Ricoh or Epson?

[AdamB]

Hi all

Firstly - hello to everyone that remembers me?
Been off this forum/other forums for a while (long story) but still doing the same old stuff (sublimation, garment printing etc) - oh, the Joy!

Not sure if you all can remember but this time last year I was having major, major problems with an epson b1100 printer (supported inks) - which happened to be the 2nd b1100 (or 3rd, not sure) and the experience was ............... let's just say, insightful.

Anyway - now I'm looking to upgrade as I have gone through about 5/6 b1100's in about 3 years - and this wasn't through lack of usability, being left without jobs, not being looked after etc - it was different faults but all mainly due to blockages.

I have 2 options that I was looking at seeing if anyone had any feedback/opinions if possible? (I need at least an A3/A3+ printer and want to carry on with the supported route, if possible).

Option 1: I bite the bullet and go for an A3 Ricoh SG7100 with the A3+ bypass tray, most expensive option but from what I've read they are quite good if there's a 'delay' between printing.

Option 2: I stay with epson and go with the epson 1500, which is a 6 colour ink system (the b1100 was a 4 colour system). Not sure if the problems are 'still' there with these ????

Option 3: A N OTHER (turning to the dark side). Not something that is top of my list using anything that is unsupported but I have to be honest when I say that the 'supported route' has been very expensive for me in comparision with a cheap system with a custom icc profile. Is this the best way - I don't think so at all, would I recommend this way to others, not at all - but I have given myself a third option to keep everything in 1 box.

Any opinions / recommendations?

Oh - and a quick shout out to Andrew, been emailing him whilst away from the forum and chatting about things - thanks buddy, you are a genuine guy and I really appreciate your help and advice.

And - not sure if BMS are still answering emails but I emailed them twice with this question and had no reply - they can't want my £20 notes after all ???? (lol)

Many thanks
Adam

[Earl Smith]

Ricoh every time. I hade Epson 1400 before and always having to clean the heads and blockages. Never had a problem with the Ricoh. I have an A4 not the A3. ( me and my big mounth , it will probably go wrong now.).

[Renniwano]

I love my Ricoh for the fact that if I don't end up using it on a daily basis it's not a problem.. not used any others but heard so many people have problems that I just didn't want to risk it..

[pisquee]

I am not sure it is fair to compare an Epson printer jerry rigged with a CISS to a printer with carts. The 1400 is a very good printer, but Epson did not design or build it to pull its ink from big reservoirs along long tubes. They design their wide formats to do this, and a few of their small formats.

I don't like the 'supported' term, as it is ambiguous in meaning. 'Sawgrass warrantied' may be better. There are certainly companies who are not Sawgrass in this world who offer customer support and warranties on their inks, so saying an ink is supported when you mean that it is made by Sawgrass doesn't seem the best fit of description.
There are ink companies in USA outside of the Sawgrass system, who offer excellent support on thier inks, and seem quite well known for their sublimation ink. Equally, there are inks made by other companies (and licensed by Sawgrass) to be used in wide format printers - these inks are supported by the manufacturers too. Just because an ink is not made by Sawgrass doesn't mean that it isn't bad in terms of quality, customer support or warranty. Your description of the "dark side" seems unjust.

you tried Sawgrass ink (and I guess their CISS too) and had continuous problems, yet kept going back to them and kept getting problems, and I guess forking out quite a bit of money along the way to them, and yet you still seem to trust them with your business, and want to give them money to buy their expensive ink to use in another printer?

[pisquee]

I love my Ricoh for the fact that if I don't end up using it on a daily basis it's not a problem.. not used any others but heard so many people have problems that I just didn't want to risk it..

We use our Epson wide format when we need to - sometimes that's continually around the clock, and other times we go away on holiday for a few weeks. I don't worry about it. It just keeps printing. I heard so many problems over on T-Shirt forums about the Ricohs and Sawgrass in in general "that I just didn't want to risk it)

[Scotty@BMS]

And - not sure if BMS are still answering emails but I emailed them twice with this question and had no reply - they can't want my £20 notes after all ???? (lol)

You want to check your in box sonny Jim!

[AdamB]

Earl Smith & Renniwano - many thanks for your replies, appreciated

pisquee - many thanks, although I do need to reply later - just on my way out the door

[AdamB]

You want to check your in box sonny Jim!

I feel ashamed - I've just had the email in .................... but Scott, you said that did nothing but eat Kit Kats all day so I thought a reply would have been sooner?

Many thanks for the reply buddy - I will reply back to your email later.

[AdamB]

I am not sure it is fair to compare an Epson printer jerry rigged with a CISS to a printer with carts. The 1400 is a very good printer, but Epson did not design or build it to pull its ink from big reservoirs along long tubes. They design their wide formats to do this, and a few of their small formats.

I don't like the 'supported' term, as it is ambiguous in meaning. 'Sawgrass warrantied' may be better. There are certainly companies who are not Sawgrass in this world who offer customer support and warranties on their inks, so saying an ink is supported when you mean that it is made by Sawgrass doesn't seem the best fit of description.
There are ink companies in USA outside of the Sawgrass system, who offer excellent support on thier inks, and seem quite well known for their sublimation ink. Equally, there are inks made by other companies (and licensed by Sawgrass) to be used in wide format printers - these inks are supported by the manufacturers too. Just because an ink is not made by Sawgrass doesn't mean that it isn't bad in terms of quality, customer support or warranty. Your description of the "dark side" seems unjust.

you tried Sawgrass ink (and I guess their CISS too) and had continuous problems, yet kept going back to them and kept getting problems, and I guess forking out quite a bit of money along the way to them, and yet you still seem to trust them with your business, and want to give them money to buy their expensive ink to use in another printer?

Firstly, thanks for the reply - appreciated and noted

I'm comparing them because it's options available to me - I know they are 2 different machines but both are available (and advertised) to provide the same output, sublimation onto substrates.

Supported/Sawgrass Warranted - understood but was trying to keep things in 'layman's terms' for all to understand. You refereed to other inks that are (probably) for wide format use-age, I don't refer to these as these 2 printers are not wide format but I do understand your point.

You mentioned that I 'trust' sawgrass with my business after having 'problems' and still want to give them money - sorry, confused about this one as I thought it was a statement but you ended with a question?

Do I trust them? Yes, no reason no to unless there is another option - you never suggested a solution???

[Justin]

Well hello stranger! I trust you are keeping well my friend?

I made the change over to the Ricoh 7100 and haven't looked back. I still keep my 1500 for the occasional A3+ work but haven't switched on my beloved P50 in a while now. In MY opinion the Ricoh is so much less hassle, no paper loading and feeding issues/cleaning and so on. The support is invaluable and mine was swapped out soon after purchase with no issues whatsoever.

I feel it's one of those questions, Ricoh or Epson, Mac or PC, Vauxhall or Ford (that's an old one) and so on. I've tried several of these 'switches' not all work for me but it's worth a try. If you only need A4 the investment is far smaller.