# Easy T Printer User Review?



## 2020 PrintWorks (Apr 22, 2011)

The place I work at is getting an easy t printer soon and I was just wondering if anyone here has actually used one? I've searched and searched and can't find any posts from people who actually have one. Ours is going have the white capabilities also. I'm just asking because it's going to be at the location I work at. I do the screen printing and I'll probably end up running the dtg also. Just want an idea of what I'm getting myself into. I pushed for them to get a GT541 even though it doesn't have white ink. I'm worried that this machine might not be reliable just because of the price.


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## xcelr8hard (Jan 27, 2011)

I was at the Easy T Printer shop a couple weeks ago.
Showed up unannounced and Andy Showed me the machine in action.
It appears to be a solidly built machine that made great prints.
Andy printed me a design on a black shirt that came out great.
Hope to grab one in the near future.

Butch


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## 2020 PrintWorks (Apr 22, 2011)

I watched the video of it in action. It does make nice prints. I just wish I could talk to someone who's used one on a daily basis.


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## Smalzstein (Jul 22, 2008)

Just remember not to keep your DTG printer in the same room as screen printing equipment.


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## nickthapainter (Mar 10, 2012)

I almost pulled the trigger on purchasing an EasyT printer. I went to see an actual demonstration of the machine through one of the local sales reps (open house). I drove 8 hours round trip. The rep was not able to get the machine to print. He called the manufacturer several times on the phone, but no one answered (it was a Saturday).

As the rep was troubleshooting issues with the printer, I got to see the guts of the machine. My observations.... it looked like a DIY machine. There is a lot of plastic. The joints/welds are poorly done; very little attention to detail is given to the machine. There are a myriad of other defects in craftsmanship that certainly turned me off to the machine (even if it had actually worked).


The biggest flaw, however, is in its design (especially if you plan on printing with white ink). The user must manually set the platen prior to printing. Should you not move it back to EXACTLY the same location prior to the second pass, you're gonna have registration issues and a failed print.

Could this machine work for printing only CMYK... possibly.
Would this machine be a viable choice for using white ink... doubtful.
Should you require tech support, will the manufacturer be available to help... not that I've witnessed.

In my opinion, the EasyT is a glorified garage built unit. It is far overpriced @ $7,000.00.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

and I think there is only a 90 day warranty


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## nickthapainter (Mar 10, 2012)

It's like everything... you get what you pay for. You want something for nothing, chances are you'll get nothing for something.

The company lost all credibility with me when their own sales rep couldn't even get any tech support. I'm sure the manufacturer was aware of the open house, yet he couldn't answer his phone?


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## 102557 (Mar 6, 2010)

nickthapainter said:


> I almost pulled the trigger on purchasing an EasyT printer. I went to see an actual demonstration of the machine through one of the local sales reps (open house). I drove 8 hours round trip. The rep was not able to get the machine to print. He called the manufacturer several times on the phone, but no one answered (it was a Saturday).
> 
> As the rep was troubleshooting issues with the printer, I got to see the guts of the machine. My observations.... it looked like a DIY machine. There is a lot of plastic. The joints/welds are poorly done; very little attention to detail is given to the machine. There are a myriad of other defects in craftsmanship that certainly turned me off to the machine (even if it had actually worked).
> 
> ...


I agree with your post 100%.. As you will note there printer resembles our original diy that was made in 2010 (plastic aswell).. I have been sent pictures of the printer from a purchaser asking how to repair some plastic parts that were broken (Im a plastic fabricator by trade) one thing i noticed right off was that the plastic components were solvent glued not welded as welding plastic requires skill and is the most durable method with a structure that needs to keep form for accuracy/strength etc.. Plastic has a flex with temp change (a good example is if you have vinyl siding on your house and if you have ever heard flexing noises poping noises while grilling out, with vinyl siding when installed it has elongated holes in which fastners (nails) go thru there elongated because its designed for this movement in temp change the fastners are postioned to allow the elongation to travel(allowing the vinyl to flex rather than break.. this is where welding comes into play, when welded the unit is one and will travel/flex as one, if solvent welded (glue) you have the possibility of one piece going one way and one going the opposite with temperature change (the back of a shipping truck gets hot) resulting in a structure break/failure at the glued joint and can take as little as 5/10 degrees temp flux.. different plastic materials ie pvc/abs glue mating should be avoided at all possible cost as they have different temp points /welding capability no matter the method one should have significate training in plastic fabrication with a certification (you wouldnt want the plumber doing your electrical wiring? when retailing expensive equipt .. If you dont have proper training/experience when fabricating plastic you dont understand the properties of different plastics and what might,could or would/will happen under given circumstances.. judging by the pictures the craftmanship appeared poor at best on the plastic fabrication.. although very similar to our diy unit they changed a few things how the platen travels (the slides) there unit uses aluminum angle as the slide unit and attaches the bearings to the platen tray itself similar to what this vid shows.. 

Building a CNC Machine Part 3 - YouTube Its my opinion that for fact there are commercial materials avail inexpensive to take the place of the labor required to fab this diy method..

they also have a floating (spring loaded feed rod aswell) which drops to disengage the friction feed to return the platen.. not sure why they have a couple of the things they have in that system Some things were left unaltered on the original epson printer that should have been altered to avoid any possibilty of error..
sore subject for me but i keep getting emails regarding its similarity, the latest one i recieved stated there distributor is suppling the same rip software we developed with ek for our diy machine, easily seen as it says t-dozer in the platen sizes area of the rip (shoulld tell you something)!! thats my review on the plastic fab portion as a veteran plastic fabricator..

as far as the platen being manual, its no issue with registration.. if there is a stop in place to position the platen, we have been using this type system along with several other diy dtg builders and it works flawless.. Its the same concept of the epson printer if you put paper into the paper tray and print an image and put the same paper back thru and print the same image it will be exactly in the same spot!! of course good craftmanship on the hardware dictates its performance..If i were to guess manufacture cost epson 2000= 450, rip software retail 850, plastic/diy components 200 for a total of about 1500 ish not including labor.. If this where a reality show on plastic fabrication/design it would not have made it past the pitch..IMHO..

If your in the market for entry level dtg i would hold off and see whats available in the next couple months, jmho but 7-8000 dollar diy style printer is way way over priced, especially considering commercial models can be had that are 1-2 years old in this range.. I recently had the chance to review another manufacturers printer, which has a steel/aluminum construction,components are professionally assembled and looks to be a great unit for nearly half this retail price..im not sure how close they are to launch but i know there are more than a dozen already built.. P.S I have no financial interest/ownership/input with this unit either.. just an honest review on the unit i viewed.. seems there are several people in the entry level class getting ready/close to launching something...


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## nickthapainter (Mar 10, 2012)

german13 said:


> as far as the platen being manual, its no issue with registration.. if there is a stop in place to position the platen, we have been using this type system along with several other diy dtg builders and it works flawless.. Its the same concept of the epson printer if you put paper into the paper tray and print an image and put the same paper back thru and print the same image it will be exactly in the same spot!! of course good craftmanship on the hardware dictates its performance..If i were to guess manufacture cost epson 2000= 450, rip software retail 850, plastic/diy components 200 for a total of about 1500 ish not including labor.. If this where a reality show on plastic fabrication/design it would not have made it past the pitch..IMHO..


The issue with the mach i saw: when I moved the platen back, there was no stop mecanism. The platen free floated. when I asked the rep about it he said you have to raise the front of the printer slightly so that the rails are on a slight slant. Would this work consistently? (no idea, as I never saw the EasyT actually working).

Funny enough, on the long drive home, i mentioned the cost to my wife who accompanied me on the trip. I had materials, the epsom printer, & RIP software estimated @ $2000.00 I added another $1000.00 for a weeks labor for a total price of $3000.00 (the amount I would have been willing to pay had the machine actually worked).


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## 102557 (Mar 6, 2010)

nickthapainter said:


> The issue with the mach i saw: when I moved the platen back, there was no stop mecanism. The platen free floated. when I asked the rep about it he said you have to raise the front of the printer slightly so that the rails are on a slight slant. Would this work consistently? (no idea, as I never saw the EasyT actually working).
> 
> Funny enough, on the long drive home, i mentioned the cost to my wife who accompanied me on the trip. I had materials, the epsom printer, & RIP software estimated @ $2000.00 I added another $1000.00 for a weeks labor for a total price of $3000.00 (the amount I would have been willing to pay had the machine actually worked).


nick here is a good diy thread to show the capability http://www.t-shirtforums.com/diy-dtg/t178486.html#post1056461 If you have a little mechanical skill these can be built next to nothing, although not pretty as most diyers, build in wood due to cost savings.. However the end result is the same with a good rip... 

EDIT.. just got your message, congrats on the mod purchase and have fun!!!


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## 2020 PrintWorks (Apr 22, 2011)

Wow. I'm going to print this out and show it to my boss. He can decide from there. I hate to see him drop 8 grand on a something that's gonna be a headache. I've seen GT541's used for the same price.


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## abmcdan (Sep 14, 2007)

Nick: I apologize you drove so far and had a bad demo. The issue the demo machine had has been figured out and solved in all current printers. I don't remember that specific weekend but most weekends I am available via phone or email for my dealers or customers. However, sometimes I'm just not available due to circumstances. For example a couple weekends ago I flew to Iowa to install a printer for a customer, I spent 3 hours each way on a plane without a phone. Another recent weekend I took my mother to the Grand Canyon, I spent the trip up helping a customer setup his machine since he works during the week. The rest of the weekend my phone reception was horrible. I guess what I'm saying is everyone has times that they are unreachable. I'm sure most DTG companies don't have 24/7 tech support. 

I do the best I can to support my customers. I just spent 10 hours today in the truck going to help a customer in California that had white ink issues.

Our 2nd pass alignment is extremely accurate and you don't have to have the board in the exact same place everytime. The platform moves forward striking a sensor that starts the print.

As for the workmanship. It's very easy to look at a finished product and say "I could build that!" I also heard this from many people when I first bought my Mod 1. In reality it took a ton of work, experimenting and hard knocks to get to our current version. We've intentionally made this as simple and manual as possible to make it easy to use and repair.

Charles: Yes we have a 90 day warranty. We figure any issues due to our workmanship will come out in this time period if at all. Anything above that would just make us more exposed to user error or neglect. We do offer an extended warranty, keep in mind you pay heavy for the 1 year warranty other DTG companies offer you just don't see it broken out. Most of those companies PROFIT more on 1 machine than we sell ours for.

Jeff: I'm tired of arguing with you about this same stuff, half of which is way over blown. For example the software claim... As far as I know Eukon Digital was making a RIP long before you came along. I went to them and others asking for OEM software. Never were you mentioned when I purchased software from Chris. If you guys made some exclusive version and he is selling it to others you should take it up with him. Don't make it sound like I ripped anything off, I assumed they already had a r1900 version since they deal with Anajet.

As for cheaper machines coming on the market. I will be surprised if they keep the low prices for long. I too came out at the $5k mark and quickly realized I wouldn't be in business long at that price. There are way too many extra business expenses that come along, and you won't see them until you get into it.


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## abmcdan (Sep 14, 2007)

chronicdesigns81 said:


> Wow. I'm going to print this out and show it to my boss. He can decide from there. I hate to see him drop 8 grand on a something that's gonna be a headache. I've seen GT541's used for the same price.


Keep in mind that some of the above comments are made by people that have a personal issue with me and none of the above actually own or have hands on experience with the Easy T Printer. 

Nate did go to a demo months ago and the machine had issues. If you rule out all DTG companies that have had a faulty machine, then you won't be getting into DTG printing.


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## estrada (Jun 5, 2009)

chronicdesigns81 said:


> I've seen GT541's used for the same price.


Keep in mind that the Brother inks are far more expensive than dupont inks. Also if someone is selling a used printer in most cases is because they've given up on the equipment (while most will say 'it didn't fit our bussiness model' or 'we have moved in another direction'). 

As far as I know brother printhead are also more expensive than epson printheads. If you are new to DTG I would not recommend buying a used printer unless you can actually see the printer working. A new printer would certainly be more expensive but will include warranty and support which I believe is crucial for a new dtg user.


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## adam hans (May 25, 2010)

From my experience I fell for the T-JET trap when US screen printing institute brought it out many years back -- It was a complete flop and worst mistake I ever made

BEST RULE OF THUMP - only buy what is already being used in the market and has a good track record don't be fooled by good video and marketing tricks.


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## Mabuzi (Jul 3, 2007)

I agree with Adam.

Companies, lets not metion names with the K, use the customers to test the DTG printer and its faults. I have heard too many horror stories of very expsensice door stops. I love new tech and always tend to jump in but with DTG I like to learn from others mistakes cos it can make you broke!!


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## 2020 PrintWorks (Apr 22, 2011)

Yeah idk. I'm not trying to cost anyone any sales or anything. I just wish I could find at least one review from someone who's used one on a daily basis. The place I work at does alot of business. It's not just some basement operation and they need a machine that's going to be a workhorse.


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

CD81,
I am touched with your loyalty to your company you work for and your sincere care. I hope your voice was applied on printer selection. Lots of success business to your company. I wish I can email your boss. We need more people like you to make USA stronger. Few goodman.
Cheers! Beers are on me always.


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## 102557 (Mar 6, 2010)

abmcdan said:


> Keep in mind that some of the above comments are made by people that have a personal issue with me and none of the above actually own or have hands on experience with the Easy T Printer.
> 
> Nate did go to a demo months ago and the machine had issues. If you rule out all DTG companies that have had a faulty machine, then you won't be getting into DTG printing.


Andy, Im tired of it aswell, Im tired of the emails of folks asking if thats my printer... you shouldnt have copied my design all the way down to the plastic and you would nt have to deal with truth.. I mean seriously you guys couldnt take the time to look at the rip and see my brand name in the platen sizes? are you saying its untrue that you and or your distributors didnt supply rip with my brand name on it? theres alot of different versions of rip for different printers/ the sprint wont work for the stock epson diy set.. as you trully know and any other manufacturer can attest rips are mated with hardware printer design! further more his site specifically asks what printer is used for the rip! and as you said eukondigital have been making rip for a long time including for anajet but i dont see you using the anajet specific rip!! as i said tons of different versions so you must have said give me the one the t-dozer is using and obviously didnt take the time to see what was on it..lol you blame chris, but your very wrong as you are the supplier of the rip to your customers with my name on it further confusing people... 

As far as me having a personal issue, yeah your correct. I did give an honest review regarding the pictures of your printer that were sent to me (remember im the plastic fabricator by trade and the one who invented that design in 2010 and qaulified to do so) and ill say it again its poor craftmanship.. If you would like me to post up the pics and point out the faults and the craftmanship i will? I have always been 100% honest here and certainly gave more help than anything, remember i dont sell anything.. so we will let the public look at all the facts and form there own opionion.. 

additionally i said there will be machines coming out at entry level price at half your reatail and you say you realized quickly you couldnt do this..lol  yeah, no kidding the way that thing you make is put together multiple plastic cuts glued instead of thermoformed and mickey mouse construction, spray paint over the plastic on a new unit? it takes along time for ameuters that dont know plastic fab to build something.. so wrong again!! a machine that is well designed and put together by qauilified people can easily be retailed for 4,000 5,000 with the top of the line 8 channel printer... dont try to b.s someone as you are not a fabricator,


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## abmcdan (Sep 14, 2007)

Jeff,

I'm amazed at how you think you are the great inventor of something that was actually invented 10+ years ago. The same stuff you accuse me of you are guilty of yourself. More than a couple people in the industry have privately commented how the DIY crowd here has zero respect for others products by publically reverse engineering or discussing how they can be copied.

Here is a list of the stuff you think you came up with and who really did:

- DIY Printer using epson only parts and friction drive - Makemygraphix started this
- Screen print underbase - The Blackbyrd was already out when you had this idea.
- EK Print Studio - Anajet was using this software way before you.
- Ricoh DTG Printer - DAguide and some others already had tried this
- Moving print engine over platen - Flexi Jet, Neoflex, and T-Jet all did this before yet you copied that idea and publically said you sold the idea to someone else.
- Using Plastic to build a printer - Most consumer devices in America use plastic, also companies like Belquette use plastic covers on there printer. We chose plastic because I've done business with a plastic fabricator for 3+ years and he was the natural guy for me to approach to help me build this.

You've contributed alot to the DIY effort and no one can argue that. Many of your conclusions or creations are the obvious next step and anyone independantly building the same item would come up with them as well. 

It's completely inappropriate and unprofessional for you to call me a thief and a liar when you have never met me or had personal dealings with me. Your libelous posts and comments here are crossing a line that is causing damage to my business and personal reputation.

We stand 100% behind our products and if any customers have issues we are more than willing to take care of it.

Andy


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Closing out this thread before it gets any further out of hand.


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