Oce CS9065 and CS9090 are another option for eco-solvent or mild-solvent

You can order from Oce either the mild-solvent or the eco-solvent versions but Oce does not differentiate them by model name; the names used by Oce only differentiate the width Oce CS9065 and CS9090 (65 inches and 90 inches).

It would not be normal to switch back and forth frequently. Most printshops would select either eco-solvent ink or mild-solvent ink chemistry at the beginning, and then stick with this.

Oce CS9060 is an eco-solvent printer

It offers what Oce calls WAVE Stitching, which is Mutoh’s Intelligent Interweaving. The Oce CS9060 looks like the Mutoh ValueJet.

Here is the Oce CS9060 eco-solvent printer at VISCOM Germany trade show 2007.

Oce VariaDot Imaging Technology

With all the new models available at ISA and FESPA 2010, FLAAR is offering personalized consulting at each trade show. You can walk-the-floor with the Senior Editor of FLAAR and get his comments on any and all printers, inks, RIP software, color management, substrates, applications, etc. So if you wish to learn about the difference between combo, hybrid, and dedicated UV printers, how latex ink compares, about textile printers, etc. contact FLAAR to obtain consulting. You can also get consulting before ISA or FESPA anywhere in the world: Dr Hellmuth was in Dubai and India last week as consultant, and will be in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and China as consultant in the next two months. He was consulting in Korea and London in late 2009.

Since variable droplets produced by an Epson printhead are not the same technology as produced by a Xaar-based Toshiba Tec printhead, I could never understand why Oce claims these variable drops result from its own “Oce VariaDot Imaging Technology.”

One statement claims “Unique Oce Technology.” But what? And why make an issue of something that is potentially identical to what every other printer with the same software or same printhead already offers?

Variable droplets come already from Epson for that head; variable droplets are already inherent in the Toshiba Tec head. The Toshiba Tec head is used in the Oce Arizona 250 GT (and the identical UV-cured flatbed printer also sold as the Fuji Acuity).

Since the technology inside a Toshiba Tec head is greyscale, and the technology inside the heads used in the Oce CS9060, Oce CS9065, and Oce CS9090 is from Epson, and are fixed droplet sizes, I don’t yet understand why Oce uses one word to describe two essentially different jetting processes.

Xerox

Xerox sells the identical Mutoh-manufactured printers as does Oce. The same printers are sold by Mutoh itself as the Mutoh Rockhopper 3 Extreme (with eco-solvent ink) and the Mutoh Spitfire Extreme (with mild-solvent ink). To help our readers understand the differences FLAAR has a comprehensive review of each Mutoh version of the printer.

This information is also valid for the Xerox 8265 and Xerox 8290 and for the Oce CS9065 and Oce CS9090. So when doing your price comparisons, realize that essentially it’s the identical printer (despite other claims to the contrary). The RIP software may be different, but all the ink that is used by any printer employing Epson printheads has to come via Epson so that Epson can extract a tithe on all ink that passes through its printheads. So basically the ink is the same. Even Mutoh and Roland use the identical ink (on those of their printheads of the same generation with the same Epson printheads.

Although there is still a growing market for solvent, eco-solvent, and mild-solvent printers, UV flatbed such as the new Gerber Solara ion are becoming increasingly popular.