Looking for input

[chuckssigns]

Looking for some input on vinyl plotters. I have a Graphtec FC3100 that works great but I need an upgrade.. I see a lot of knock-off brands, RedSail,US Cutters,SignKey, etc... Has anyone used any of these? Or the other no name brands? I know the analogy you get what you pay for, and also know that the name brands, Roland, Graphtec are superior. But at a cost. Just want to know if anyone has used these and thoughts from personal experience. Good or bad. Thanks in advance.

[Signsfast]

Im sure there are plenty out there that are working fine but I would never buy one as a primary plotter. Id lose more money then id save if mine ever went down for a few days. Our mimmaki has been flawless for the last 7-8 years (knock on wood)

[alltex]

I've had my Summa for almost 10 years. Granted we don't use it everyday. But zero problems... Knock on wood, also!

[Brian]

we used the hell out of our graphtec and it never fails. The is the 3rd one I have owned (getting a bigger one each time) and I will stick with them

[eugene@signmakershc.com]

I agree on the Graphtec. I have two that run all day everyday. Never a minutes trouble.

[tdewitt]

Long story short....you'll spend more money on vinyl that what it's worth to go with a cheap cutter, I threw away lots and lots of vinyl with my US Cutters... From not tracking straight to just stopping in the middle of a cut file they have sooo many bugs in them it's not funny.

[Signsfast]

I had a grapthtec 700? something . it was the biggest POS i think i ever purchased. We couldnt wait to throw that thing in the dumpster

[jrosenfeld]

Summa plotters are by far the best. They're workhorses that track extremely well over long cut. Also have a very good print / plot feature.

Edited June 21, 2016 by jrosenfeld

[Rocco]

I'll agree with the above. unless you cut less than 50 yards of vinyl a year a cheap plotter is a waste of time/effort. as usual buy a good tool (plotter, truck, drill, etc) and it will last and pay for itself. buy a cheap tool and you get what you pay for. My first plotter, a Gerber 4-B, lasted 30+ years. It cost $10K when we bought it way back when (with six whole fonts BTW) but until I upgraded a relatively short while ago it was still a workhorse.

If it was to be a backup plotter then maybe its worth the price, but I think as a whole that we American's are bargain hunting ourselves out of jobs by buying too many cheap Asian imports. However that's a rant for another time/place.

[arkmartin]

Have used Summa for 20 years now. Can't imagine using anything else. One of my competitors has a Gerber and the only thing different between his Gerber and our Summa is nameplate.

[chuckssigns]

Thanks for all the input guys. I figured my gut was right. You get what you pay for and that's why there's a big difference in $$$. Thanks again everyone and have a great week.

[HansonSigns]

We have a graphtec - our designer hates it, says it misspells words and gets scales wrong... He had his own one man shop before he came here and has a summa and absolutely loves it.