Plotter recommendations

[JonKoch]

Hi All, 

 

I work in a small Landscape Architectural office and we are in search of a new plotter. We have an HP T-2500 that has basically expired at this point. We are a mac based office and I'd say we use the plotter pretty much every day. We mostly use it for printing color plans, but occasionally some higher quality renders. We don't do a ton of scanning so that's probably not a huge priority and we usually plot 24x46"

 

Obviously we don't want to break the bank but don't want to sacrifice quality or speed since sometimes we have some heavier files that need to get printed. Anyway, I'd love to hear what some other Mac based offices are using for plotters and what you think of them. 

 

Thanks!

[Jeff Prince]

HP DesignJet T830 Is a very reliable machine.  It does have a scanner though.  It does a nice job printing renderings if you use the right paper and settings.  Production graphics are quick and easy in the draft/fast mode.

 

Any designjet is probably a solid choice.

[JonKoch]

Thanks @jeff prince! I think having a scanner is helpful in certain situations so it's not like we won't ever use it. Thanks again!

[Jeff Prince]

9 minutes ago, JonKoch said:

Thanks @jeff prince! I think having a scanner is helpful in certain situations so it's not like we won't ever use it. Thanks again!

 

I saw they have the 24" wide model on sale for $2800 at HP.  That seems like a very good deal considering what it include.

I have used the 36" wide unit.

[JonKoch]

23 hours ago, jeff prince said:

 

I saw they have the 24" wide model on sale for $2800 at HP.  That seems like a very good deal considering what it include.

I have used the 36" wide unit.

Yeah I had my eye on the 24". Very rarely do we print larger than ArchD

[halfcoupler]

Bought a HP DesignJet T650 24-in 6 Months ago. I call it my 'dancing machine' since it's shaking a lot when printing, but up to now, it works reliable. I think it's mainly designed for small business. I'm printing not more than 80 Sheets per week.

[Claes Lundstrom]

5 hours ago, halfcoupler said:

Bought a HP DesignJet T650 24-in 6 Months ago. I call it my 'dancing machine' since it's shaking a lot when printing, but up to now, it works reliable. I think it's mainly designed for small business. I'm printing not more than 80 Sheets per week.

 

Yes you need a solid table, that's for sure.

 

Just shifted from a Canon TM200 to a HP. Way better and reliable. I hated the Canon from day one over the three years I have had it. Ridiculously fragile, over engineered, very expensive print head, and the worst drama queen ever, though printed well when being in a good mood and a lot of persuasion

[JonKoch]

On 7/18/2023 at 12:26 PM, jeff prince said:

HP DesignJet T830 Is a very reliable machine.  It does have a scanner though.  It does a nice job printing renderings if you use the right paper and settings.  Production graphics are quick and easy in the draft/fast mode.

 

Any designjet is probably a solid choice.

@jeff prince We got our T830 the other day and it works great! They must've improved the processing speed because it prints way quicker than our old one, which was wicked old. Even the heavier PDF's with renderings process quickly. Thanks again for the recommendation.

[Jeff Prince]

My pleasure, that’s great to hear!

Now, make sure you keep it running well by observing the maintenance schedule and keeping it clean.  Build up of paper dust, ink vapors, and mangled bits of paper stuck in the throat are usual the cause of most issues.

[halfcoupler]

Anyone here who uses HP's "Instant Ink" subscription ?

Does it have real advantages or ist it just a monthly money collection for HP ?

[Tony Dominski]

Any comments or experience with the 
Epson T5170