Plotters

I am currently putting all my prints on a flash drive and going to kinkos for copy's. I'm getting sick of that and wondering if any ody has any recommendations for a good plotter. I like to print all layouts on 35x24 and 11x17. Any suggestions would help.

If you do a lot of that, you may want to look at a laser printer. They are more expensive to buy, but much cheaper per page to print. On the other hand, an inkjet plotter is usually cheaper to buy, but can get pricey per page if you print a lot. I've seen older HP printers like Designjet 600s and 750s on ebay for a couple hundred bucks.

What is your proposed budget?

I think you would be better off with a Designjet (inkjet) printer (24" width) that utilizes a continuous roll. Example: We print to a HP Designjet 500+ (24" width) and utilize paper sizes of 18x24 and 24x36. Our 11x17s are sent to a Kyocera printer/copier.

We buy our paper by the carton. There are four rolls (50 yds. long) to a carton at a cost of $90. Printheads, of which there are four (black, cyan, yellow and magenta) cost $40 each and last a fairly long time.

I am looking to spend less than $5000.

Well the HP Designjet 510 (24" width) retails for about $1900.

Do you do a lot of printing?

I have been that's why I'm looking at something like this.

We have had ink cartridges last a year and usually only order paper twice a year. We plot mainly for in-house use.

I guess we should narrow down the definition of "a lot of printing"...Since I deal almost exclusively in electronic formats now, rarely print anything. A lot of printing for me would be 50 pages in a week. When I worked at the tubing company, we'd go through an entire 100 yard roll, sometimes 2, in a day.

You working in color or monochrome?