service the machine - and how much does that cost?

And get a couple of customer references to see how they like living with each printer now that they’ve bought it.

Nobody thinks about the operational aspects of a device like this until after they live with it for a while. The features alone shouldn’t drive the decision.

8 Likes
#8

Good brains sir.

#9

Wide format inkjet printers are quite reasonable today and will fill most of CA’s requirements at a relatively low cost/low upkeep.
I think you will find two major brands Canon & Epson.
Both have similar widths & features available and are found in many

Motopilot’s post is spot on! What will it be “mostly” used for ? posters, prints etc?

I opted for a Canon brand printer for my store based on the clogging issues that Epsons were known for (this may not be the case now that that was over five years ago).

Pandabob uses Epson and he and wife wife Erin make amazing art with their printers.

I think a 44" wide model will be the way to go for 97% of the use at the Space. (Pandabob and I both own 44" wide printers)

Media is available from Clampitt Paper, Red River and several other locations near the Space. Breathing Color is a day away via UPS from Austin and BH photo is a couple of days away via UPS/FedEx. There are cheaper sources of media as well but to each their own.

Aftermarket inks are readily available for both brands.

Serviceability - both brands are well known for their reliability in the real world.

5 Likes
#10

more thoughts:
software: accounting
warranty
maintenance agreement
price per page/ sq foot
dealer support
software: RIP included?

#11

I can only speak for the Canon - it comes with built in software for accounting.
For Example : one enters the cost of an ink tank, cost of various types of media and the software does the magic of keeping records of cost per unit of area printed (by media type), total area printed, amount of ink used per unit area etc.

Warranty is typically 24 months and varies by what is covered.
If bought from a local “dealer”, some will offer to extend that warranty and service if the media, inks & supplies are purchased through them.

(It pays to shop)

4 Likes
#12

Power.

The HP 335 and so prob the 315 seem to require 200-240v.

#13

Noise. The link is a comparative of DB levels.
http://www.industrialnoisecontrol.com/comparative-noise-examples.htm

Maintenance requirements. Things like daily needs.

  • Does it need to always be powered on?
  • Does it have a daily maintenance cycle? Monthly?
  • Does it do it on its own? Cost (cleaning fluid).
  • Or is it up to us?Cost (volunteer effort and time)