New Sawgrass VJ 628 printer 25"

[Justin]

I'm not aware that this printer has been designed from the ground up but I don't know much about it

From my own personal point I need more than 4 colour and there are no sensibly priced new Epsons available. Everything seems to be 4 colour. Suppliers tell me the newer 4 colour printers are as good as older 6/8 colour but I'm yet to be convinced.

[mags1892]

The new Sawgrass printers are not a rebadge but redesigned from the ground up to be dedicated sublimation printer (rather than colour office printer) just inside similar body. We actually moved over from 3110 to 400 today and very happy with better definition and speed of print. I would therefore presume the same with the new 628 where they turned Mutoh 628 into dedicated sublimation printer. We installed Powerdriver 4 (been using icc profiles until now) and very happy with colours although we have 7100 A3 printer and need to match colours on both (400 for mugs and 7100 for coasters/placemats) so hoping powerdriver will produce same colours on both. Anyone else use PD for A4 and A3 and get exact colour match? Olly

Im afraid the 24inch sawgras machine is the mutoh 628 nothing added bar some bespoke firmware which does nothing but change a few settings, the head the ink lines everyhting else is std mutoh 628 If you want one i can get you one cheaper than the mutoh.. Oh and its a STD EPSON HEAD. OS Mutoh have an open policy about inks put in it what you like they just wont warranty the heads lol.

[mags1892]

I'm not aware that this printer has been designed from the ground up but I don't know much about it

From my own personal point I need more than 4 colour and there are no sensibly priced new Epsons available. Everything seems to be 4 colour. Suppliers tell me the newer 4 colour printers are as good as older 6/8 colour but I'm yet to be convinced.

The droplet size is as good but if you need subtle tones especially fleshtones then 8 colour is better, however ive seen plenty of photographic results in 4 colour to show the quality as being good enough for many photographers.

[Justin]

Which 4 colour machine would this be? Are the surecolor 7000 any good?

[mags1892]

Which 4 colour machine would this be? Are the surecolor 7000 any good?

The 7000 is EXACTLY the same electronics and mechanics as the other surecolour range so just pick the right width ive sold a few T5200s with no bother, again like all new epsons they have their fair share of head failures not as many as the previous model but all the same ive got 1 client has two heads in a 5200 which uses only epson inks. Then again ive got 6 clients all with my sublimations inks and not had any problems yet. as far as quality goes theyre all the same , yes if you buy the dedicated sublimation machine off Epson you get their warranty .

SUblimation machine are the SC F6000 and Sc F7000 range in 44 and 64 inch. compared to the SC-T5200 and Sc-T7200 which are 36 inch and 44 inch just to confuse matters, so to compare you need price for a T7200 v a F6000 both identical hardware bar the ink filling mechanism both 44 inch wide. Same print heads . Designed from the ground up is bull just like mutoh or sawgras version of theyre std printer with different ink more or less. The epson F series just has a different inking system using a chip system with inks in bags. most of my clients go for the 5200 as its 36inch and covers most sizes they need.

[Stitch Up]

I'm guilty of spending lots on hardware before calculating the 'return on investment'.

Yes, I'd love a 44" sublimation printer but then I'd need a large heat press and I know that good ones are expensive, very heavy and anything that produces heat will be costly to run!

So what is the market for large format sublimation?

Hmmm, the jury is out for me.

[mags1892]

I'm guilty of spending lots on hardware before calculating the 'return on investment'.

Yes, I'd love a 44" sublimation printer but then I'd need a large heat press and I know that good ones are expensive, very heavy and anything that produces heat will be costly to run!

So what is the market for large format sublimation?

Hmmm, the jury is out for me.

Almost every singlelarge format client I have is making some sort of sportswear or Advertising flag maeterial I have one doing photography chromalux panels.

[pisquee]

We mostly use the wide format side of things for printing pieces or rolls of fabric to turn into textile based products - lampshades, cushions, skirts, dresses, toiletry/cosmetics bags, baby blankets...
Before we did those products though, we still had the 44" wide, and used it for more generic blanks like mugs, coasters and slates, which it still does a lot of too - we don't have a smaller sublimation printer, the 44" does everything