D size B&W plotter purchase advise

We are considering purchasing a plotter after a decade of outsourcing our
plots. We will probably continue to outsource our larger jobs, but need
full size check prints. We are a small office with only two people
generating AutoCAD plots for civil engineer projects from LT 2005, Land
Desktop 2005 and soon, Civil 3D 2005. Currently we have been working with
half size check plots from a HP Laserjet 4V, but are finding we miss too
many details. We are looking for a 24x36 B&W plots. Most of our need will
be one or two at a time. The size of most of our plot files are 500 - 1000
kb. When we include airphoto backgrounds (20 MB plot files), we will
outsource it. We would like to keep the purchase price under $2500.

We have found the HP Designjet 430 that seems to meet our needs. What has
been the experience with this plotter? What other plotters should we
consider? Other than color and higher resolution, what reasons should we
consider when thinking about a more expensive plotter like the Designjet
500? I noticed on the HP website that they did not list a driver for
AutoCAD 2005. Does the one for AutoCAD 2004 work with 2005? How much RAM
should we look for?

 

Hi Brad -

While waiting for one of your peers to answer, search the data
base of past messages.

The discussion group search engine provides flexibility for
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3. Type your keywords into the search box and click Search. I
left the search to all of ACAD, not specific to the print/plot
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Brad Yarger wrote:
(snip)

 

I had an HP 350C until very recently. I beleive the 430 is similar, in
that they both use Injet cartridges. I have just purchased an HP 500.
The print quality of this machine is HEAD and SHOULDERS above the injet
cartridge variety. The price also is inline with your figure(including
the stand) and it is color. So for my money, I would stay away from the
430 and look real hard at the 500.

Chris Breidenbaugh

 

We use a DJ430 in our office of 30 +/- cad users. Ours is only for B&W
plots but could be upgraded for color (would become the DJ450 I
believe). IMO would be a good machine for a 2 person office. Ours is
maybe over worked a bit running 14 hrs a day at times. We have needed a
couple of repairs over the four years we had it, however it was a
reconditioned unit when we purchased it. For us the only drawback is no
onboard LED screen/plot que. Get as much ram as you/the machine can
handle. I find as software improves you never have enough especially if
you work with photos. I have ours working with A2005 on WinXP drivers.

Ron Meicho