Which printer for mugs

[uzyg]

Hi all.

I have been thinking about printing dye sub mugs for some time and am hoping to do something as a side project. I have a mug press and will be printing mugs only for the foreseeable future.

Luckily I came across these forums and was hoping if anyone could help advise me on a good start up printer for me. I think A4 is fine for now and was looking at the cheap Ricoh GXe3350N but I have held back after reading some posts on this forum in which users recommend the GXe3300N model due to the 'support' offered by the sellers.

Can I get away with using the Ricoh GXe3350N and buying the inks separately? I know you cant download certain colour profiles for this printer but I will be using Adobe Photoshop and am comfortable with playing with other software if need be, if that helps.

Budget is a big decider as I want to save as much money as possible. Is it cheaper to buy a New printer from eBay then get the inks separately? Or are the start up packages with inks included a better deal?

Other than the Ricoh printers, would anyone recommend any other printers?

Thanks in advance for all your help

[bms]

The GXe3350 isn't a supported printer which means that there isn't any colour correction profiles available for it or PowerDriver, but more significantly the GXe3350 has been found to suffer from extensive banding issues in testing. Hence it isn't recommended for sublimation printing.

Whilst the GXe3350 may work out cheaper, the inks are the most expensive part, so I don't understand the logic of saving a few £££'s on the printer, spending a lot of money on the ink cartridges and then not having support, icc profiles, power driver and the possibility of printing problems. Several suppliers sell the GXe3300 as a bundle so you end up paying around £120 +vat for the printer when bought with the cartridges in a package.

[Justin]

I've tested the 3350 and not managed to get a decent result...yet. Transfer Supplies sell the 2600 printer which is also a cheaper model and will be supported by them but not (to the best of my knowledge) Sawgrass.

The 3300 is widely used as many folk sing it's praises. You could go down the Epson route but you won't end up saving all that much and the Ricoh should prove to be an easier option in the long run.

The 3300 can be used with Powerdriver which means you can print from any sofware without using a profile. The 2600 uses a different method but achieves the same result.

[bms]

I've tested the 3350 and not managed to get a decent result...yet. Transfer Supplies sell the 2600 printer which is also a cheaper model and will be supported by them but not (to the best of my knowledge) Sawgrass.

Why is this? They used to work for Sawgrass!

[Justin]

Because the 2600 isn't on the supported list is it?

[uzyg]

Thanks for the advice.

My next question is, where's the cheapest place i can get the GXe3300 from? Any deals or special offers on anywhere?

Thanks.

[Renniwano]

I got mine from Martin at BMS.. superb price and fantastic service..

[JSR]

You may find it helpful to read our "Which Printer?" FAQ at: http://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforum/sh ... ch-Printer