Large format color plotters

[Jarrett]

I work for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and I've been assigned a task to research some color plotters. We currently use an Océ 9400 plotter for our black and white stuff and we have an old crappy HP DesignJet 650C color plotter that works better as a paper waster.  Do any of you use large format color printers?  What models are you familiar with and likes/dislikes about them?

 

[inveresk]

I have a HP Designjet 130nr that outputs up to 24" wide. It's fast enough for the fairly low volume of plots that I output, has good resolution for presentation drawings, is economical on consumables and seems robust enough to last the eight or so years my old Designjet 350c did before it was retired.

The only downside is that the roll feed must be disengaged if I want to print from any of the trays.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Got a lot of flawless years out of an HP 650C. Then they got an HP 5000 a while back and it works well too. Pricey consumables (I am told) but they last a while. The 6 colors do a good job on color ortho aerials. I've never sheet fed the 5000 so I don't know how easy that is.

 

[MossRoad]

Look into an HP Design Jet 1050cm. It will do 36" wide. Options for many types of media make it very versatile. Will print on paper, plastic, clothe, etc... so signs are a snap. We use newpaper stub cores in ours with an adapter for proofs and prints and nice expensive white paper for final stuff. Individual ink wells and seperate print heads make it pretty economical compared to a deskjet type cartridge. They are worth checking out. See if a local printer dealer will demo one for you with your files.

Hope this helps.

Here's a link to HP's website.

 

[chucko]

we have a hp1050c and a hp800(something another) the 1050 is great. the 800 came with a larger format scaner. It prints good and all but is way slower than the 1050

 

[JoeR]

We use an HP Laserjet 8000. Fast for an E size plotter, and color is good.

Joe

 

[Lloyd_E]

Hi Jarrett,

I have been using a HP designjet 5000 close to 5 years now.
I work for a TV production company and we produce large backdrops for sets on matt paper (42.lb) as well as promotional materials on photogloss and banner material. We have had maybe 4-5 days of down time in 5 years.

We have spent about $2-3000 in repairs over the years - didn't opt for the extended repair warranty - too pricey.

Our unit costs (canadian) are around $2 per square foot for matt paper and $2.50 per square foot for gloss. This does not include cost of equipment. In our first six months we paid for the unit in savings (both material cost and time/turnaround) compared to subing out jobs.

Hope this helps.

regards

Lloyd

PS: Mac based platform
RIP time form CPU to printer is about 10-15 seconds for a 200 meg file.
42"x 120" panel, full colour takes about 30-40 minutes to print on Max Quality setting.

Cons: With heavier stock sometimes its a PITA to load roll paper. Of course we are always under a deadline when the paper alignment is giving us an issue.

Pros: I have spooled from printer up to 10 42"x12' panels and let it print over night....

 

[Lloyd_E]

Jarret,

A few numbers to consider...this is what my usage report reads:

Paper total: 75852.34 sq ft

Numbers below reflect after UV conversion
Coated econo: 354 sq ft
Coated reg: 1570. " "
Vinyl: 3027. " "
Back-lite film: 18 " "
Durable gloss: 5340 " "

INK: DYE / UV in ml:
LC 7317 / 1923
LM 8296 / 1994
Y 5699 / 2696
C 3469 / 786
M 2765 / 1852
(K)B 5825 / 673

Dye ink in ml: 33371
UV ink in ml: 9924 (we switched to uv this past spring)

Regards,

Lloyd