best A3+ subli printer

[madmagowan1]

Hi all,

I'm looking at replacing my Epson 1500W A3+ printer due to old age (not me! the printer) and ongoing issues. What printer would people recommend please.

[KathG]

For me it is the New SawGrass SG 800. This is the replacement for the Ricoh SG7110.
Only had it a few months, but I am very happy with it

Kath

[UK Printed Mugs]

Hi Kath. For us mortals yet to ditch the old Ricoh printer for the new exact same looking "SawGrass" one could you give us a run down of what it does better in terms of print quality, speed and ink usage? Thanks. Olly

[madmagowan1]

For me it is the New SawGrass SG 800. This is the replacement for the Ricoh SG7110.
Only had it a few months, but I am very happy with it

Kath

and this does A3+ size? I assume with a bypass tray?

[KathG]

Hi Oily, ...LOL....yes it is identical except for the front fascia colour. To be honest I have not had it long enough to say how good ink usage is. The quality of the print is very good, but I thought the same of my Ricoh 3110.
the new model is supposed to have a HD quality but I'm a believer that the eye can only perceive so much. My reason for buying this model was to get the A3 size.
Madmagowan1 it does have a A3+ Bypass tray, but as of yet I have not found anyone in the UK stocking them. I wonder if it has to be a special order. Must get round to phoning LISTAWOODS to find out.

Cheers
Kath

[UK Printed Mugs]

Hi Kath. Thanks for a little more info. It makes me laugh when suppliers just add "HD" in to their products thinking that it is cool and actually means something. High Definition could mean anything. I use to have an old dot matrix printer that at one time was High Definition!

[KathG]

LOL....it's a bit like washing powder when they advertise whiter than white/ new improved white. How much whiter can you make white ��

[pisquee]

For the best A3+ sublimation printer, you need to define what you're menaing in terms of "best" if you mean in terms of print quality, then you should start by looking at printers aimed at photo/art printing, like the Epson you are replacing, and then maybe think of moving up the range to the Stylus Pro (or equivilent) The Ricoh printers are designed to be office printers, not for printing graphics/photography.
You then to think about your economies and work flow and whether an A3 sheet fed printer is actually best, or an A2 roll fed would work better, and whether using bulk professional inks like InkTec's Sublinova would be better than a consumer grade ink like Sawgrass
So many variables available and so many options, and opinions on what defines "best"

[JMugs]

UK Mugs, if you search you tube for the sawgrass SG800/400 video (or was it conde's?) it shows the differences including the gamut range, quite interesting. Did somebody mention red???
However I'll add that I use a ricoh SG3110 among others (good old faithful unit) and it does consistently produce a good image and churns on trouble free.....unlike my rather expensive Epson 7890 that died at 18 months old.
Yes the epson produced the goods for my bigger images (600mm by 400mm) and you could argue the print color was truer to the original....but what is true? The image on screen, the image in a camera, the image in real life...oh was the sun out or in was the sun high or low...etc etc.

I have a 1500w at the moment that I bought because it was relatively cheap, does A3 plus, profiled it myself....and its taking a battering. We will see how long it last before it goes poof!

In short I reckon it is all a bit of a lottery.

Janners

[UK Printed Mugs]

Hi. Super post response back so thank you. Olly