Epson Workforce ET-4500

[mattyw]

Anyone have any opinions of one of these for a noobie? I'll be printing dye sublimation for mugs.

[Justin]

As a noobie I would personally recommend you look at the Ricoh printers, tried and tested and very well supported. That would be the easiest option. I'm not saying to rule out the Epson (personally I prefer 6 colour Epson to Ricoh) but as a starting point they're excellent.

Take a look at some of the UK suppliers and you'll get an idea on the usual printers being used.

[InkExpress]

For a noobie or novice I usually recommend either a RICOH / Sawgrass setup or one of the Epson ET printers, so the ET4500 or ET2600 (cheaper) are good machines to start with.

Personally I still prefer an Epson over a RICOH printer as I feel the print quality is better. The ET4500 you are looking at is very easy to use with sublimation ink due to the inbuilt Eco tank feed system so you simply pour the sublimation ink into the printer and go.

If you did decide to go down the Epson ET printer route - Ensure the printer is brand new, and has no inks previously installed (as the mix of ink will cause issues), ensure you get a good quality ink and either the supplier can provide an ICC profile or you have the means to get one made.

Alex