If you work it out im sure it will work out the best option unless you plan on not upgrading for a number of years.
I’m not sure what the upgrade prices are on Onyx but Caldera was £500 to jump up a version for 1 machine, where as flexi lets you run 3 as standard with no upgrade fees.
Most media companies do put profiles out for Onyx first though and thats very handy if you don’t have the time to customise a generic one or maybe copy the settings across but apart from that I would say thats the only advantage other than its very simple to use.įlexi is also extremely good as a design software whilst I don’t use it full time its very often got me out of a hole when illustrator struggled with something and once I’ve had the time to sit down and learn more about it I hope to use it as the default app for design, not to mention the ability to use it on my cutters saving a lot of time switching between apps.
The thing you need to be wary of is the 26500 needs a lot more tweaking of profiles than the later series and the basic version of Onyx does not give you that facility plus without paying more you don’t get any of the eyelets and bleeds and extras you need from day to day as I found out when I stated using it. I didn’t get either of these new with my printer I got Caldera as I was mac based but because of looking to upgrade I started using Flexi and have now got Onyx with my new 310 Latex.
Assuming you get that bit sorted you also need to understand just how much heat this printer kicks out, Ive had all doors open in the middle of winter just trying to cool the place down so its going to get really hot if you only have the bedroom window to open.Īnyway hope your not Mad and have worked out how your going to achieve the above, having had both rips I think you have already made you mind up and made the right choice with flexi. It took 4 of us to get my 26500 off the lorry and into the premises and I thought that was hard work but how the heck you plan on getting it upstairs I really don’t know.
PC & network wise, anything unusual I need to think about? Our set up is probably going to be roughly as follows:įlexi on main design station downstairs (working from home & don’t really want customers traipsing upstairs) hardwired upstairs into 5 port switch in upstairs production suite (converted bedroom :smiles: ) printers, plotter (yet to purchase) & RIP station PC all connected to switch.
It’s kind of looking a bit of a no brainer, but I may be missing important points. v large outlay for Onyx with costly future upgrades, additional functionality & updates. Obviously a big draw to Flexi is the low monthly cost which includes Design & RIP + all future updates etc. How would the two compare? I have read that Onyx has better colour adjustments which is something I am keen to have control over as it’s been a constant issue when outsourcing for the past 13 years. I have alternatively been advised that Onyx Thrive 211 would be suitable for a newbie to the fray. I also understand Flexi is now tied up with HP latex so this must be a good sign I presume? It may also be an advantage being familiar with Flexi, albeit an older version.
I am intending to go for the new Flexi monthly rental which includes RIP & from the brief research I have done over the last day or so its seems to be user friendly enough. I have no experience of RIP software other than seeing it on Flexi 8.1 & using the cut/plot in Flexi which I presume is a similar interface. If I keep both HP’s (only intended to buy one but good deal for 2) I will not be running simultaneously. I have yet to buy both PC station & RIP so advice on both would be handy. I am new into Large format printing having just bought 2 used HP26500s. Looking for a bit of advice from anyone who has experience using both of these. I’ve partly asked this under the general printer topic but thought it better here, so apologies if you’ve already read it.