Maybe not strictly Dye Sub....!

[socialgiraffe]

Hi All

Ok, this is not strictly dye sub but as many of us do more than that I thought this would be worth posting. As a side issue, I think that this forum will be the first to know about this scheme!!!!

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Just had a very interesting chat with James Johnson at Roland.

They have started to offer a Roland Versacamm Print and Cut rental scheme direct from them. Price includes a silver standard service agreement and only requires three months rental upfront.

Currently only available on the wide format (300 series and above), so not the Studio, but in my opinion worth investigating. Basically you could end up with 13 grands worth of kit for a nominal monthly rental price.

This is a very new area for Roland and at the moment the offer is only available for a few customers so they can test their work flow procedures etc.

If you are interested then email [EMAIL="James.Johnson@rolanddg.co.uk]James.Johnson@rolanddg.co.uk[/EMAIL]

[AdamB]

Forgive me for not knowing (or looking) - but what's the monthly rent on one of these machines?

And more importantly, although this is good news for those that have always wanted one of these beauties but are they 'vetting' who they hire them to and what's the minimum contract?

I should probably look for the answers myself but thought it may benefit others if they were on the post

[socialgiraffe]

Hi AdamB

The monthly rental is dependant on what particular machine you get. I think they start at around £300-350 per month for the sp300i and then go up from there. As far as I know they are not vetting and the offer will be available to everyone soon. They are looking for some early customers right now to make sure that they have their systems in place for when they start advertising.

There is not much info about this available righ now, but if you email James (email in original post) I am sure he will give you all the answers you need.

I only found out about this as I had a couple of Rolands before I downsized. He was offereng the service contract. I told him that I did not own one anymore and that as a relatively small business it would be difficult for me to get credit to purchase. That's when he told me about this deal that was coming up. Roland were finding that there are a lot of customers who want the machine that are in the same position. As they are a cash rich company they have decided to try rental to push more machines out there.

He also said that they may eventually offer the Versastudio as well but it would be a long way off as that particular machine is a bit of a loss leader.

Hope the above helps and by all means email James. I don't know him personally but when I have spoken or emailed him he has always been decent and as you would expect a company like Roland to be.

[AdamB]

Interesting ....... thanks buddy

[Andrew]

I often fancy one of these types of printers but can never decide what we could use it for. It's often this case when I walk around some of the trade shows........ I want to bring in all the new shiny equipment but then I'd have to find new work to justify them.

It's only stickers for the mug bases we could justify the printer for right now. Think I'd need a bit more work than that.

[socialgiraffe]

but you would have the best sticker printer around

I agree, its always difficult to know whether to take the plunge on one of these or not, having previously owned one I know how versatile they can be which is why I am tempted. Although my main business is mugs I have always fancied spreading out a bit which is where this might come in handy.

decisions decisions decisions!

[AdamB]

FAO socialgiraffe (sorry, never got your name) - you mentioned that you had one of these, how do they stand with garment printing?

I know the ultimate is DTG but I know these can print onto a flex material that can be used for garments, what I don't know is how the washibility and wearability is?

If it's as versatile as I hope then it's another plus point???

[socialgiraffe]

When I last had one I never had one single complaint about the garments. I purchased material from Grafityp and it always worked. However, doing clear transfers this way are quite expensive. I think I worked out that an A4 on white garment cost about £1.24. A laser transfer costs 35p!!

It really comes into its own on dark garments and anything other than cotton. There are so many different materials out there that there is always one that will stick. I used my Versamcam for stickers, transfers, canvas, vinyl banners, flags and even some vehicle graphics. The solmax ink is top notch and they really will print on anything you put through it.

I have also had a DTG (with white ink) and it was probably one of the worst purchases I ever made. Blocked lines, tricky pre-treat, long curing times meant it took forever to print just one garment, I can safely say that I will never purchase a DTG again as they are too limiting and time consuming.

I know that they are also doing the VS series which can be configured to have white and metallic silver. Thinking that this could be useful for my clients and also means goodbye to weeding ever again!

All that said, if your business is just garments and you want to stick to that, I would honestly say that this may not be the machine for you. There are a couple of companies out there that are advertsing laser printers that have white toner. This is a bit of a game changer as there will be no weeding and the paper cost is relatively cheap. From the samples I have seen they are pretty darn good. They do not have the versatility of the Roland though.

[socialgiraffe]

By the way, Simon is the name