Epson Surecolor F-500

[Ricky@Xpres]

*Update*

Epson Edge print RIP will run the F500 but its not free i'm afraid, it can be added for £759.00 ex vat.

[Justin]

Ouch that's a big hit on the cost of the printer. Are other RIPS's available to use?

[Ricky@Xpres]

Hi Justin

Cadlink's Digital Factory is a good RIP for the money (£350.00)

As i mentioned to Paul you can download a 14 day trial to see how you get on with it before committing.

Ricky
Xpres

[Paul]

Pity the nesting feature isn't in with the original package. All starts adding up on cost. Possibly stick with the 7000/9000 series for now as plenty of bargains about and robust enough to last a while.

Yep. this is the most important feature when printing bulk and on roll. So you would expect that will be included

Hi Paul

Sorry to hear that you are struggling to get the printer to connect, its strange as the PC in our showroom that is running our demo unit is windows 7 (We also need to upgrade)

Good to hear that you are impress with the quality of print.

Don't hold me to this but I think the F500 might be added to the Epson Edge print RIP that runs the larger F6300 and F9400, i will let you know as soon as I find out more.

I do know that Cadlink have just released a Digital Factory build for the F500 that cost £350.00

https://www.cadlink.com/product/digitalfactory10/

You can download a 14 day trial to test it out via the above link.

Ricky
Xpres

Thank you for links Ricky.
But buying RIP that cost half of the printer isnt the option!
I am sure I read somwhere that epson comes with rip. And all I have here is crap driver.





UPDATE.
I installed it on my mac without ANY issue so it must be my WINDOWS.


Tried now on Win7 again and managed to get it installed with the USB cable. WIll see how long for.




My conclusion, and it is a fair one.
- This is a very good, fast printer with lovely colors, etc.
- Media Auto switch is a great feature as you can load ready cut paper and don't need to worry about interchange it between them and paper on the roll.
- paper that came with the printer is not great for fabrics. hardly any ink releases to get rach colors. need HR paper for better results. Not bad for hard substracts but I won't buy it again as is too expensive for what offers. Texprint is so much better.
- touch screen Very decent quality
- inks. Cheap and Soo easy to refill. no spillages.
- quite noisy. It has some bangs and knocks when printing.


Shipping it without a Basic software it makes it just a larger hobbyist printer. Without even basic RIP software that allows nesting and other basic futures, I would not considerate it as a pro or semi-pro printer.
So if you are hobbyist who is willing to print a little bit bigger, have over £2k in your pocket than why not, you can go for it.


I would not buy it again if I knew there is no proper software. There is just no excuse for it :/
Ps.
If print larger images paper crease quite a bit as there is no good tray to direct the paper down. Tray is included only for smaller ready cut paper.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6315[/ATTACH]

[pw66]

Lot of money for something that is based on a 'mature' product, the £875 SC-T3100N printer ( which is a good plan/graphics printer).
I assumed that the extra £1k included some form of rip, and wasn't just for the eco-tanks. Although I am a big fan of Epson printers, the premium they are charging for eco-tanks is too high.

[Paul]

Lot of money for something that is based on a 'mature' product, the £875 SC-T3100N printer ( which is a good plan/graphics printer).
I assumed that the extra £1k included some form of rip, and wasn't just for the eco-tanks. Although I am a big fan of Epson printers, the premium they are charging for eco-tanks is too high.

All printer, eco tanks and the rest is cool. But it is like buying car, paying for it and then just found out you need to push it as it has no engine ��
If you get decent let say Ricoh that is A3 you actually better off. As the is less paper cutting.

[Paul]

Update: I discovered something that looks like sort if rip but has almost no options. But I think it allow you to add to ques. I will research and update.

[Ricky@Xpres]

Sorry Paul I have to disagree, surely its is the responsibility of the person purchasing the car to open the bonnet and check for an engine.

The PDF brochure for the F500 has no mention of a free RIP software.

Yes its a basic driver but as you have already mentioned the colours are good. If you add the extras on including extended warranty for a total of three years cover including print heads and the Cadlink RIP you are at £2,500.00 ex vat for a 24" printer with very cheap inks.

With a good volume of orders this should be paid off in the first six months to a year comfortably.

Ricky

All printer, eco tanks and the rest is cool. But it is like buying car, paying for it and then just found out you need to push it as it has no engine ��
If you get decent let say Ricoh that is A3 you actually better off. As the is less paper cutting.

[Paul]

Sorry Paul I have to disagree, surely its is the responsibility of the person purchasing the car to open the bonnet and check for an engine.

The PDF brochure for the F500 has no mention of a free RIP software.

Yes its a basic driver but as you have already mentioned the colours are good. If you add the extras on including extended warranty for a total of three years cover including print heads and the Cadlink RIP you are at £2,500.00 ex vat for a 24" printer with very cheap inks.

With a good volume of orders this should be paid off in the first six months to a year comfortably.

Ricky

I had 3 brand new cars and I never looked under the hood with any of them. Just expected to have one

On serious note I think I expected one as any other printer for example bn20 had one. You can buy pro rip from Roland if you wish, but there is basic one included.

So yes. It is my fault not checking it. Simply as I was expecting one with large format printed that prints from roll.
I am not saying it is anybody's fault. It's my and only my own. But I am posting this so other people like me, know that there is no RIp and not to expect one.

[Paul]

Reference to volume of work Ricky- this printer already paid for itself. Is not about that. Is how comfortable you print them. Hence rip is needed.