cad/cam printer

[fede]

I guys, was thinking anout buying an epson stylus 1520, does anybody have it? what's the biggest size printable? (as far as I know it should be unlimited in lenght [height]...am I correct? what about width?)
ciao
fede

[Jeff]

I have an Epson 1520 and used it from 1998-ish to 2000. I believe the max print size is 13.6" x 21.78" on a 17"x22" - why they didn't make it to print full width I have no idea. Mine was a pretty good workhorse. It never printed on glossy surfaces without banding (the 1270/1280 produce much better photos and renderings on glossy). The 1520 was also a VERY noisy printer and produces some 'dot-matrix' like objectionable sounds - at least I found it rather jarring while it was printing compared to all other printers. It also has an old fashion roll feed for the old perforated paper. But I can't complain - I got thousands of 11 x 17 prints out of it before the nozzles finally showed the wear and tear and refused to clean free of banding.

If I were going to be producing CAD drawings larger than 11 x 17 or 12 x 18 I would look at getting a used DesignJet plotter with a roll feed and cutter. I picked up a used DesignJet 750C Plus in 2000 and I've been very pleased with it for the past three years (resolution isn't great for graphics but the lines are nice and sharp for cad output) Someday I'll probably upgrade to one of the newer higher resolution DesignJets, but for now I don't plot enough to not be perfectly happy with my used 750C.

[fede]

Thanks Jeff, as far as I understood from the person who could sell it to me and from the internet this printer is able to print banners, this is confirmed by Autocad wich ,for that printer, gives measures up to 110 x 43 cm (should be 42 x 17 inches), as i understand there should be the possibility to print continuous paper...do you confirm?

[8knots]

Dear sir:
You might look at an HP (hewlett packard) designjet. They are a fairly inexpensive ink-jet printer that will print on most any print receptive media. Paper and banner alike. You can also get UV inks for them to print outdoor things too. I worked on a 3500 designjet that was 54" by roll length actual print width was 52" I could print 4' x 16' all day long. If you plan on any sort of production printing...do look into a rip server. I think they make them in 24",36" and 54" hope this helps
8Knots

[Jeff]

as i understand there should be the possibility to print continuous paper...do you confirm?

The only way my 1520 would have printed continuous paper is with the old dot-matrix-style perforated tear-off edge paper, and I haven't seen that in a long time.