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Need a affordable plotter!

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ErieTint

ErieTint

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Very broad question. There are lots of brands to choose from with plotters. Stick to something well known though; Graphtec or Roland are two of the bigger brands. Same goes for software. More options here than there are with the plotters.


I had a friend that got out of tinting that sold me a 42" Graphtec for a great price. For software, I chose to go with LLumar for my film so that kind of made my software choice for me. The decision was pretty much equal parts film brand and quality of software when I was looking and getting started.

 

It all comes down to what you need and how much you want to spend right now. If this is a part time / side hustle you may want to forego the plotter and software for right now and just dial up your hand cutting skills to save some money.

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chriswelckle

chriswelckle

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Don't we all! Don't be confused and buy too cheap! You will end up buying another one then. Vinyl Express makes some good ones that are Graphtec under the cover. I searched the internet high and low and bought mine probably 10 years ago after I had bought my first one for nearly $1000. Mine came from a company that repossess business machines from places going out of business. I paid 2 grand for my second one, after I paid a grand for my first, so really I paid $3 grand for the one I have since there is no market for used plotters that are junk.

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quality tintz

quality tintz

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22 minutes ago, chriswelckle said:

Don't we all! Don't be confused and buy too cheap! You will end up buying another one then. Vinyl Express makes some good ones that are Graphtec under the cover. I searched the internet high and low and bought mine probably 10 years ago after I had bought my first one for nearly $1000. Mine came from a company that repossess business machines from places going out of business. I paid 2 grand for my second one, after I paid a grand for my first, so really I paid $3 grand for the one I have since there is no market for used plotters that are junk.

What brand was second one??

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chriswelckle

chriswelckle

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What brand was second one??

Vinyl Express q160. It the same as a Graphtec. In fact, I gave it an electrical static electricity shock and fried the mother board. I replaced it with and FC7000 Graphtec mother board. That's how I know.

I use it for paint protection film. I have played around with tint, but I find as a one man show, it's just a distraction. It's required for ppf.

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quality tintz

quality tintz

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3 minutes ago, chriswelckle said:

Vinyl Express q160. It the same as a Graphtec. In fact, I gave it an electrical static electricity shock and fried the mother board. I replaced it with and FC7000 Graphtec mother board. That's how I know.

I use it for paint protection film. I have played around with tint, but I find as a one man show, it's just a distraction. It's required for ppf.

Rite on thanks

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