The Gerber ion V can be upgraded to a Gerber ion X which can be upgraded to a Gerber ion Z
The upgrade plan is clever. You can start out with the lowest price unit: the Gerber ion V. You can upgrade that to an X (just add more printheads). Then you can upgrade that to an Ion Z (14 picoliter printhead). So the cost can be handled as you gain experience with UV-cured flatbed workflow. You can start with the lowest price and then add new features at a reasonable upgrade cost.
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The Gerber ion V was exhibited at Fast Signs trade show 2009. |
I have to check to make sure I have the correct upgrade path, as all this is very new. I have been to the Gerber factory to inspect the Ion X but not yet to inspect the Ion Z or really the V either.
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Gerber ion Z was exhibited at ISA trade show 2009. |
The Gerber ion Z was exhibited at ISA sign expo in Las Vegas recently in April. Very good show with abundant interest in UV-cured flatbed printers despite the recession.
As soon as I can visit the factory, inspect and test the Gerber ion Z in the demo room, and then find a place for a site-visit case study (to check out how it works in the real world in a franchise sign shop), then we will issue a FLAAR Reports.
For the Gerber Solara ion X and Solara ion V the GSPinc web site lists
- Acrylic
- Aluminum (DiBond and comparable would be intended)
- Banner
- Calendered vinyl
- Cast vinyl
- Cardboard
- Chipboard
- Corrugated plastic (such as Coroplast)
- Foam board (FoamCor, Kapaboard, etc)
- Glass
- Mesh
- MDO and MDF boards
- Paper
- Plywood
- Polycarbonate
- Polystyrene
- PVC
- Sign foam (see also foam board)
- Textiles such as canvas and flag material
- Window film
What is not known is which materials require a primer (acrylic or glass perhaps). As of April 22, there was still not a page on the Gerber Solara ion Z.
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The Gerber ion Z flatbed UV-curable inkjet printer, ISA trade show 2009. |
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Gerber has discontinued their flatbed UV-cured printers. I spoke with the owner of a Gerber cationic ink flatbed printer a few months ago, and he was content. Cationic ink has several quirks but also several advantages. 400 of this printer were reportedly sold, so there is plenty of feedback available if you consider buying one of the units still available. Tech support and spare parts will be continued for a reasonable period by the manufacturer. Since there are so many other brands and models of newer printers, we do not tend to update evaluations of printers that have been discontinued. |
Last posted May 2, 2011
First posted April 22, 2009, after ISA trade show the week before.
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We are adding new pages and new features every month so it is not always realistic to update old pages from past years. All the old equipment is still available on eBay, so we keep even our old pages. If you wish only the more up to date product reviews, these are in PDFs (not in the web pages, but in PDFs which are linked in the columns at the right of every page). Please realize that we tend to update a page (or a PDF) primarily when it is clear that our readers ask about this brand or model frequently. With over 45 brands of UV printers and over 200 models in the past ten years, it is not realistic to update pages on obsolete brands or unpopular models. If you prefer to speak with Nicholas Hellmuth in person about a printer, you can bring him to your company anywhere in the world as consultant. By later in 2011 each of our web sites will be in 36 different languages with instant translation (and better than old fashioned web page translators of several years ago). So far all the languages are available on www.FLAAR.org and www.3d-scanners-3d-software-reviews.org. Next will be our fine art photography, giclee, decor web site. |
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