Roland Hi-Fi Jet 400 and 500.
Roland works hard to provide the kind of nice printer that produces high quality output. Everyone gets so excited over the "variable droplets" but don't realize the downsides of piezo printhead problems. FLAAR has prepared a series of reports based on our own inspection of these printers at Seybold San Francisco trade show, on closer inspection at Photokina trade show, and based on scrutiny of these printers by other end-users who have been kind enough to send us their findings.
These reports compare and contrast the Epson 7500, Epson 9500, various Roland Hi-Fi printers, the Mutoh, Mimaki, and HP DesignJet, especially the new 1200 dpi six color HP 5000ps.
FAQs |
| reviews of large format printers most appropriate for signs, posters, banners including POP, both inside and outside |
| large format printers best for outdoor signs, vehicle wrap, billboards, and outside use, solvent inks, pigmented inks |
| large format printers 24" and above for fine art giclee prints, for first-time users, intermediate, and experienced users as well |
| large format printers 24" and above for top quality digital photo prints, museum-quality exhibit prints, for newbies to pro |
| for textiles, direct printing on textiles as well as heat transfer with normal inks (no need for dye sublimation inks) |
| for dye sublimation heat transfer onto textiles, metal, wood, plastic, ceramics, metal and other treated surfaces |
| large format inkjet printers as proofers: recommendations, pros and cons of various printers. |
| plotters and color inkjet printers for CAD, GIS, aerial maps, 3-D graphic design, drawings, etc. |
| First information available on the new Hewlett-Packard 5000 and 5000ps, 1200 dpi, six colors, very fast; comparative evaluation |
| large format printers appropriate for a college or university repro shop, art or photography department or for a museum |
| quick-start help, list of the best RIPs; hints for what accessories you need; list of where you can get books and training. Color |
| To receive your report just provide the information on the Inquiry form. At present we answer all e-mails in person, a live human being actually reads your e-mail, and will answer in 3 to 5 days. |
| comprehensive inventory of every make of large format printer that exists, with brief review, evaluation, comparisons |
| review of RIPs, Raster Image Processor PostScript hardware and software, brand by brand |
| review of media, water proof, rain proof, scratch proof, photo paper, vinyl, specialty media, textiles, etc. |
| Review of inks (don't ask for this one yet, it will be a while, but we are doing the basic research). |
| So check back in again later; you can ask for as many comprehensive reports as you wish, but not now; no advance reservations; in the meantime, all the Thematic Reports are available, all the Large Format Printer Trade Show Reports are readily available. |
| printers premiered at DRUPA printer trade show, May | HP, Roland, Epson (first showing of 7500, 9500), Mimaki, Seiko, Konica |
| printers exhibited at Seybold graphics trade show, Aug | Roland 8 color, HP 5000 6 color 1200 dpi, Ixia (Iris), many more |
| printers exhibited at Photokina photography trade show, Sep | Roland 8 color, HP, Mutoh, Encad, Mimaki, Seiko, Canon, Nur, plus scanners |
| printers exhibited at BigPicture large format printer show, Oct | Roland 8 color, HP 5000ps, textile printers, Epson, Canon, plus RIPs |
(you can order the others later if you really really need them). |
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