# Will the new ricoh GXe3300N produce big enough prints for most dye sublimation needs?



## jmj (Feb 24, 2008)

I would like to know from all the sublimators out there do you really do a lot of items that are larger than 8.5 x14? I have been thinking about getting either the 5050 or 7000 but do not want to spend the money, I bought a Epson 1280 about 2 years ago but it never woked and sawgrass could never get it to work so that was $1500 down the drain. I just got an email blast from Conde with the new 3300 and I really like the price, just want to make sure I would be doing the right thing. I do not plan on doing a lot of t-shirts and even if I do 8.5 x 14 should be OK, I screen print all the time and hardly ever have anything that big. I need your thoughts before I call and place the order. What products would you do that large?


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

I was interested in this too. When you think about it, 8.5 x 14 is enough for most designs, unless you're doing big full-wrap fancy designs. A bigger printer would be nice, sure, but the cost goes up exponentially, both for the printer and for materials.


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## jmj (Feb 24, 2008)

I've looked over Conde's products and I only see a few that you would need a larger printer for, then you would need a larger heat press, my biggest is 16x16, some of the larger items I do not think would even sell. Sure a few of the cutting boards, car mats but nothing I see worth spending the extra money on. I'm very nervous about this purchase because of the last none working printer, someone out there please reassure me that this would be a good purchase.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

I have been using the ricoh GX7000 for a year and have not had a single clogging issue...even when turned off for a 2 week vacation. BTW..I think Conde recommends not turning the printer off and turning off and on uses more ink.. There is an extra tray for the GX7000 which will take 13x19...but out of the box it will do 13x17. The GX5050 will do 8.5x14 and is actually faster than the GX7000. NOW....there is a new ricoh..the GXe3300 which is only $439 for the printer WITH sublimation ink from Conde... and you can get a bypass tray that will let you do banners!


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## greenmachine (Oct 31, 2008)

Actually the 7000 will print 11 x 17 out of the box. Also the 5050 has just been discontinued by Ricoh. That is why there are sales on it now.

greenie


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## aparts (Oct 18, 2008)

We are also interested in this printer. Does it come with an ICC profile? Will this price be offered in Atlantic City? We haven't been doing any sublimation since our last plugged up c120. Tired of dealing with the plugged nozzles since we didn't use it every day.


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## EddieM (Jun 29, 2009)

I have the larger 7000 and i am very glad i got the large one.

So far I all most never print designs that the smaller printer would be able to print.
I am doing shirt designs in the 12 x12 or more size.

The main part of the design in more in the center but i might have a burst or lines going to the outer edges that looks great.

Plus for smaller designs you can print a few of them at once on the larger paper.

If you do any smaller metal items or anything you can print a large page full and then place the metal face down on each print area to press it - that is a lot more easy.
But you do need a big press.

I just ordered a lot of items from Conde today and most are all larger then 8.5 x14.
The Dyetrans towels look amazing


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## jpkevin (Oct 22, 2007)

Another important thing to consider, is that the GX7000 uses larger cartridges, and your cost per millileter of ink is less with the GX7000.


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## jmj (Feb 24, 2008)

Thanks for all the imput, I thought I had made up my mind but I'm now re-thinking. Shipping for me is a big deal, so not only do I have to budget for a new project but I have to budget for the shipping. Michelle at Conde is going to pull her hair out before I make up my mind.


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

Well, I just bit the bullet and ordered a 3300, so I'll let you all know how it goes. First foray back into tee printing since using a C88 (that was useless).


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

I have found the e3300n to be an excellent printer. Nice quality. Our ICC profile is excellent.
My measurements are: Cost of printing is about $.49 per full coverage letter on a GX7000 vs about $.62 on the e3300n.

Speed is also excellent being the same as the 7000 with a print speed of 27 seconds for heavy letter
page.

Yes, the 5050 is being replaced with the e5050n. I do not see a real need for this printer in our world as the e3300 seems perfect for letter/legal sublimation.


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

We'll it arrived today, and it goes badly. There are no Mac Sublijet drivers/profiles apparently. Just called Sawgrass and they say they have no plans to make them! I have the world's heaviest paperweight...


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

We are good to go with profiles for Mac and PC. Both 32 and 64 bit.
I am not sure why Sawgrass said that as they know we cover all platforms.
Color is excellent.

I have not had good luck with the powerdriver.


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## SublimatorToo (Jan 15, 2009)

The solution to the problem, as usual, is to work backwards, from the finished end to the start. That way you will make certain that everything in your system is compatible.

The question to ask is, "What did I need to do to get to tis step?" And when you know what works to get you there, ask what was needed to get you to that second last step and so on.

If you start at the start, many times you'll be spending a lot more time and money as you find out that things don't work as you had been led to believe they would or as you had expected that they would. And you just can't make it work out without changing most or in many cases all of the procedure and sometimes hardware and software as well.

That happened when I wanted to set up for sublimation.

I had intended to use an Epson 4800 printer and my Mac. So I started with the Mac. 

Same old story that you got. No drivers for the printer with the MAc with Sawgrass stuff for that printer - just for a handfull of other printers which were of no interest.

OK. What if we switch the printer over to the PC? Big problem. Must upgrade the PC to handle the printer efficiently. It also meant more hoops to jump through since in this case, it became necessary to locate the printer remotely from the computer. That meant network cables, print server and so on.

So before I got started, I realized what I would need in terms of equipment and costs, with fewer surprises than I would have had otherwise.

As for size, my press is 16" x 20" and I wish it were larger. It's a major problem to do the entire back of a shirt. I have absolutely no wiggle room. Everything must be precisely lined up. And it gets expensive if you need to redo high end shirts and replace them for free! 

Handling smaller items is not a problem. And the larger size of both the printer and the press allows ganging things up to save overall time.

BTW, the Epson 4800 printer in my experience is notorious for screwing up by clogging, wasting ink, chewing up transfer paper and so on. All that leads to considerably increased costs.


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

Conde_David said:


> We are good to go with profiles for Mac and PC. Both 32 and 64 bit.
> I am not sure why Sawgrass said that as they know we cover all platforms. Color is excellent.


Well that's what I thought too, I was very surprised by the Sawgrass answer. They must know that a lot of graphics pros use Macs?


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

For Artainium inks, should be just fine on Mac OS X.
What ink were you using?


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

Conde_David said:


> For Artainium inks, should be just fine on Mac OS X.
> What ink were you using?


 Sublijet. My past experience running without ICC profiles on other printers has been horrible, but if you think I'll be OK I'll give it a go. I just didn't want to get it all set up then have to send it back used because I couldn't get reasonable colors.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

I have profiles for all Artainium and Ricoh printers. Yes, you must use an ICC profile and the correct driver settings.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

SublimatorToo said:


> BTW, the Epson 4800 printer in my experience is notorious for screwing up by clogging, wasting ink, chewing up transfer paper and so on. All that leads to considerably increased costs.


Just an FYI -The kind of printer you have is not the real factor in clogging - it is the ink. The Epson 48XX-98XX printers are incredibly reliable if you use the right ink.


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

Just want to say a big thank you to David Gross, who went out of his way to help me this evening. I no longer have a giant paperweight, but a fully functioning sublimation printer. the first results are looking very promising...


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

Ok, I've had the GX e3300n for a little while, here's my impressions so far: I've been using Sublijet R inks and the ICM profile from Conde on a Mac. I've been printing mouse pads and Unisub stuff, no tees yet.

Really easy to set up and get printing.

Very high quality prints. So far no image issues of any kind, no clogging, even when left unattended for days. 

Fast.

Initially used quite a lot of ink (charging the lines?) but seems to be running economically now, which is good because each tank is $60.

Only prints 8" wide. I've gotten used to printers that go really close to full 8.5" so this takes some getting used to, and may be a reason to get the 7000 instead.

Loud-ish. It really clatters away when it's printing.

Overall I'm really pleased.


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## Trisha (Sep 2, 2005)

That's good to hear because I just ordered one! I don't think I will need to print anything bigger.


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## Cynthia (Jan 5, 2007)

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU DAVID AT CONDE!!! I purchased a Ricoh GXe3300n printer and had problems with it from the beginning. Now that it is working correctly I am very happy. Sawgrass dropped the ball in their helping rectify the situation, but the tech team at Conde, specifically David Grosse, fixed the issue. It took him most of the day and a lot of patience, but he made me a happy customer. If you are thinking of purchasing anything from Conde, equipment and/or supplies, this is the company to deal with. Their customer satisfaction cannot be beat!


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## American logoZ (Sep 16, 2009)

I love my 3300, but I'm finding that it not only prints only 8" wide - it's also a bit random about exactly which 8" it's going to print. I did a test print that looked fine. Then I set it to print 20 of that same page. Approx 2/3 of the 20 chopped off just enough of the graphic's edge to force me to re-print - and ultimately I had to reduce the width of my graphic. Frustrating....and wasteful

Anyone know what benefit the bypass tray offers? I have seen it said that it allows for banner printing, but I haven't seen any pictures or videos -- mine is still in the box.


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## American logoZ (Sep 16, 2009)

Bad news for those of us who purchased the bypass tray thinking we could print banners. I hope someone with experience with this will tell us differently, but here's what Sawgrass has to say:

The Ricoh 3300 does have a bypass tray that attaches to the back of the printer that will allow it to print rolls. However, it is not recommended for dye sub.

The bypass does not hold the paper, so it would have to be rigged to allow it to print rolls. And also the paper coming out of the front of the machine will curve, making the print head strike the paper. 

Unless this is guy is running production it is really just a wasted effort.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

I have used the bypass tray for printing neckties.
I cut it to the length I need and set my paper size to that length.
It works.

I also use it for our mug paper.


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## American logoZ (Sep 16, 2009)

Thank you!

Do you by any chance have a video of the tray in use - or have plans for such a video? Does Conde sell 8.5 width rolls?


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

Great video idea.

Will check on the paper.


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

Cynthia said:


> Sawgrass dropped the ball in their helping rectify the situation, but the tech team at Conde, specifically David Grosse, fixed the issue.


I hope that Sawgrass are paying you David, because you're having to do all their tech support for them


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## Xpert Apparel UK (Jul 18, 2009)

Got my e3300, and reasonably happy with it, compared to my old 1290, only problem i have, is that the colours are not that good, especially yellow, i installed the Power Driver-R as instructed, on the CD it had the ICC profiles as well, should i have installed both, or have i done it ok. I'm using Adobe Photoshop 7, never had any colour problems with the Epson, just the usual clogging, that's why i changed to the Ricoh, i know the problem is me, as reading on here, others are more than happy with it, any tips will be gratefully received.
Regards


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## Cynthia (Jan 5, 2007)

I agree with you (I have the Ricoh 3300, too). My Epson 4800 did great printing (when it worked, due to clog issues!!!). I have installed the Conde driver instead of the Sawgrass driver, because the colors with the Sawgrass were WAY OFF! Sawgrass attempted to help me, but I guess when they couldn't figure a solution they just stopped contacting me. The colors are still not as good as the Epson, but there are no clogging issues so far. So, it is not just you!


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

Michael, can you be more specific what's off with the colors? Is it across the spectrum, just the greens, too dull, too contrasty, or what? 

One thing David told me was that CMYK images don't translate well, and I've seen that too. 

I print and press a color test pattern when I'm trying to solve issues like this, one that has a color swatch array and a natural scene with skin tones (I think Fuji has a free one).

Also, it does seem that how you do the heat transfer has some effect on the colors, I've seen that pressing for longer than recommended increases the color density somewhat (as long as you don't overdo it and burn). Of course that might just be my particular press.


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## American logoZ (Sep 16, 2009)

I have a customer's logo which is a cranberry color. Unfortunately, my 3300 turns it brown. They have decided against dye sub for their shirts (not just for this reason), but I'd sure like to know what to do differently for next time.


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## Cynthia (Jan 5, 2007)

I have the same trouble with my client's logo. It is a grape-purple and it turns out almost black, even with the driver from Conde. However, David sent me a True Tone file (I think that is what it was called,) and I was able to match up colors that way. He suggested printing it and sublimating it on item you will be printing on. I believe the file is also at the Conde website. Conde is a great company to work for. They are very helpful and knowledgeable!


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## Xpert Apparel UK (Jul 18, 2009)

You guys are so lucky to have David at Conde to deal with, i'm based in the UK, with a few problems, he sorted them out within 2 hours, and i now have a great Ricoh system, which i was beginning to loose heart with. Thanks again, and i hope you guys appreciate what you've got.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply.
Regards


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## jge (Oct 7, 2008)

" However, David sent me a True Tone file" - what pray tell is a true tone file ?


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

It is a TruMatch color chart.
See my article below.
[media]http://conde.com/wdg/Street_Smart_Color_2007.pdf[/media]


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## jge (Oct 7, 2008)

Thank you !

I would love to know how it is that you manage to help half the world, put out all these instructions and still do your work. Do you ever sleep ?


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## American logoZ (Sep 16, 2009)

BEFORE buying a Ricoh 3300 or 7000 you should be aware of a "known" problem with the motherboard. It is very obvious when the motherboard goes out, and it takes only a couple of telephone calls to diagnose the problem and receive a promise of a replacement printer. If you are using their inks, Sawgrass tells me that they will replace the printer for up to 1 year from the date of original purchase. They said the replacement printer will arrive in a couple of days - it's been 4 working days, and I have received no replacement printer yet. When I asked about replacing the expensive inks in the lines, they told me that they will send ONE replacement cartridge in the color of my choice. So I have half an order completed, a customer patiently waiting, no printer, and some promises ... and it sounds like I need to order a set of replacement carts to ensure enough ink to fill the new lines AND finish the job. frustrating & expensive


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

On the subject of color fidelity: The Truematch tip is good, but it is a fudge-fix. Basically your accepting that the printer won't print color accurately, and so doing it 'backwards' by printing samples and then picking the color you want from that. This is the first printer I've had in a long time that has been so poor about printing accurate color, reminds me of the early days of inkjet printing. I've tweaked and tweaked my colors, pressure, substrates, temperature, etc. and it always comes out a bit 'muddy'. I compensate for this in the design, but that's really a half-baked way to go about things. I think Sawgrass needs to redo their profiles (and do them for Mac too this time!).


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

Are you using our ICC profile or the power
driver?


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## jge (Oct 7, 2008)

*Known motherboard problem on Ricoh ?*

Pray tell, what is the "known" motherboard problem on these printers ? 

If it's known, why don't they do anything about it ? 

Any way for us to know before we fill the thing with ink ?


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

ICC profile kindly provided by you. Since it's something you're providing gratis I really don't feel it's your place to have to fix Sawgrass' issue though. They need to step up and provide proper color profiles for their ink on various substrates.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

Thanks.
I would prefer Sawgrass stick to only
making ink. We should be able to take care
of the rest.

With few exceptions, I do not recommend
the powerdriver.

So, is the color great with our profile?


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

Regarding the post on motherboard issues,
We are studying the issue along with all the other
folks. Will post when we know more.


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## mudgin (Aug 19, 2010)

hi, have been reading this thread with intersest. I live in the U.K and I have a Ricoh GXe3300N, I'm using Sawgrass Sublijet-R inks with their ICC profile installed and their PowerDriver. Transfer paper is TexPrint-R and imaging software is Photoshop CS4. My heat press is an Adkins swing and times and temperatures for sublimation products have been obtained from Novachrome UK. My problems is this, the blacks on my sublimated images are washed out and very 'flat', I have tweaked so many things that I am out of ideas. Please help.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

You should use one or the other, but not both.
Call me if that fails.


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

I experimented a bit last night with changing the printer color management settings. This is on a Mac OS 10.6 using Photoshop CS4 with a RGB image with no color profile embedded. I'm printing onto Texprint-R and transferring to a fabric/neoprene mousepad (400F for 65 seconds). The design is a graphic with saturated colors, so bear that in mind, this might not be so good for a photographic image.

The starting point was using the ICC profile supplied by Conde, and all settings as they suggest. That gives a print that's always a bit 'muddy' with darker colors that look like they've had black added.

I changed the Rendering Intent from 'Perceptual' to 'Relative Colorimetric' which slightly improved things. Then I turned on 'Black Point Compensation' and that made an enormous difference. The colors were somewhat lighter, but the muddiness was gone! 

It's always a trade-off with color balance I know, but those having color problems might like to give this a go and see what happens.


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

On the ink consumption topic:

I lost 24% of one of my inks to the maintenance cycle last night! I got back to find we'd had a power cut, powered the printer back on and watched as it went through the maintenance cycle for what seemed like ages. My cyan had 12% left when it started (I've been keeping track closely). It used up all of that, I loaded a new tank and by the time it was done the new one was down to 88%. That's 24% gone, just like that!

I know that common knowledge is that you leave the printer on all the time, but I'm wondering if it loses power without being turned off first whether it messes up it's sensors or maintenance sequence or something. We have frequent power outages, so maybe I ought to turn it off when not in use?

PS: Does anyone know if you can crack open the maintenance tank on a 3300n like David shows in his video? I looked and mine seems to be completely glued shut, I think it would be smashed by prying it open.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

I have not figured out how to reset the 3300 tank.
My video is on condetv.com for the 7000 and
5050n.

Sorry about the ink loss.

I will study to see what could help.


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

Is it true that the waste ink collector (Maintenance tank) is supposed to be good for up to 27,000 prints? Mine has managed a whopping 260 and is full. Something is really wrong if that's the case.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

Yes, something is wrong.
Did you load the Ricoh inks first?

That number is for office type printing.

Did you do any flushings?


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

No, I ran the Sawgrass inks from a new never-used printer. I've never done any kind of flush or head-cleaning, just left the printer to it's own schedule. It's never shown the least signs of misprinting at all, so I haven't fooled with it. The ink consumption for actually printing seems very economical, it really seems to be the maintenance cycles that are sucking it down.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

Did the printer say to replace the ink collector
Unit?


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

Yes. I pulled it out to check if I could recycle it by emptying it out (you can't by the way) and it felt quite heavy, so I think it is close to full.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

Ok. I want you to update the printers firmware.

Here is the link:
http://support.ricoh.com/bb/pub_e/dr_ut_e/0001187/0001187212/V110/z45734Lf.exe


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## mrshill (Sep 25, 2008)

I here so much about this printer and I am on pins and needles about buying it. I just cannot afford to buy something that does not work. My budget is limited and I don't have the time to play around with something that does not work properly. I use coreldraw x4 does anyone think i will have any problems with this and the 3300. 
Thanks


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

Interesting point.
I have done sublimation for 18 years.
I know of no printer or computer or software
That does not have issues.

Just ask folks that had corel 10 or windows 
ME.

Well things do get better and the e3300 printer
is the best letter/legal printer yet.


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## mrshill (Sep 25, 2008)

Thanks so much for the response. I will order my printer tomorrow! I am so nervous, i want to at least give this a try. Can you recommend so things that I should purchase with this to get me started?
I mainly will be doing small items such as aluminium water bottles and t-shirts for kids.

Carolyn


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## Xpert Apparel UK (Jul 18, 2009)

Please don't take this wrong, as it's meant as good advice, but if you can't really afford to risk £250 on a printer, really think hard about getting involved in this business, as this is a very small amount when things go wrong big time, and they will, my Adkins heat press just cost £350 to repair, my mug press gave up, £400 to replace, laptop died etc etc. That's without chasing bad payers, as i said, i'm not trying to put you off, but this is what will happen, but it's still a great job.
I just updated my firmware, as per David Gross's recent post, don't know why, but that's how much i trust his knowledge, he really is the best person to deal with, just wish he was in the UK, as he would clean up in the business.


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

Thanks David, I did the firmware update last night, then went investigating. I was at 1.02 and so the firmware update should fix the following specifically ink-consumption issues:

The machine unnecessarily performs maintenance if the operator always shuts off the machine without using the main power button, which in turn shortens the yields of the ink cartridge and ink collector.

The timing of the ink sending sequence was changed from 30 days of idling to 45 days of idling since the last print job.

----- Since we've had several power blackouts this summer with the storms, I'm thinking I've fallen foul of the first scenario. That would seem to match my experience with it being the maintenance cycle that's the main ink user.

Since I'm using the printer once every couple of days to batch my prints, I'm thinking it might be best to power it down in-between, what do you think? Ah, never mind, just read the bit about the belt getting a permament bend if it's left in one position.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

Let me know how it goes.


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## Xpert Apparel UK (Jul 18, 2009)

Just done 144 mugs over a period of a week, left the machine on 24/7, designs averaged out at about 70% coverage per mug.
I used 8%-8%-20%-6% which works out at £16 sterling, just over 10p per mug, but the best part was, no blockages, just press print and wait, that's worth a fortune to me. 
Just ignore the ink level warnings, and use the Conde method of checking, i'm still going strong with only 6% left in the cyan cartridge, yet the printers being say low level/replace for over two weeks.


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## PhilDx (Feb 13, 2010)

So the new firmware's been in place for a while now, so far so good. We haven't had any more power cuts so I can't be sure, but it does seem that the ink levels are holding better now. To echo what others have said, the printer will run with low ink warnings for ages before they actually run out.


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## Lionheart73 (May 13, 2010)

We bought the Gxe3300N from Conde about 2 months ago and have been very happy with it. We did in fact have some color issues at first, but once the awesome tech support at Conde helped us understand the TruMatch system and how it worked with the ICC profile, we haven't looked back.

I would definitely recommend this printer for a newbie. Get your feet wet, learn the ropes of dye-sub, and then save up to buy your bigger printer with all the money you will make using your Ricoh.


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