Ricoh GX5050n

[Justin]

Just about to buy one of these for sublimation. Heard great things about them so I have high hopes. So fed up with bulk systems and refil. cart's! Don't even talk to me about Epson head cleans!

Will post again when I get the printer/inks and have a chance to test it all out.

Anyone else using the Ricoh's yet?

Justin

[Karen.]

Just to let you know I had an email yesterday from hometogifts - they have theirs reduced at the moment if you havn't already decided where to by from.

I have been watching any reviews for them with great interest as we looked into getting one a while back, but decided against it at the time as was not sure how ecconomical it would work out. Still watching out for reviews though.

[Justin]

Yeah, Home2Gifts reduced the GX7000 to £399+vat but I found it for £348+vat, they couldn't price match I'm afraid.

I've ordered a GX5050n, decided that seeing as I very rarely need anything other than A4 size prints I may as well go for the cheaper option. I believe the 5050 is a quicker printer as well. Ordered the inks from Xpres as I value their support, would have got these from BMS but not been getting any response from Martin to my emails recently.

I'm intrigued to find out how well the inks last. I assume it must put less ink down on the paper to be so economical....time will tell! Not having to head clean all the while should make a diffference as well.

I considered getting abother bulk system for my new 1400 but wanted to get away from that if possible. I've been experimenting with 'other' inks recently and have had mixed results. On the whole I was very pleased but getting the profile right was proving tricky.

Fingers crossed printer and inks will arrive this week I will keep the post updated.

Justin

[Stitch Up]

I bought the GX7000 a couple of months back but not donre a lot with it yet.

We had a main sewer pipe burst and wipe out our garage so we've seixed the opportunity to set it up for our embroidery and printing business. I'll post some pics when it's half-tidy!!

John

[Justin]

Hi John,

Let us know how you get on with the GX7000, my GX5050 is arriveing tomorrow soI'll hopefully be posting again soon.

It would be great to see some pics of your new 'premises'! maybe we should set up a gallery?

Cheers,
Justin

PS Welcome into the forum John, nice to have you here!

[Stitch Up]

I'm really stitch-up but can't get into the forum using that ID. I tried setting it up again but no joy

[Justin]

Way Hay! It's arrived!................but the subli inks havn't

All unpacked ready to go but I havn't had my inks from Xpres, really wanted to get it up and running this weekend. Oh well, have to be a bit more patient.

Justin

[Justin]

OK, had the GX5050N for a few days now, using SubliR inks from Xpres.

First impressions, decent build quality, nice to get away from the Epson at last. Inks load into the front, no mess, no hassle. Unit is quite large for an A4 printer.

Print speed is as expected, rapid. It throws detailed prints out in seconds, the claimed 12 seconds to print compared to over a minute on the Epson 1400 would appear to be true. Quality wise it isn't on a par with the 1400 for finer detail but it's close enough, let's not forget that sublimation isn't intended for fine art reproduction! I've just managed to get the 5050 to print something for a customer, previously the print was done on a very expensive Epson 4800 8 colour, took minutes to print. The 5050 is producing a much more realistic print.

Overall I'm very pleased. Too early to talk about ink usage. A large amount goes into the pipes when it first charges so the graphs go down rapidly initially but havn't moved since and I've done a fair few prints.

Fingers crossed this is the major leap forward many have been waiting for. Finally we ca get rid of Epson head cleaning!!!

Justin

[michc]

Hi

I changed to the GX5050n a couple of months ago, had lots of colour problems when I tried to use it with a mac but since I've changed to using it with a pc it's working fine - really quick, great quality and ink doesn't seem to be going down.

Michele

[Justin]

Hi Michele,

I've just done a decent size run on mine and I agree the ink doesn't seem to go down! Can you believe the speed? I ran off 10 A4 sheets in less than 90 seconds, detailed image, almost full coverage. That would have taken up to 2 minutes a page on my Epson!

Interesting to hear you had problems on the Mac. I know nothing about Macs but wonder if it was just a profile problem? Not many folk use the Mac for sublimation so it would be difficult to get you any advice. if you can stick to the PC that should make life easier for you.

Justin