# ricoh gx 7000



## river city (Feb 6, 2009)

I am considering a ricoh gx 7000 printer for sublimation work. I'm looking for input from anyone who has been using this printer regarding print quality, maintenance, ink economics, etc. Any and all help will be appreciated.


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## [email protected] (Jan 27, 2009)

We have been testing this for the last month or so and are very pleased with it. It's speed has been very impressive and the quality is as good as it gets.


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## big frank sports (Aug 7, 2008)

I have one and so far it has been great. I have used it for shirts, mousepads, coasters, and bag tags.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

Had mine for a couple days...working well and the sublijet power driver sure beats setting up the ICC with artainium. Easy set up and printing is faster than any of the Epsons I have used


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## river city (Feb 6, 2009)

How long have you had the printer? Do you have the 13x19 bypass tray? Thanks for the previous reply.


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## big frank sports (Aug 7, 2008)

I got mine in December from a supplier in Alabama. The print speed is incredible to my old 1280 and is comparible to my OKidata that I got from a supplier in NJ.


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## flattop (Nov 7, 2007)

big frank sports said:


> I got mine in December from a supplier in Alabama. The print speed is incredible to my old 1280 and is comparible to my OKidata that I got from a supplier in NJ.


Just wondering if your running windows xp.I tried installing power Driver but it stopped and a window popped up that said has not passed windows logo testing?


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## big frank sports (Aug 7, 2008)

Yes, I am running xp without any problems. Where did you purchase your Ricoh from? If from JP give Kevin Lundburg a call, he will walk you right throught it. If from Conde, call tech support and they can set it up for you from their location through your computer.

Frank


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## jpkevin (Oct 22, 2007)

Hi Robert,

When you get the logo testing message, just tell it to continue. That is normal, since it it not a Windows program. I have gotten that message even with Epson Drivers.


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## jiarby (Feb 8, 2007)

Love mine so far... I also have the bypass tray.


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

I have been using the printer for over 6 months....the speed is extremely fast and the quality of the images are fanatastic. I am printing images out now and they are great.

Please let me know if I can answer any questions.


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## jimc (Jan 31, 2007)

Is the sublimation ink a gel or the same ink as for the Epson printers?
Jim


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## big frank sports (Aug 7, 2008)

It is a Gel Ink in the Gx7000.


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## Jamey (Dec 22, 2008)

How well does the ink last? Like how many half coverage shirts can you do on 8.5 x 11 with a set?


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

No...the inks are not the same Epson.....the GX7000 inks are gel......more like sublijet inks


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## greenmachine (Oct 31, 2008)

I am considering one but noticed that the inks are the same price as other units, but you get 68ml as compared to 110ml on the other printers. That would make the cost of printing a shirt about 65% more. Unless this ink has better coverage. Am I missing something.

thanks

greenie


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

The GX7000 ink usage is comparable to that of the 4800/4880..if not less.


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## Jamey (Dec 22, 2008)

greenmachine said:


> I am considering one but noticed that the inks are the same price as other units, but you get 68ml as compared to 110ml on the other printers. That would make the cost of printing a shirt about 65% more. Unless this ink has better coverage. Am I missing something.
> 
> thanks
> 
> greenie


This is exactly my concern.


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## big frank sports (Aug 7, 2008)

These are cartriges not bulk inks. If you compare cartriges then its a better deal.


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## river city (Feb 6, 2009)

Thanks for everyone participating in this thread. I have gotten most of the questions I had answered, and everyone has been awesome. This forum is way cool!!


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## river city (Feb 6, 2009)

The Ricoh is on order including larger format bypass tray. Thanks everyone!


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## ITGPrints (Mar 12, 2009)

Glad I found this posting - in the same boat. Has anyone had any hands on Macintosh experience with this printer with Illustrator or Photoshop? Ricoh does not have drivers for the Mac however a few vendors make that claim. 

About the inks - I ran away from Sublijet inks in the 90s, came back for Artainium ... still searching for a printer that works when I want it to. Appreciate any input from the field!


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

Macintosh is not supported by this printer. The specs show PC only...guess you could run 'boot camp' on an intel mac with windows and get it to work


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

You can use a MAc with the Ricoh GX7000.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

Sonya...how do you use a Mac with the GX7000 ? by using 'boot camp'?..The specs I saw said the sublimation system was PC only....Now I am confused


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

Conde and Ricoh have the driver for the Mac. We have done dozens of Mac installations with no problems.....just a standard installation.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

Sonya...thanks for the info...there is a sublimation dealer near me that has the ricoh gx7000 and has it posted pc only...that was where I got my info...I am going to call them and set them straight!


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## giniweslowski (Mar 30, 2008)

I have read that on hard substrates there may be banding. Has anyone used this on tile or glass and had trouble? 

Also-the bypass tray- can you print 13X19?


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

If you get banding, check your nozzle check. If you have a bad nozzle check, do a head cleaning.

If you have a good nozzle ck and still get the banding, sublimate your image. The banding may not show up once image is heated. If the banding shows up image once sublimated, change your paper type to Glossy.

Please feel free to give me a call.


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## cbs1963 (May 31, 2007)

Is there any way to figure a cost per page for the ricoh or average number of pages per cartridge set? Also, I'm guessing the cartridges have fewer issues with clogging and are easier to use than a bulk system? Or is this just wishful thinking?


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## flattop (Nov 7, 2007)

cbs1963 said:


> Is there any way to figure a cost per page for the ricoh or average number of pages per cartridge set? Also, I'm guessing the cartridges have fewer issues with clogging and are easier to use than a bulk system? Or is this just wishful thinking?


I bought mine in march I use it about twice a week prints great every time. Don't no the price per print yet. I have a lot of ink left seems to go along way and it prints very fast.


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## river city (Feb 6, 2009)

The folks at Conde systems have been very helpful with all that info. I am still waiting for my printer. It's been on backorder for what seems like forever.


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## TJet3Pro (Jun 12, 2008)

We received our Ricoh 7000 about a week ago. A very pleasant surprize. Image quality is very good, but its the speed that really impressed me.

We purchased the bypass tray 13x19 and this thing to put it bluntly, hauls ***.

Great machine, its nice to go into work and print and not worry about doing nozzle checks, head cleans, and head alignments.

Ive owned various Epson models (mid-low end) and this thing for what its worth smokes them all in speed and user friendliness.

-Mike


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## Timkelco (Oct 26, 2008)

Has anyone used the printer that has used a Epson 4880? I have the 4880 and have zero issues. I just need to take it on the road a good bit and the 4880 is a bear to move every 4-5 days. I need the 13x19 for sure (lots of flags) and I am unsure about downgrading to 4 color. CMYK is not the best for skin tones. We have several solvent machines and LcLm really makes the difference on the skin tones.


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

I use the Epson 4880 a lot. I use it for my racehorse murals.


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## dtogs (Apr 1, 2007)

As Sonya indicated if you have a customer where tone range is very critical then the 4800 / 4880 eight cartridge is most likely the best choice. However, with some color adjustment I have been able to produce some very impressive stuff with the GX 7000.


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## teacher (Jun 19, 2009)

Can any ricoh owners please let me know if there are any problems or issues?
clogging?
ink costs?

Thanks


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## vadan (Mar 9, 2010)

I've been doing pleanty of research all day on the best printer and by far... the GX7000 is coming up top overall.

I've seen several varied prices, but the most shocking is on caboodle for £368! I'm going to call tomorrow and have this confirmed! Either way i'm sold.

And what's this I hear about not using the inks supplied with the printer? So I should buy new inks? 

What's the best UK place to buy the inks?

V


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

Vadam...when I got my GX7000 I was told NOT to install the OEM inks but put the sublimation in at first...never a problem for me


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## vadan (Mar 9, 2010)

charles95405 said:


> Vadam...when I got my GX7000 I was told NOT to install the OEM inks but put the sublimation in at first...never a problem for me


Ahh right, so I shouldn't worry about folking out for extra ink until its empty?


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## Jason's_Place (Nov 1, 2009)

vadan do NOT use the stock ink. You have to buy the sub ink.


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

If you are going to be using the Ricoh for sublimation, you will need sublimation ink.


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## Rhinestones fun (Nov 4, 2009)

Sublimation inks can be bought from sawgrass. I think they hold all the patents for the desktop inks. So you should go to their website and look for a supplier closest to you. The price is almost all the same so you might as well look for a local supplier.


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## vadan (Mar 9, 2010)

Thanks everyone for the advice, I found a UK supplier. They are £60 each.


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## jge (Oct 7, 2008)

We are based in Africa, and have been selling Epson's for sublimation since Sawgrass started with sublimation on Epson in the late 1990's.

We've been testing the Ricoh for about 10 months, before releasing it for sublimation locally, and I must say that it MUCH,, MUCH better than the desktop Epsons.

We currently have around 150 units in the field, and our tech support on Ricoh is zero ! By comparison, we have 30 Epson's a month in for repair / unblocking. We tested the blocking over a 3 month period - installed sublimation ink on a GX7000, did about 50 prints, then left it for 2.5 months. After 2.5 months of no use, the 1st print was perfect.

Added to his, Ricoh supplies us with after sales support and spares, whereas Epson has blacklisted us (because of the sublimation), and not only will they not train our technicians to repair their printers, but will also not repair any printer for us (no matter if we pay). They will not even supply spares. They will however send business our way and sell us printers. 

At this point, we are not selling the Epson's at all, (except for the 4880), as it's just not worth the customer dissatisfaction..

We've had just 1 problem, with a customer who get's a message saying "printer too cold to print", but we've been unable to replicate the error in our workshop.


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## billyemsley (Feb 17, 2011)

I just purchased my Ricoh GX7000 today as my Epson 1400 suddenly broke down and was deemed beyond economic repair. I considered purchasing an identical Epson unit but was never really 100% happy with the quality of the Epson or especially the fact that unless you use it almost daily you were forever having to do nozzles checks, head cleans etc etc. Heard nothing but good things about the Ricoh so really looking forward to getting it setup and in use.

FYI, any UK people looing for info on this - I bought my inks form Xpres (my usual supplier for print films and subli supplies etC) but purchased the printer itself from Printerland. Was told by tech support at Xpres that no modifications are done to the unit prior to setting it up with Subli inks so found a much better deal elsewhere (saved over £100). 

I was informed that the ink consumed on the Ricoh equates to approx 35p per sheet, compared to approx 25p for the Epson. However if you bear in mind the amount of head cleans you have to perform on the Epson I doubt there is much difference in it at all!!

Hope this helps some people

BTW, my first post on here! Hi everyone - looking forward to contributing and learning much more form this forum in the future!

Thanks

Billy


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## Timkelco (Oct 26, 2008)

Just do not let it go out of warranty, buy the Sawgrass extended warranty because the Sawgrass ink will kill it one day without warning. Trust me mine died after 15 months.


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## Stitch-Up (May 26, 2007)

Has anyone sucessfully revived a GX7000?

When I switch mine on, the LED illuminates briefly and then goes out - EVERYTIME! The sad thing is, I'm still on my first set of sublimation inks 

Any tips/ides would be gratefully accepted else, it goes in the bin.


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## jiarby (Feb 8, 2007)

> Has anyone sucessfully revived a GX7000?


no, no one has. 

Are you in warranty or out of warranty?


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## jge (Oct 7, 2008)

The only way to revive a GX7000 with this problem is to replace the logic board, which Ricoh sells for more than the whole printer.


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## FAT DADDY (Sep 4, 2008)

I bought my gx 7000
in march 2010 and it was in the middle of printing two weeks ago 
it stopped printing and now doesent even power up.
I would do more research on another printer before buying gx 7000


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## CasualThreads (Jul 26, 2007)

We purchased our Ricoh in March 2010 also. Still on the first set of ink carts and now it won't power up (light just flashes for a second and goes out). Spoke with the Conde rep where I purchased the printer and they are stating that this failure is due to the ink being expired....what!!! Good one Conde!! I stated there is no expiration date on the carts, he said there was, I pulled one out and it said to install by Dec 23, 2010 but no expiration. He said the ink carts all now have an expiration date, so use the ink up quickly everyone. If I would have only known all this before the sale........what a SCAM! But they got their $1000 sale and I am out $1000 bucks, what a deal!!


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

CasualThreads said:


> We purchased our Ricoh in March 2010 also. Still on the first set of ink carts and now it won't power up (light just flashes for a second and goes out). Spoke with the Conde rep where I purchased the printer and they are stating that this failure is due to the ink being expired....what!!! Good one Conde!! I stated there is no expiration date on the carts, he said there was, I pulled one out and it said to install by Dec 23, 2010 but no expiration. He said the ink carts all now have an expiration date, so use the ink up quickly everyone. If I would have only known all this before the sale........what a SCAM! But they got their $1000 sale and I am out $1000 bucks, what a deal!!


The sales pitch Conde and other Sawgrass Cartel members used to get people to buy the Ricoh at such a high price, in comparison to the Epson's, was casual use. OOOOPS. Check the threads - they claimed problems were resolved a year ago January. There has been so much feet shuffling by the Cartel on this issue they are probably standing in a hole by now. Crazy part is you can still see multiple vendors posting the praise of the Ricoh solution as if nothing ever happened.

Always remember - it is not a printer issue. This is a Sawgrass issue that was clouded over in order to keep revenue flowing.


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## jge (Oct 7, 2008)

Sublimation ink (like everything) has always got a shelf life. I've always maintained that sublimation ink should be used within 8 months of purchase. Sometimes I've used inks that are 2 years old with no ill effect, and sometimes I've had clogging issues with 2yr old ink.

Will expired ink cause the problem of a Ricoh dying ?
I seriously doubt it. My personal theory is that someone who has expired inks in their printer, has them as a result of leaving the printer off when the printer is not in use, and this ink that's on the heads starts eating into the ink nozzles, and when the nozzle wall gets too thin, it bursts and the ink flows over the electronics, blowing the printer.

If the printer is left on, then when it feels the need, it ejects some ink from the heads, and feeds new ink in. This would empty the cartridges even if the printer is not used much, long before any inks expire, and would prevent inks eating into the nozzle. It makes sense to me, and printers I've seen with this problem all fit neatly into this theory, but then again I might be wrong.

On my own GX7000, I've gone through 24 sets of sublimation inks, and printed 10,100 A3 pages. The black head is starting to wear out. At this point, after this amount of prints, I can justify replacing the printer. Even my Epson 4400 at this point would need a new head that costs pretty much what the GX7000 costs, but if I had this problem and had done just 500 prints, I would be pissed !

I also have a GX3300 runing Ricoh original inks which I use for invoicing - this printer has printed 24,900 pages and is still going strong - however the ink usage is much less than on the sublimation printer, so the high volume of pages printed, doesn't mean a whole lot.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

jge said:


> Sublimation ink (like everything) has always got a shelf life. I've always maintained that sublimation ink should be used within 8 months of purchase. Sometimes I've used inks that are 2 years old with no ill effect, and sometimes I've had clogging issues with 2yr old ink.
> 
> Will expired ink cause the problem of a Ricoh dying ?
> I seriously doubt it. My personal theory is that someone who has expired inks in their printer, has them as a result of leaving the printer off when the printer is not in use, and this ink that's on the heads starts eating into the ink nozzles, and when the nozzle wall gets too thin, it bursts and the ink flows over the electronics, blowing the printer.
> ...


The thing to keep in mind is that it is the ink that slowly destroys print heads as you have pointed out. The type of ink used significantly effects print head longevity. As an example using J-Teck ink we went over 100,000 pages with our typical "page" being 33" x 23" on an Epson 9800 and it was still going strong before we upgraded to a Mutoh. 

The rub on the Sawgrass solution using a Ricoh printers is that it was heavily marketed and sold as the answer to a low use dye sub system. 

Clearly it did not live up to the promises the Sawgrass Cartel made to the consumers.


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## jge (Oct 7, 2008)

I completely agree - we were all told that the Ricoh would be the utopia of sublimation printing - you could leave it off for weeks at a time, without any ill effects. Seems that someone goofed on the product testing......................

Despite all that is despised about Sawgrass, at least they innovated and came out with something else - I have yet to see ANY other company (certainly no one from the East) coming up with any solutions.

Now if they could just come up with the Utopic solution we're all waiting for..................


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## Stitch-Up (May 26, 2007)

jge said:


> Despite all that is despised about Sawgrass, at least they innovated and came out with something else - I have yet to see ANY other company (certainly no one from the East) coming up with any solutions.


Yeah, and they screwed up our expensive printers in doing so - great!!!


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

jge said:


> Despite all that is despised about Sawgrass, at least they innovated and came out with something else - I have yet to see ANY other company (certainly no one from the East) coming up with any solutions.
> quote]
> 
> Innovation is not typically defined as something new that destroys printers and covered up in the interest of revenue.
> ...


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## jge (Oct 7, 2008)

Yes, I get it, the ink has destroyed printers, but if we had to rely on the Chinese for innovation, no one would even have sublimation ink on desktop machines - period !


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

jge said:


> Yes, I get it, the ink has destroyed printers, but if we had to rely on the Chinese for innovation, no one would even have sublimation ink on desktop machines - period !


Not sure what the Chinese have to do with the discussion but just to be clear dye sub ink is dye sub ink. It knows not if you put it in a wide format or a desktop printer. The only reason you can not put high quality ink into a desktop printer is Sawgrass. The only printer specific ink today is the Ricoh gek ink.


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## FAT DADDY (Sep 4, 2008)

Gx 7000......dont do it unless you plan to use it everyday!!!!


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## 13 Stitches (Jul 31, 2007)

I would not purchase the Ricoh 7000. I loved the printer until today, the printer has blow out after less than a year and a half! There is some problem with the print head that blows out the circuit board when using sublimation inks-does not affect everyone, just a select few like myself. I have had this printer less than a year and a half, paid $800 for it, have 2 sets of inks at $110.00, and they tell me my printer is out of warranty so they will not replace it. This is my 4th printer to use for sublimation. I thought I had found the solution for a great printer and to continue producing sublimation products. I love the product, but I have never seen a profit due to printers not perfoming as advertised for the last 5 years. This is sooooooooo unfair. I can not afford this!! Sawgrass had offered to help with some ink costs if I purchase a NEW printer from RICOH. I want to continue sublimation, but I can not afford to keep putting money into something that does not have stability. $800 was a great price for this printer, but no one can make money if the printers keep failing, and this printer was much more expensive than the EPSON's I threw my money away on (after being told the EPSON 1400 would solve all my problems too).


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

13 Stitches said:


> I would not purchase the Ricoh 7000. I loved the printer until today, the printer has blow out after less than a year and a half! There is some problem with the print head that blows out the circuit board when using sublimation inks-does not affect everyone, just a select few like myself. I have had this printer less than a year and a half, paid $800 for it, have 2 sets of inks at $110.00, and they tell me my printer is out of warranty so they will not replace it. This is my 4th printer to use for sublimation. I thought I had found the solution for a great printer and to continue producing sublimation products. I love the product, but I have never seen a profit due to printers not perfoming as advertised for the last 5 years. This is sooooooooo unfair. I can not afford this!! Sawgrass had offered to help with some ink costs if I purchase a NEW printer from RICOH. I want to continue sublimation, but I can not afford to keep putting money into something that does not have stability. $800 was a great price for this printer, but no one can make money if the printers keep failing, and this printer was much more expensive than the EPSON's I threw my money away on (after being told the EPSON 1400 would solve all my problems too).


What you have learned is the printer has zero to do with the issues. What is the common factor of all the printers that failed you? Could it be Sawgrass inks? Of course it is Sawgrass inks. 

With patents running out on the Epson based inks Sawgrass and their Cartel members scrambled for something to protect their market share. The gel ink Ricoh based solution was born. At first the Cartel was shouting from the roof tops that this was the solution for people who did not use their printer on a daily basis. Oooops - obviously these words were shouted without any real testing or history to prove the claim. Fast forward a year plus and now it turns out the same group shouting that the printer is the solution for the part time dye sub'er are now shouting to use it everyday or at least do print test frequently so the printer does not fry. 

The sad part is there is high quality ink available that allows one to print once a month and not have issues - unfortunately Sawgrass does not allow the sale of such ink to the desktop market. Even more bizarre Sawgrass has an ink called Sublim that greatly reduces clogging but again as a desktop user you are not of privilege to purchase it.

Is there any other companies out there that force a segment of their client base to use old inferior products when they have available to sell a much better product?


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