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First look at the Roland SolJet Pro III Print & Cut XC-540
I first saw the Roland SolJet Pro III Print & Cut XC-540 at FESPA Digital in mid-May 2006. If this was at ISA a few weeks earlier, I missed it (since there were more booths at ISA than a mortal could cover in three days, especially with all the Chinese solvent ink printers).
Essentially the “III” is the result of trial and error with past models. The eco-solvent ink also went through the headaches of the first two generations. The present third-generation Eco-Sol Max ink is acceptable. I have used this Eco-Sol Max ink both at a workshop in Greece and in the booth of Materia Grigia at FESPA trade show itself (to print floor plans suggesting where to go).
The reason for it taking so many years to get-it-right is because the original Roland heritage is water-based inks, in the halcyon days when Roland was the premier printer for giclee and fine art photography. Then Epson took this rich market away (along with 90% of the proofing market too). So Roland (and Mutoh and Mimaki) had to evolve to survive. Along came the rosy concept of eco-solvent. The inadequate chemistry of the first two generations of ink was an unmitigated disaster for three years. Now, in 2006, Roland has an improved ink and two promising new printers, the present Roland SolJet Pro III Print & Cut XC-540, and the Roland Advanced Jet, AJ-1000.
Until we have one in-house to evaluate the Pro III, or until we undertake a site-visit case study, it would not be appropriate to issue a recommendation pro or con. But the Roland SolJet Pro III Print & Cut XC-540 definitely shows promise.
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| Roland SolJet Pro III Print & Cut XC-540 printer at ISA 2008. |
Of course the competition is also infused with energy too, all to some degree a result of HP taking over distribution of the immensely popular Seiko ColorPainter 64 S and rebadging the Seiko as the HP Designjet 9000s. The Seiko printer avoided the problems of eco-solvent ink by going straight to mild solvent ink from the start. As a result of having an excellent color gamut, and based on reactions by many people to the Seiko, their printer received enthusiastic reviews from FLAAR from the beginning, and since FLAAR comments are read world wide by half a million people a year, it is no wonder a printer that had positive features, and received a distinctly favorable review, did well.
In the past we had little access to Roland printers, but since FLAAR has undertaken several consulting and workshop projects in Greece, we have gotten to know Atlas S.A., the main distributor for Roland for Greece and the Balkan area. Through Atlas S.A. it has been possible to have first-hand experience with a Pro II Roland. As a result we have additional access to information, and with more knowledge we can issue a more meaningful conclusion (namely that generation three of the eco-solvent inks has finally reached a point where we rate it as acceptable).
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| Here is the Booth of Roland, DRUPA 2008. |
If this access had been available earlier, and more conveniently in the US, we probably could have updated our comments previously. Anyway, the Roland booth at FESPA Digital was a handsome display of Roland’s European popularity.
But the competition, especially in the US, is getting tough for Japanese manufacturers, since Chinese printers are invading the US market. Graphtec (formerly “Western Graphtec”) is now offering their Graphtec SignJet JS300-18ES eco-solvent printer. But should you consider a Chinese printer? What about tech support, spare parts, image quality?
FLAAR is checking out all these aspects, worldwide, from Turkey across Europe and throughout the USA, we are interviewing people about their experiences with Chinese printers. Our FLAAR Reports is the most comprehensive on Chinese solvent ink printers yet available.
Hewlett-Packard has now introduced their latex ink technology in a new HP Designjet L65500 printer. FLAAR has already inspected a beta test site in Europe and has been trained on latex ink in Israel a month before. Our preliminary report on the HP latex ink is now available, and a report on the printer will be issued as soon as we can spend inspect an advanced beta unit in the future. |
Updated June 5, 2006.
First posted June 1, 2006.
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| Kwangko Sprin |
Eco-Solvent Printers |
| Gerber Jetster |
| Kimoto Philyrassystem |
| Mutoh Phoenix |
| Mild-Solvent
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| Bio-Solvent
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Air Purification Solvent or UV Ink Odors |
| Island Clean Air ICA |
| PAT Technologies |
Solvent Printer IR Dryers |
| Black Body Digi IR Infrared Heaters |
Inks |
| Latex Water-Based Ink replaces Solvent ink |
Interesting inks & |
| UV-Curable ink, OEM (in preparation) |
| UV-Curable, third-party ink Encres Dubuit (others in preparation) |
Fine Art Photography Giclee & Proofing (on other FLAAR sites) |
Epson 4880 |
Epson 7880 |
Epson 9880 |
Most of our updates for 2008 onward are in FLAAR Reports in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. It is more efficient for us to make new information available in PDF format. So if the web page itself is not updated, check out www.wide-format-printers.NET to see if the printer, RIP, or other subject is covered in an update in a PDF download.
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