Is this worth buying?

[Quinsfan]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Roland-HIFI-J ... 4ae0131ed0
As the title says.
I know that it is an old machine but as it has piezo heads can it not be used for sublimation printing or am I mistaken.
If I can't use it for sublimation would the quality be ok for canvases or internal vinyls.

[pisquee]

Things to check/find out...

Can you get refill carts for it?
Is it fast enough printing for your needs - older machines can be slow compared to more modern models (admittedly I haven't looked up the age/spec of this machine to know)
Do you need to run it from a RIP, or is there a standard Windows/OSX print driver that will "just work"
If you can run form standard print driver, then a cheap ICC profile will sort out whatever sublimation ink you go for - your world is opened up to inks outside the Sawgrass cartel with this size of printer.
If you have to run it from a RIP, then you will likely need a CMYK ICC profile making, assuming the ink manufactrer you choose doesn't have an ICC for your printer model.
Check ink manufacturers, as some may have ICCs for this machine with the RIP software supplied - this along could determine your ink choice.
The advert says you can choose between orange/green or light cyan/light magenta, so would be good to source an ink set available with all 4 of these as options.

A quick check on InkTec's website, shows they have an ICC for paper transfer for their Sublinova Smart inks for the Roland FJ740 using 6 colour with light cyan/light magenta using PosterPrint 11 ... is this similar/compatible with the PosterShop RIP included? How different the FJ740 is compared to the HiFi Jet 50 I have no idea, so may not be any help.

[Quinsfan]

Thanks pisquee
I take it from your reply that I can sublimate from this machine. I will do some research now I know what to ask and what to look for. Again many thanks.

[pisquee]

If it's got a piezo head, you'll be fine - if you can research which head, again, may lead you to clues as to which ink may be best for it - I know InkTec have different formulations for the different Epson print head/print speeds etc, so I assume other ink makers do too.

[pisquee]

Found this, if you haven't already...
http://support.rolanddga.com/_layouts/R ... x?pm=FJ-50