Epson vs. Ricoh ink cost

[Stitch Up]

To be fair John, the instances of Ricoh's going 'Dead' seems to be electrical, I.e. No power on switch on for instance. This isn't to do with the ink, but some hardware malfunction on the printer.

I'm sure many will agree with you Martin & equally, there are many who won't. There does seem to be a disproportional number of DEAD Ricoh Gelsprinters loaded with Sawgrass inks - just Google it &/or take a look at comments posted on the T-Shirt Forum.

Why would Sawgras replace an out of guarantee Ricoh printer that died while using their inks?

Either way, here's 13 pages of p****d off Ricoh owners http://www.t-shirtforums.com/dye-sublim ... 32123.html and there are many more.

[Stitch Up]

Andy is correct.

Ricoh will never be able to compete with the epson on cost of ink.

But, you have to weigh up the pros & cons of each. As I've never owned a bulk ink fed system, I can't really comment on it, but, some of the Pros for the Ricoh:1. It's VERY fast2. Excellent print quality3. With the Powerdriver software, you can print from most design/graphic application.4. Ease of use & foolproof - no ink issues *5. It's portable - take it to shows - speed is important.6. Low maintenance.7. I'm sure there's moreCons:1. Expensive hardware2. Expensive ink3. Using Sawgrass inks can kill it DEAD - I know & so do many others!John

[bms]

There's probably a disproportionate number of Ricoh printer owners using sawgrass inks compared to Ricoh printer owners using Ricoh inks simply because Ricoh probably didn't historically sell many A3 printers. The Ricoh A3 sales have increased dramatically since they've been supported using sublimation inks. So, if there are electrical problems with some A3 Ricoh printers then it stands to reason that many more sublimation users will have such a problem.I'll take a look at that thread in due course - been a while since I've been on that forum.