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Epson 7600 vs HP800ps


dbep321

Question

In our small architectural office, we are running Mac OS 10.2.8 and VW 9.5.3; we'll upgrade the VW eventually, but each upgrade creates all sorts of issues that take so long to absorb.... We are buying a new large format printer to replace our HP450c, and we are considering the Epson 7600 and HP 800ps. A few questions:

1. How does the VW program talk to the printer? Is postscript required? Is RIP software required? Is any of it built into the VW program?

2. The HP has postscript software installed. Is RIP software required for the Epson to print VW drawings? Epson's RIP software is $2000. Is this required or is there a less expensive version that will work (say the Microspot X-RIP 1.6)?

3. I think that the HP can be hooked up to 5 Macs with just a router, no external print server, no additional software: does anyone know if this is true?

4. Can anyone tell me whether the Epson will require an external print server to hook it up to several Macs?

5. The Epson seems to be a better printer, but seems to need a lot to make it work. any reason not to get the HP?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

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VectorWorks hands alot of the printing functions off to the OS to complete. There aren't any special software products you need for VW that you don't need for the OS to print.

If you are using a non-ps printer, you'll need RIP software. You can use Epson's, or you use XRIPs. The Epson rip software is still pretty new for OS 10. XRip's been around for a few years.

The rest of the questions should be discussed with the Epson sales rep, or by others on the message board that have experienced Epson printers with OS 10.

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We've had our Epson 7600 up and running for six months or so. We simply print directly to Epson's latest driver, non-ps, and have had excellent results. The printer is connected to one of the less-used work stations, but even the few times I've worked in VW (on that station) while it's printing, I didn't notice any performance issues. (I don't believe I'd ask that station to render something complex while it's printing, however.)

Our experience, and that of several other individuals posting here over time, is that Epson does a tremendous job of supporting the Mac environment. We've only had reason to call Epson a couple of times, but both times we got a live person on the phone within 5 minutes and the answers shortly after.

The added bonus of being able to print truly high-res color photos (promo display boards, etc) pushes the balance heavily in favor of the Epson.

Good luck with your decision.

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Thanks, Travis.

What I am hearing (from outside this forum as well) is that HP has not made their printers and/or drivers compatible with Mac, especially OS X.

So, with your Epson 7600, you are using a less frequently used computer as the print server, and you are printing non-ps. Does that mean that you don't need RIP software? If you do have RIP software, could you please tell me which one you are using?

And how many computers are printing to the Epson 7600 (through the print server)? How are they connected? Is there a router? a wireless connection?

Many thanks for your advice.

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no need for a rip with the epson. you can get a ethernet add in card for the epson and then any computer on the network can use the epson. you got to use the eposn card however, not any third party ones. Print processing is done on each computer. if you have recent macs like dual processor G4's or G5's they can handle the print processing and working in vwks ( multitasking ) pretty good such that you will not notice the print processing that tmuch.

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