SawGrass Virtuoso

[socialgiraffe]

Apparently the new Virtuoso's have a wider printing gamut so in theory should print better quality with a wider range of colours.

I will replace my 3110 with a Sawgrass branded printer, but only when it is beyond repair. Seeing as I have three Ricoh's two of which are over 10 years old I can not see that happening soon though.

[pisquee]

It still needs powerdriver to suppliment its ricoh driver, how many printers designed for a dedicated purpose need to have their drivers supplementing straight out the box? Untill proved otherwise these are just SG3110n with a sawgrass badge stuck on.

I reckon Sawgrass approached Ricoh, and negotiated a better price for buying in a load of non-Ricoh branded machines, one negotiation point for Sawgrass getting a better price aside from the amount of units, is that Ricoh don't have to offer any warranty support as Sawgrass will do that themselves.
At the end of the day, it is still only a 4 colour office printer with Sawgrass' consumer sublimaion ink in it.

[AlanD]

I agree with glarion, if this printer was genuinely different the driver would have been written to make use of the supposedly higher gamut. If the ink was different Sawgrass had the oportunity to reformulate with longer shelf life which in itself, for many would be a major plus selling point for low volume users. I reckon rebadged Ricoh and when supplies run out price will go up - or am I just getting cynical in my old age.

[Scotty@BMS]

If it was merely rebadged it wouldn't print bi-directionally. It may well be Ricoh based, but there have been improvements made. I have seen the results using it myself and am quite impressed. As Simon says, you wouldn't go out and replace an existing printer that's still alive and kicking, but if upgrading you'd have to consider the branded machine for the benefits of the two year warranty and the fact that the buck ultimately stops with Sawgrass if you have issues. 100% their printer, 100% their responsibility to sort your problem. Although, of course, your dealer would still be your first port of call

[AlanD]

Fair comment Scotty and as more of these machines come into general use it will be interesting to see the comments

[Scotty@BMS]

Dead on Alan. Also for those guys who aren't red hot on designing there is the additional bonus of the new online Creative Studio. it's never going to offer what PS or Corel offer to the serious design whizzkid, but I've used it enough to know it's a lot less scary than either of those programs for those starting out. Although, you don't print to Powerdriver when using it!

[socialgiraffe]

I reckon Sawgrass approached Ricoh, and negotiated a better price for buying in a load of non-Ricoh branded machines, one negotiation point for Sawgrass getting a better price aside from the amount of units, is that Ricoh don't have to offer any warranty support as Sawgrass will do that themselves.
At the end of the day, it is still only a 4 colour office printer with Sawgrass' consumer sublimaion ink in it.

Really? Do you really think Sawgrass need to do that? From what I understand, as Sawgrass were pretty much covering the warranty on the only serious part in these machines it made sense for them to rebrand and sell as a one stop shop. That way they have more say on the specs of the machine (i.e. now bi directional) and it underlines Sawgrass as one of the leading suppliers of sublimation ink and (now) printers.

If the rebadged Ricoh lasts as long as my current models and is as reliable then there is no reason to worry. For office machines they are very well built, require almost zero maintenance and can be left to collect dust for a year without any problems when fired up again (I know this from experience), I would not even let my Roland do that through fear of heads blocking.

[AlanD]

Really? Do you really think Sawgrass need to do that? From what I understand, as Sawgrass were pretty much covering the warranty on the only serious part in these machines it made sense for them to rebrand and sell as a one stop shop. That way they have more say on the specs of the machine (i.e. now bi directional) and it underlines Sawgrass as one of the leading suppliers of sublimation ink and (now) printers.

If the rebadged Ricoh lasts as long as my current models and is as reliable then there is no reason to worry. For office machines they are very well built, require almost zero maintenance and can be left to collect dust for a year without any problems when fired up again (I know this from experience), I would not even let my Roland do that through fear of heads blocking.

I can well understand Sawgrass having their own printer and as there was already a close liaison with Ricoh that was the obvious choice and I have no problem buying one should my current printer need replacing. I suspect it may well be the obvious choice for small volume users.
As for heads blocking, not only Roland but any printer with Epson heads and that includes Mimaki and Mutoh they all have waste tanks either easy to empty or cartridge but either way alot of wasted ink if not used regularly