Need New Plotter Advice, Recommendations

The company I work for (civil engineering)has decided to do its plotting in house now for large drawings (D size etc). Therefore we need a new plotter. What works good for you? Do you recommend one brand over the other, any problems with a certain model. We're looking to spend about 5-6000 I guess maybe more if needed. Using it mostly for Autocad 2005 and Land Desktop. Thanks

 

In addition to Dean's question about the volume, my question whether it
should be black and white (only), or color. In the latter case your only
choice is inkjet, and I would suggest to look at HP's assortment. For
b&w also check what Oce can offer.

Govert

 

We print a fair amount, but not what I would call a massive volume. This printer looks good. Anyone tried it?
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/...rview&oid=-9867&category=Wide+Format+Printers


We do some GIS stuff (just getting into it) and a lot of design work for subdivisions, biosoilds facilities and many other things. It must be able to print in colour. If we need to spend more money I imagine we will. Not sure what a decent one costs.

 

I think my message got eaten so if this comes up double I apologize. I wouldn't call the volume we do massive but we spend about $3000 a year outsourcing the printing of larger drawings, so doing it in house is the way we want to go. The printer must be in color yes. This printer looks good. What do you think. Anyone have one?

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/...rview&oid=-9867&category=Wide+Format+Printers

 

If you're willing to spend more, the HP 1050C Plus is a good plotter,
designed for office setting, high output, good color and b/w plots. Ink
usage is fair, printheads could have a little better life expectancy, but
they're alright. If you settle on it, upgrade the memory, that'll be a
great help.

printer looks good. Anyone tried it?

subdivisions, biosoilds facilities and many other things. It must be able to
print in colour. If we need to spend more money I imagine we will. Not sure
what a decent one costs.

 

Don't know this Epson printer, but it looks more like an entry model for
the graphic arts world. It may work well for CAD plots, but might be
more expensive than you think. Try to get a feeling for cost per plot:
price of the media; price of the ink cartridges; (realistic!) figures on
ink (cartridges) consumption. I would also check the real speed.


Govert

 

My guess would be that an Epson has much higher consumables costs, vs an HP.
Worth checking out. Also, at least in the small format (12X18) world, Epson
has had some issues with paper handling. This being a roll feed, maybe the
issue isn't there. None the less, I have never seen an AEC firm with a roll
feed Epson, only Graphic Design firms. Which leads me to believe that the
Epson is a low volume, high quality, high cost per SF device.

For higher volume, lower quality (relatively) and lower per SF costs, look
at some HP units. Also, it seems that Encad is back in the market, as a part
of Kodak. The T200 looks like it has potential, at least enough to give it a
look.

Best,
Gordon

 

My current firm uses an Océ TDS600 for color plots and an Océ TDS400 for black and white. We are an AEC firm with GIS support as well. I don't know much about these machines, as I've only been here a short time. I can't say I've been overly impressed, however. Perhaps it is just me. In my experience, Xerox has been reliable and fast with B&W, and I have heard good things about HP for color, as you can see in this thread.

Just my two cents,
Kenny Anderson

(remove the e'x'es to reply)

 

HP 1050C