The Fastest Possible Large format A1 and A0 wide format plotter in Singapore.

Print Color and Black and White Faster than ever!

When it comes to plan drawings, especially those used in construction and engineering. Many customers are still using a traditional large format laser printer to get the job done. This is primarily because it has been the best option for those customers who need fast print outs and are concerned about costs.

The truth is, another alternative does exist, and this comes from the revolutionary Pagewide series of large format machines. It promises to be a game-changing technology capable of replacing multiple units of machines into a consolidated device powerful enough to meet the needs and demands of its users. The best part, its faster and cheaper to print in both color and black and white than all existing current technology.

In this article, i would like to highlight the very basics of this technology and then expand upon it with machines in this series.

The major problem that faces many companies today is productivity, productivity and the lack thereof has a ripple effect within any organization. One of the things all offices do on a regular basis is print, be it drawings or documents. The printing process can be either a seamless workflow or it can be extremely cumbersome, it is the difference between long hours or going back on time.
I know it may sound silly, to think that a printer can have such implications, however, do take a look at this video to understand a little more about why a seamless workflow is important especially in peak periods. Although the video is highlight issues within a print service providers environment, similar situations occur in large format printing in offices all over Singapore.

So how and what is Pagewide Technology, simply put as the name implies pagewide is a technology that caters for printing over the entire "page-width" hence the name page wide. The general understanding of inkjet printers is that it is a single printhead that moves back and forth at the same time with the paper moving forward. This technology means that instead of moving the printheads, the entire width of the printable area is covered by a printhead and now the paper travels beneath it. So the only thing that moves is the paper moving forward! Take a look at this video to understand this technology.

The resulting effect of this is that now you have large format printers, printing in seconds vs what would take a traditional inkjet printer much longer to complete. Now i know some of you who are used to "laser printing" will have reservations and i encounter this very often, my customers often ask me "marco won't prints printed with inkjet smudge or smear when it comes in contact with water?"
This is probably something you also consider when purchasing a printer, to this i say all prints that are printed with HP Pagewide technology are water resistant and will not smear or smudge when it comes into contact with water..more about that in another article.

So now that you know a little bit about the technology this is the result of the pure speeds the machines can achieve, 

• 6 A1/min , 10 A1/min, 15 A1/Min, 20 A1/min and the fastest 30 A1/min
• Now imagine a full color A1 drawing being completed in just 3 seconds and costs almost identically to a monochrome print.

The value of the proposition is exceedingly high, because what you have achieved if you choose to invest in this system is reduced costs per copy for color prints, top notch productivity, drawings which now can work as tools and fewer devices for your IT team to manage.
Lets face it, we live in a world full of color. Displays keeps getting better and better each day. Softwares such as BIM and other tools which are now being deployed in the reprographics market aim to give architects, engineers, consultants and more the right tool for doing the right job.  The future of printing and print technologies will move away from laser machines and now be enabled in devices such as these.
We will elaborate more in the coming blogposts, however if what we have said to you appeals to you and you would like to know more, feel free to contact me or to learn more.

www.largeformatspecialist.com.sg
www.uscsolns.com
Sales & Marketing CAD Division
USC Solutions Pte Ltd
203A Henderson Road
#02-03 Henderson Industrial Park
Singapore 159546
 marco@uscgp.com
M: +65 90266787
T: +65 6278 3110

Best HP Large Format Color Plotter In Singapore

Hey, folks! well, this is part 2 of my previous blog post on the best large format plotter your company can buy for their large format printing needs. I highly recommend that you read before continuing this article.We covered in the previous article a couple of points, that had to do with the stacker function and the scanner function. In this article, we shall go a little deeper.

Ink Systems:

The HP T3500 comes with a total of 6 ink cartridges, that compromises of cyan, magenta, yellow, Black, Grey, and Photo Black. This is for good reason too! These days there has been an increased emphasis on BIM, 3D renderings, and far more complex drawings. In order to capture the full spectrum of colors that need to be present for some real jaw dropping print quality! Of course, if you're doing simple cad line printing, GIS printing this machine will handle these printouts with total ease and comfort as well! So what makes this ink system so special? Actually, it's not so much the ink system but the actual hardware that has gone into building this machine, the ink systems are protected from the environment so dust dirt and other creepy crawlies don't get into it.
Secondly, did you know that there is NO WASTE INK TANK, this intelligent system manages to get away without the need for a separate waste ink tank! This is done through the clever utilization of software and hardware to ensure that inks are used in the most efficient way possible. So you can get your drawings printed without the excessive use of the inks! The machine as long as you don't turn off the machine(unplug from power point) ensures the inks are kept in the most optimal condition along with the printhead.

Two Rolls: Whats so special?

 

The HP T3500 is equipped with two rolls, while this may be something that is relatively common on other large format printers and plotters, this comes with a surprising twist! You see most of the other standard models of printers only have the ability to hold up to a maximum capacity of 50 or at the very max 100 meters of roll paper length. Now let me be clear, the paper is known as a consumable and the cheaper you are able to purchase your consumables the better it is in the long run.
The T3500 allows a customer to purchase jumbo rolls, meaning to say you can load paper up to a maximum length of up to 200 meters.  So what! you may be asking? well, let's consider two points here which is very important when you buy rolls at this length.

• Roll changes are less frequent
• Cost of paper purchase is much less

Result: Roll changes are really a tiresome thing to do, just ask anyone who has a lot of drawings to print, they would have to repeatedly change the paper rolls.  It is not easy and most end users hate to do it.
So with a jumbo roll in place, you change the rolls less frequently. Most inkjet machines have only a 50-meter roll length, so when you have a 200-meter roll, you change once for the equivalent of 3 rolls of paper! This makes life just a little easier and not having to carry heavy rolls of paper to conduct a roll change frequently.

Result: When you purchase your paper at longer lengths the overall cost of the paper is actually cheaper, well at least this is the case here in Singapore. Typically you will see a paper cost savings of at least 30-40%. This means that you can print with lower costs and not worry about keeping and storing a number of smaller rolls, just have a few jumbo rolls kept neatly and that's all you need!
Oh yes, and one more thing, you may be wondering. The roll diameter is a 3" core. Now, most inkjet paper uses a 2" core rolls. So the question would be how then can I use existing 2" core media if you wanted to print on coated or photo gloss. A simple yet innovative solution is in a place, it's called the adaptor! The HP T3500 comes equipped with an adaptor that can change the roll diameter from 2" to 3" without any effort. This means you can enjoy a wide range of media to use with your T3500 machine.

One other thing, look at this photo.


If you look carefully you can see that the top roll is open, and the second roll is covered and protected. This is so that you can load a normal 80 gsm paper at the top roll which can be used for everyday printing, the second roll which is covered is for keeping more expensive rolls of paper such as coated media, or photo gloss paper. This feature protects your expensive rolls from people walking by or accidentally damaging the expensive plotter paper roll.
Well, this brings me to the end of Part 2 of the T3500 review. In my next blog post we shall look at the software that runs this beautiful machine as well as the unique way of producing color and mono prints for the same price...yes you read that correctly. Color and Mono for the same price. Stay tuned!

We carry a full range of plotters and printers, in fact, this is our profession, we don't carry a4 or a3 solutions but are strictly and totally focused on the large format industry. To view, our entire range of products visit us at www.largeformatspecialist.com.sg

See ya soon!
Marco
Full Range Of Machines: www.largeformatspecialist.com.sg/
WordPress                   : https://largeformatplotters.wordpress.com
Facebook:                   : www.facebook.com/uscsolutions
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Sales & Marketing CAD Division
USC Solutions Pte Ltd
203A Henderson Road
#02-03 Henderson Industrial Park
Singapore 159546
M: +65 90266787

The most affordable large format a0 & A1 Plotter in singapore!

Large Format Printer Singapore - The Most Affordable Plotter Mutoh RJ900X

The Mutoh RJ900X Series Of Machines:

The most affordable large format color plotter in singapore.

The term affordability gets thrown around alot these days, with each manufacturer stating that their machine is indeed an affordable solution.

In order to fully understand this term we need to define this term completely. A machine can be affordable to purchase at the outset which sounds lovely on paper, or are we going to choose to look a little deeper?

I chose the latter, many of my customers are in a bind as to decide and to compare , these days the choices are plenty and prices of machines are really at an all time low. Manufacturers throw the price of their machine at almost a cost , i mean simply put if the manufacturer, is selling you the machine initially at a very low price this only really means that they have a plan. After all they are not in the business of loosing money, money has to come from somewhere...right?

The answer is simple, it comes from the consumables that the machine will use. So think about what is the number one component in any machine...that certainly is without a doubt the ink. Printer ink is one of the most incredibly expensive commodity today.

E.g :

Fuel tanks in a car hold approximately 44 liters which in singapore is charged at around 1.80 so that would work out to be $79.20 SGD

Ink in a printer if poured in comparison into a car would translate based on current large format printer manufacturers will work out to be approximately $0.65/ml there is 44,000 ml in a car so a car fuel tank would cost you $28,600 SGD

The above is just to illustrate the value of ink vs the value of fuel. i mean , ink is the new gold.

So this is where the Mutoh RJ900x Shines:

In the cost of ink game, there is a machine that can produce for you stunning printouts absolutely brilliant CAD and line work and is all built on this machine platform which remains as one of the only large format machine manufactured completely in japan.

Technical Specs are as follows:

MutohRJ900X/RJ901X:

• Highest Resolution 1440 x 2880 dpi
• Fast: A1 Color print 33 seconds only!
• Memory 256MB
• Wave printing technology lower banding lines
• 3 years next business day machine warranty
• Outstanding quality for CAD & Photo Print applications
• Heavy Duty / Medium Duty Usage
• 4 color Ink System CMYK

100% Made In Japan

The beauty of the MUTOH machine is the fact that, not only does the manufacturer allow a specific formulation of ink that works well with the machine. It also locally in Singapore is supported by a 3 year warranty. So for those of you who are looking to remove yourself from the vicious cycle of paying exorbitant amounts for essential ink. Then you need to take this seriously when it comes to understanding the value this machine will allow you do add.

The Made In Issue:

The pressure from manufacturers to produce cheaper and cheaper machines has led to a proliferation of the machines being built in countries like china and thailand.

Not that there is anything wrong in manufacturing in these countries but results speak for themselves.

The legendary models from other manufacturers that previously were built in Singapore or in japan, have lasted the longest. Some customers i meet still use these machines, Why? The quality of build is truly superior. We have become a culture of purchasing the cheapest possible machine, and we don't seem to think otherwise in regards to the running cost of the plotter. That is so dangerous if your print volume is moderate.

The Mutoh RJ series is entirely built in japan, and understanding their culture and the attention to detail that is put in simply outshines the mass produced models that are super cheap to purchase vs a quality machines.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxCnh9VFcdg[/embed]

The Features Issue:

I wouldn't put the Mutoh machine as being "Innovative" if i was to describe the machine, i would say it is "Built with superiority,designed to last and ultimately the most affordable way to print"

True the Mutoh machine lacks intuitive touch screens, cloud printing, remote printing, WiFi printing, post script, etc etc etc. The usual bells and whistles.

However the question is , how much do you print and what do you print.

If your a casual user then certainly these other machines i would highly recommend them, If the features in these machines are going to improve your workflow and make your printing life easier then yes they will add this value to you. So its justified.

However purchasing the other machines and all your going to print is CAD Drawings with some level of GIS or even images then really a souped up bells and whistles type of machine is not what i would recommend.

Clearing up the Misconceptions about INKS:

These days, consumers get overly excited by pegging the quality of the printout to the number of inks in the machine.

Machines that are currently available come in the following ink configurations:

• 4 color ink system
• 5 color ink system
• 6 color ink system
• 8 color ink system

This has been the most confusing aspect of choosing a machine especially when it comes to customer purchase. Some sales executives are overly excited to a point of stating the more inks a machine has , as an advantage.

Little does the average consumer realize that he is on a ride and a long deep treacherous ride indeed.

More colors available to a printer is certainly helpful provided you are matching what your application is.

For example if you wish to produce ultra high quality photographic prints for fine art applications then certainly a more complex color gamut is required.

However most of my customers who are architects, construction companies, consultants or engineers are using 6 color and 5 color ink system to produce CAD drawings. The question you should be asking why do i need these many colors to do something as simple as CAD drawings?

Take another example , the 5 color ink system. 

You have CMYK which are the primary colors and you have another cartridge called the BLK.

Did you know that if you do not print on a media profile of photo glossy, or glossy paper, that cartridge does nothing but drain....drain...and drain.

You don't need a fifth cartridge or a 8th cartridge or whatever if your just doing simple cad drawings and simple graphics. 4 color cartridges are MORE then enough to achieve outstanding colors sharpness and detail.

Need proof ? well just take a look at these photos here, all produced on a 4 color machine.

Super high quality printouts with just 4 colors

Sharp Lines, words, images and graphics

Do not make a mistake of paying for cartridges you don't need and which do not serve you in any way at all. Make a decision based on proof and understanding . The fewer cartridges you have the better it is for you. Trust me on this.

The MUTOH brand

When i do propose this brand to customers, they immidiately respond with "well i have not heard about this brand before, how do i know if i can rely on it"

Simply put, it is precisely this reason that customers would continue to do and purchase machines that are over kill for their purposes and pay through their nose for consumables.

Research can reveal some telling tales, MUTOH in Singapore is one of the most popular range of machines in the GRAPHICS and Signage market. An astounding 80% of customers use these machines to produce extremely high quality printouts at the lowest price possible.

The reason most customers do not hear about it , is simply because in the CAD market the dominance is by the other larger companies that advertise frequently and come up with feature rich models.

The only way a customer can feel comfortable is through recommendations which is how the MUTOH has gained popularity. Further then that, in the issue of reliability, if its well built precision products no one does it better than japan. Once upon a time the best and most reliable products came from japan. Through competition and cost cutting some manufacturers buckled under the pressure and sent their machines to be made in china and Thailand.

The machine is covered by a local warranty agreement and in terms of service USC SOLUTIONS provides a level of service that is of the highest order. It is in our culture and mindset to propose the best and be the best.
As a summary

• Mutoh offers customers a simple system that works well with CAD applications
• In addition because of the inks being almost 5 to 6 times cheaper then conventional inks it becomes the most affordable ink system you can purchase.
• A peace of mind knowing that for 3 years warranty is provided
• A simple but extremely powerful 4 ink configuration.
• A well built and well designed machine
• Has the ability to work with a rip software and to create amazing posters at the lowest price
• 42 inches and 24 inch model available for all types of applications.

Do let me know if you have any questions or feedback or even if your looking for a machine like this:

Full Range Of Machines : www.largeformatspecialist.com.sg/

Blog                             : http://largeformatplotters.blogspot.sg/

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Warm Regards,

Marco Moochala

Sales & Marketing CAD Division
USC Solutions Pte Ltd

203A Henderson Road

#02-03 Henderson Industrial Park

Singapore 159546

M: +65 90266787

T: +65 6278 3110

F: +65 6273 4208

The HP T830: Large Format Plotter & Scanner Review

The Most Affordable Large Format A1 & A0 Plotter In Singapore!

This is the brand new HP T830 all in one printer, and boy am i excited to bring you this review! The team at HP has definitely hit a home run when it comes to design , functionality, cost and features with this particular model. They have actually designed a machine that for years and years was needed in the AEC market. This machine is available for sale now athttp://www.largeformatspecialist.com.sg for our Singaporean customers.

So that being said lets take an in depth look at this machine:

Key features:

Speed: The machine is fast, and i mean really fast, it churns out an a1 sized document every 25/seconds. At the price point of this printer , you will be hard pressed to find a speed on any other model.

Processing: i really like how this machine is able to quickly process the document through a variety of mediums from direct printing or even cloud printing.

Connectivity: One of the biggest headaches a customer has, is that of connectivity. A number of scenarios are often encountered, either there is no lan connection, or there is only wifi connnection. HP has made it so easy to set up and transport. The machine is able to connect to your own Wifi signal easily. The real charmer here is that, suppose you don’t even have a wifi network and you don’t have a lan, So what do you do? Well at this level HP T830 will generate its own wifi signal, so that your site office staff can connect wirelessly to the printer, and also have any visiting members send prints directly through this wifi that the HP T830 is generating! So your covered on two fronts!

Paper Loaded: Ok so we all know that A1 drawings are a little inconvenient at times to handle. Sometimes you really just need an A3 or even an A4. So what do you do, well you get it printed on the laser machine that’s in your office. Hang on a moment what if you don’t have that. Sigh…i guess its time to go and get it printed elsewhere….or print an A1 size drawing…such a waste….Well not anymore, the HP has an amazing loader whereby it can load A3/A4 sheets of paper……and guess what… you don’t even have to change the paper roll! simply load it in and select the size and your ready to go!

Thumb drive: The other really easy and straight forward feature of this machine is the fact that you can easily load in a thumb drive and print the files off your thumb drive. This comes in especially handy when your in a rush, do you really need to sit in front of your pc and wait to do the settings and then go and print when you have more important things to do. The machine accepts a whole bunch of file formats, most importantly PDF / Jpeg files. This feature is something you don’t find in any other machine brand in this class.

Build Quality: I am really pleased that finally, HP has made a machine with a tough build quality, the key being the stand, do remember the sturdier the stand the better your quality of print will be. The new machine has a really strong stand and its built really well. The body remains the same of a plastic composite.

Scanner: The scanner in any site office is….well these days not really utilized. More and more companies do not see the need of having a separate scanner or even making copies. This however doesn’t mean that the scanner is irrelevant. This only means that people will not spend more to buy a scanner and will end up outsourcing their scanning needs. This however can be rather costly.

So this machine bundles in an inbuilt scanner for producing large format scans which can be saved to a thumb drive, network, or even be emailed. Alternatively it can also be used as a copying function. In addition to all of this, if you wish to preview your scan, you can use your tablet computer and connect to the T830 for an easy workflow. Do take note that this scanner is fairly basic and if you wish to look at scanner solutions which are more robust, you may look here. Overall, if your not going to be scanning alot of drawings and it really is once in a while, then you cannot go wrong with this machine.

Inks System: In this area, i find the HP T830 has a significant value to add to the customer experience, in terms of cost of ownership. If you forget everything i have said here, please remember this. The HP T830 is a 4 color machine and requires no waste ink tank. Unlike other machine configurations which have a 5 color or 6 color ink cartridge i assure you that for the AEC industry 4 colors is enough. All the 4 colors are utilised and they are affordably priced.  Please do not purchase a 5 color machine if you are not going to do any rendering work nor print on photo gloss. 4 colors is all you need, and HP gives you the option of using a 40 ml cartridge or a more economical 130ml tank. Overall this is good value for money.

Options: You will find that the new machine comes with a couple of options, so lets take a look at the options which are available.

1. Rugged wheels : If your gonna be moving your machine about, upgrading to these all terrain wheels is a good idea. The build quality is fantastic and offers you great stability when transporting the machine from one site to another.
2. Printer cover: in some sites the machine is prone to dealing with lots of dust and dirt! so the best way to protect your investment is using an all cover option

Summary:

In summation, i find that a majority of site offices will benefit from the use of this machine. It is mobile, versatile, intuitive and ultimately functional. Its easy on the pockets and cost of ownership is low. The only feature that could use a better upgrade would be that of the scanner, otherwise everything else about this machine makes it stand out to any machine in its class category! Should you have any questions please do contact me marco@uscgp.com, or give us a call at : 627836110. If you need to look at other machines or even require the data sheet then visit http://www.largeformatspecialist.com.sg for more information. I have also included below a bunch of vidoes that will better explain the workings of this machine and make it a compelling case for yourself and your management.

What You Should Know Before Buying An A1 Size Plotter Machine!

What You Should Know About A1 Plotters In Singapore!

When a potential customer calls me and says to me “hi i am looking for an A1 plotter do you have them”.  i usually have to inquire a little further to fully understand what is the basis of this question.

You see , in our minds we have an understanding that if we need to print A1 drawings or plans then we must actually have a machine that is A1 size. Most end users are unsure of the difference between an A1 machine or an A0 Machine. So i hope that this article will provide some insight towards understanding these differences. Manufacturers such as the following will usually carry these sizes of machines (Mutoh, HP, Canon, Epson, Seiko)

First lets understand the common sizes which are available :

1. 24 inches
2. 36 inches
3. 44 inches
4. 42 inches
5. 60 inches

The above sizes here are typically used to denote the maximum media sizes that you can load onto a machine. In the context of architectural , engineering or construction environments the discussion will only revolve around two paper sizes that is basically machines capable of loading 24″ or 36″ paper.

So lets breakdown the paper sizes available for end consumers here:

1. 594 mm or 24″ length can vary 50 meters, 150 meters, 175 meters
2. 841 mm or 33″ length can vary 50 meters, 150 meters, 175 meters

Here is what is important to realize, the longer the length of paper the cheaper the roll of paper gets, so if the objective is to achieve a lower cost of consumable then taking an often overlooked part which is paper is essential.  

The next thing you should be aware of is the idea of paper orientation and how this affects the consumable price and also the speed of the machine. An A1 size can be either printed in Portrait or in landscape, doing this the wrong way can have a direct effect on how much you are going to pay your machine supplier, this is especially dangerous if you are on a SQ Meter model, as the longer the length printed the more your meter click reading is.

I have discovered from some of my customers some companies are in fact informing customers to print in an incorrect manner so that they yield the highest in terms of Sq meters. Which i find extremely unethical. So you must be informed about this. Lets take a look at the diagram below:

Diagram A: Shows what happens when you purchase a 24″ plotter.

• More paper is used length wise
• So if your loading 50 meter paper
• You will only yield the following number of A1 drawings
  • 50 meters / 0.841 = 59 A1 Drawings
• Since the print head has a shorter path to travel because your printing A1 in portrait then this will slow down the printing process as the print head must make more passes.

Diagram B: Shows what happens when you purchase a 36″ plotter.

• Less paper is used length wise 
• So if your loading 50 meter paper
• You will yield more number of A1 drawings
  • 50 meters / 0.594 = 84 A1 Drawings
  • This is 25 A1 sheets more then the previous version a 30% more paper situation
• Since the print head has a longer path to travel because now your printing A1 in landscape then this means that your prints are going to be much faster.

So finally we need to understand why are there then 24 inch models available, these so called A1 models. Well, the prime reason they are there is because then you can print sizes such as A2 more. As i have shown you in the diagram, if you load a 594mm paper then it will print A2 in landscape. Thus reducing once again the lenght of the paper that is used.

So please do not make the mistake of purchasing a 24″ model instead of a 36″ model if you primarily print A1 size drawings. This will only cause the cost of your paper consumable to increase and you will end up changing the rolls more often.

Thank you and if you like this post please share and comment for any questions you may have.

Full Range Of Machines : www.largeformatspecialist.com.sg/

Blog                             : http://largeformatplotters.blogspot.sg/

WordPress                     : https://largeformatplotters.wordpress.com

Facebook:                      : www.facebook.com/uscsolutions

Follow Me On Twitter     : @marcomoochala

Add Me On Google+      : google.com/+MarcoMoochala

Warm Regards,

Marco Moochala

Sales & Marketing CAD Division
USC Solutions Pte Ltd

203A Henderson Road

#02-03 Henderson Industrial Park

Singapore 159546

M: +65 90266787

T: +65 6278 3110

F: +65 6273 4208