# vinyl cutter for buissines



## gede (Feb 19, 2008)

hi i'm looking for a vinyl cutter for a lot of t-shirts and car graphics mostly in high volume and quantities, i have been looking and researching a lot, i know the benefits of the optical eye in the roland gx-24, and others (including graphitec wich is hard to get parts, no ofense i know it's a great cutter too), i'm pretty sure i'm buying a roland, but still for some reason looking the copam 2500, i know all the chinese cutters are the same thing different name and even same look and specs, i know people that have the copam 2500 are happy, but looking on line all different post (in different search engines and forums) for customer service in us cutters including the copam 2500 they have a lot of issues no offense to anyone who has it, doing the research i noticed that is the same thing for a high percent, they run good for months if your lucky but after that they start having ugly issues, i'm not disregarding no one i just want something that works for a lot of hours a week, its reliable and last for years let's said a bussines, plese anyone that uses a cutter for bussines or high quantities could you give me your experience and input on the gx-24 and copam2500 production in months and high quantities, and if you have booth that would be better to read on your input, again please no one feel offended, it' not my intention to start a war, just want to know if i can still trust a cheapper copam 2500, wich i'm really don't think, but still want to know cause the review for this 2 roland gx-24 and copam 2500 has not been realesed or completed, i want something consistent in high demand for hours and reliable. again thanks in advance for your post.  

please post if you have at least 6 moths with the cutter and still working .

also wich is better to buy from specialty grafics or imprintables  (if i'm going for the gx-24)  .

and hello to every one in this forum, i only have about 2 weeks registered in this forum and i really like it.


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

Hi Gede,

We have a Graphtec and absolutely love it. 

I haven't heard back from Josh yet, so I haven't been able to do my tests with the Roland and Copam.

I can say with confidence that any Graphtec or Roland, as long as it's not damaged, will run for many, many years, even with very heavy usage. I wish I could say the same, but the Copam just hasn't been around for long enough for me to give that assessment of that plotter. 

You'll make your money back sooner on a Copam, and it's a good beginner machine, so you'd be able to uprgade later if you wish. Who knows, the Copam may last you for years, also, and you won't need to upgrade. 

I just can't recommend it as a high-colume, long lasting machine yet.

You also need decide if you need the registration mark system or not. Only you can answer that question. If you do, then it's a no-brainer. Get the Roland. 

Good luck!


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

I own a copam and at times it will see 10 to 12 hours non stop without a hitch, I do custom stuff and a lot of heavy stuff for sand blasters, however it is still to young of a machine to tell if it will last for years like a iron horse but such is the beast meaning its a inexpensive machine and off course if it last several years and you have to buy another one you are still money ahead,, if you don't want to gamble just buy 2 rolands.

R.


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## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

we purchased a sign shop a couple years ago.. with the shop came a old graphtec.. I mean this this is old. and still runs like a champ.. and the owner before us had had it for ten years or more.. the machine runs off of windows 98.
that being said.. We own rolands and do a lot of work daily and i know others who have had them for years..

Ive never heard of anyone being sorry for buying quality..


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## gede (Feb 19, 2008)

thanks chani and plan b, i apreciated your replies, i need one real bad in less than a week, i even have a cople of dealers waiting for me. i know if i go for the roland gx-24 i don't have to worry, but still yes i know it's to early for the copam 2500 to rely like the rolands, i just not want to opt out for the copam 2500, how many jobs or long runs you do in a week plan b?


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

I do a lot of work for designers with the garment films but the sandblasters is were I do a lot of business and can run 8 to 10 hrs a day, for days now I don't weed this stuff just cut and send off, its sporatic, 1 week work tons next week hardly anything so its not steady.


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## gede (Feb 19, 2008)

wow yes i want quality, thanks susan for your reply i apreciated, the copam 2500 its too tempting for the price and the couple reviews it gets, i know the copam its new and they still doing adjustments and repairs and a lot of people are having issues and they are different issues in diffrents search engines, it's like fishing, you have to have luck, no offence to anybody this is just what i see on the forums from people that have them working good in threir bussines and then they go all crazy with different errors, the thing is that i don't want to mess around and go crazy after i have my clients happy and all runing in full trotle, you know what i mean, yeah  hummmmmmm i think i'm going on the safe side even if i have to pay twice, no ofence to you roger or others that have this product, it's just at this time i want to go in the safer side, i can afford been wrong in the kind of service i'm going to provide.


still want to know the opinion or experiences of others, i'm an open mind person.

what do you think, roger  .


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Gede, no offence taken and I am not going to sway you either way, I may have lucked out and got a good one and copam against the roland or graptec isn't apples to apples any way, one other cutter I would look into is the suma cutter, very heavy duty and a long track record.


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## gede (Feb 19, 2008)

thanks roger, that's the probem i see in the forums, peple said from their experiences that the copam it's not always steady sometimes could run perfect for a couple of months and then start crashing, go crazy with differents errors for no aparent reason, and yes there are also people that have your experience roger they run fine no problems yet ever after months and hours of use, i just don't want to gamble on the copam and be one of the unlucky ones, no ofense to anyone, and yes i saw the review in 333 signs, that's what got me thinking on the copam, but again that was a test only based on a day or maybe a couple of days, i haven't seen any other good review from people in the sign bussines after runing it for months, and still haven't seen the final review from josh or anybody else, but hey that's just me, and again my intention its not to ofend anybody this is what i have concluded in my reseach in the internet, and yes maybe it's a great machine, but at this point i want to go in the safer side. feel free to express your self, i would like to compare opinion and experiences with out a war, that's not my intention. thanks again.


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## gede (Feb 19, 2008)

thanks b yeah i check those too, but they are really expensives, and yes they have great reviews and i know based on reports in the internet that i can buy any of those, i'm just thinking roland gx-24, i check the graphitec they are great too, just that they don't have a lot of support, if you look hard you still can get people that can help you like chani, yes i have read a lot of post in this forums, but i have seen people that have grafitecs having trouble with parts and they also complain about ridiculous prices to replace parts, hey that's what i read in different post, including this forum. as you can see or read yes i have done research, i'm just the tipe of person that even if i'm sure of what i'm doing, still want to know or compared peacefully what other people know  , hey i know i'm not always right  , i'm always learning, maybe some one else is right, there is always people that have more experience or have more knowledge than ourself, if it's like that, ok i can do some adjustments  . thanks for your post.


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## cmyk (Dec 3, 2007)

gede, i think you are doing the right thing, i also did a ton of research before decideing to go with copam.
my main reason was the price and some reviews found here
i only have it for 3 or 4 months, and it doesn't see as much work, as our sign business is our secondary job.
i don't have a final verdict yet for this machine (wich is my first cutter plotter), had some minor traking issues, but i believe that was mostly user error.
it was a real pain to hook it up to my pc, too, the usb connection didn't work, so we we use the parallel port now and it is absolutely ok.
untill now, it served our needs in a great way.
at this point, if you ask me: will you buy it again? i really don't know what to say... but yes, if the conditions were simillar (available money), if not, i would get a notorious brand cutter.
Chani is right: you probably can get your money back soon on the copam, but i haven't heard yet someone saying how it works after 2-3 years of intensive use, as it is presented as a professional machine.
and again: if you are planning to do printed vinyl transfers for t shirts, the contour cut option is probably a must, if your business will only be signs, you won't be needing that.
i don't know what else to say..


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## gede (Feb 19, 2008)

cmyk thanks for your reply, yes i also do t-shirts, thats one of the oter uses i'm planing to do, i know the gx-24 its a great cutter and yes it will do contour cut for transfers and couple extras too, i'm just still tempting on the copam, the main thing i need the vinyl cutter is for car graphics, i have already customers waiting for me, i have to buy it soon at the most this week, plan b said he cuts sand blasting material with copam and no trouble wich sounds good, i have the money for the gx-24, but the copam seems good too, just not having to many recomendations reviews, i know people are having issues with us cutters including the copam, yes i know not everyone that has it are having problems. it's the set up really a huge issue and also if i use a parallel or serial connection will that be the end of that problem, how much have you use it your shop and also have you wasted a lot of vinyl in set up and how does the feeding work for you, a lot of people have been real mad about wasted material, how clean does it cuts, i know there are a bunch of questions but if you can help me with these i think i can do my decision, its good to know the input from bussines owners, thanks for everything  . just answer what ever you can or remember if you can. sorry i'm running out of time for buying, i need to buy this week, and don't want ugly issues when start runing all the projects already have waiting  .

but in the other hand the roland doesn't have any issues and have a great record and reviews in his belt wich it's awesome.

still undesided cause main use is for the cutter in car graphix, t-shirts and extras are second for now.


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## cmyk (Dec 3, 2007)

well, let's see:

- i know it cuts sandblasting masking film, because this feature is specified in the manufacturer's brochure (although it is not mentioned on their site Ú¹ÄÔµçÄÔ); it has a maximum of 500gr downforce, more than Roland or Graphtec, but i can't imagine what would you use the 500 gr for...

- serial or parallel connection: no problems;

- how much work: untill now, 2-3 hours/day or less;

- wasted material?...i don't know what you mean, we neved had that issue....but it won't cut exactly 24'' wide, you have to reduce about 2 inches, because of the pinch rollers, but i believe this is common;

- it cuts reasonable ok, chech this forum for "Apples to apples Roland vs Graphtec", (you will se why), but you have to reduce the speed if you cut long sheets of material, at least this is what we do;

- Roland and Graphtec cutters are better machines at least in theory, because they have servomotors, which is a better technological solution compared to the stepper motors Copam have;

- but, the thing that Copam, a chinese machine, after all, generated so much debate compared with 2 of the industry leaders, must be something  

- buying a Graphtec, a Rolam or a Summa cutter will give you the confort of knowing that you HAVE a very good machine, certified, tested and verified in time etc etc;
BUT, if you are on a budget and cand buy other things with the money difference (...i don't know, a decent heat press, a printer etc etc), copam is an option;

- you say you'll be pressing tees; in this case, i'm sure that at some point you will say i wish i had that contour cut option;
if you'll do no more than 1-2-3 t shirts a day, you probably could contour cut the printed vinyl-paper by hand (it dependes on your patience, skill and available time)...well, i won't delete what i just wrote, but cutting by hand is something that i will avoid


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

Yes, in this case I think it comes down to whether or not you want contour cutting on your plotter. Again, even if the Copam won't last for years and years, it's a fairly inexpensive machine, but cmyk brings up a good point...Rolands and Graphtecs and Summas all have servo motors, while the Copam has stepper motors. Servos are more accurate and more reliable, in general.

Here's a review of the Copam from a very reputable source: 333Signforums Product review

I wish I could find their reviews of the Roland GX-24 and Graphtec CE5000-60...


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## gede (Feb 19, 2008)

cmyk thanks for your post yeah i'm going for the gx-24.

chani also thanks for your reply too. 

with the roland i'm going to be on the sure side, don't have to worry about complications or upgrades and durability (the gx-24 has a great recod in his belt), i'm going to have more features and extras, is better to have everything i need and sometimes the extras make it better, also can make a lot of things with the optical, hhhhhhhuuuuuuuummmmmmm i can really take advantage of that optical feature.

thanks to all, see you, read you later  .


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

You should be very happy with the plotter. 

Have fun with it!


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## gede (Feb 19, 2008)

yeah i will when i have it, i can wait to have it in my hands, it's like a when a kid is going to have a new toy  , jajaja, i hope it comes fast cause got couple jobs waiting, later.


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