New Plotter Time

I have a comment. You should run a sheet of paper through an inkjet plotter occasionally, just to keep the JETS running, and not clogged. Make a color fill sheet, with all the colors.

N

I also have a comment. I REALLY don't like my new HP T-120. It's OK mechanically, I guess, but the software & support-meh.

Also, ditto on what Nate said - full color plot once a week

We have a new HP 2500. It's horrific.

Does anyone have experience with the HP T520?

I really like electrostatic plotters/ large format scanners. Still pretty spendy for a small office but coming down. I'd look into it.

My Canon/Oce' ColorWave 650 goes for some $62,000 but accepts 42" paper, scans and plots color and B & W.
But $62,000!!

Like I said, I plot once every couple of months, so for $62K I could afford a nice little sports car to drive into town for the plots. As for the electrostatic option, I don't think I can use it for plats.

$62k. That's just silly. KIPs can be had in the $5k range.

I have a HP T2300 plotter/scanner. It is just a complete disappointment. It just doesn‰Ûªt do anything well. It is a mediocre plotter and a poor scanner. It is my last HP product. The install was a nightmare and the plotter software is horrible to deal with.

We have a t520 about two years old. It works great as long as you don't try printing to sheets. Just get rolls and it's all good.

We just purchased a Epson 9900 Stylus Pro printer and while not as fast as the other brands, the K4 inks are amazing (UV resistance) and the print driver is the bomb. It has a built in RIP that really works.

The print driver is 30x times faster than the dedicated RIP we used before.

The local guy (Nick from Picturline) came by and suggested that we put a humidifier near the plotter to keep the heads moister. He said if we did, we could probably turn off the cleaning cycles. It appears that he is right on the money. That saves a boatload of ink.

This thing uses huge cartridges, and is available with all kinds of accessory winders and paper sources.

I know that Epson does not have a big engineering following, but I think they should.

So far it has been amazing.
My $0.02.

John Putnam, post: 338626, member: 1188 wrote: Does anyone have experience with the HP T520?

I believe that is the model I have. I have had it about a year, and have been pleased. There are times when I have to reboot it, but I think that os network related, and not plotter related.

I live about 30 miles from the local print shop, so an in house solution was absolutely necessary. I opted for the T520, with the multiple plotting languages, more RAM, and the plotter stand and catch basket (cloth). I have not had any problems.

I did the HP lease, and the payments are interest free, and run about $60 a month. Pretty easy on the pocket book.

We are in need of a new plotter too. How is the speed of the HP T520? We have an old 5500 now, and I'm sure anything we get is going to be faster than that, but I'd like to get as fast a one as possible. If not the HP T520, what would anyone else recommend for a guy looking for a 24" format that's color and also has a scanner?

John Putnam, post: 338626, member: 1188 wrote: Does anyone have experience with the HP T520?

I have the T520. I bought it November of last year, and it has been great. The only problem I have had is that I have to manually reprint using the keypad/touch screen to get multiple copies. I have researched it, and I need to make new PCP files for it and see if that fixes it. I just haven't had the time.

The print quality is good. I don't do much color at all, but the few aerial images I have printed looked as good as the picture I printed them from. I opted for the T-520 because of the additional print languages, the plotter stand and fabric paper tray to catch the plots, and the higher RAM. I have been pleased with my purchase. I don't use it very much at all anymore since I have taken a job with a local engineering firm, but I do try to print regularly just to keep everything fresh.

I have the HP T120 and I think it's pretty good. I got it on Amazon when it was on sale. I think I paid like $800 with shipping. As far as software, etc. I don't deal with it. I just print to it like a regular printer and don't use their software interface. It does have all kinds of remote printing and print from your phone type of stuff if you care about that, but I don't use it. It is fairly fast for an inkjet, but my only other experience was with older HPs that were painfully slow. Quality is good

The speed is fine for a one man shop. It wold probably be fine for a small company. I forget what the specs are for it, but I don't have to wait for plots, even when doing multiple pages. It's great for what I do.

Mine is supposed to show up this morning. $1500 including shipping from HP.

John Putnam, post: 352835, member: 1188 wrote: Mine is supposed to show up this morning. $1500 including shipping from HP.

I assembled mine by myself, but it would have been helpful to have a second person, just because it is bulky. You basically just have to attach the stand.

thebionicman, post: 338617, member: 8136 wrote: We have a new HP 2500. It's horrific.

We recently got a new T2500 as well... It's been very disappointing considering the cost. The color corrections are way off, and no one with the local installer or with HP support has been able to resolve it so far. Bright reds print various shades of orange, dark blue prints brownish-gray, etc. It's awful.