In today’s video, Nick is standing between the ESPON SureColor F9470H and the HP Stitch S500 Dye Sublimation Printers. To help with the disparity, he’s going to look at 6 different areas: printheads, ink set, consumable costs, applications, Bundled RIP Software, and how these printers fit in your space.
Up first, is the topic of printheads.
The print heads from each of these printers are very different. The Epson — utilizes a Piezo Head technology, and the HP Stitch — utilizes a Thermal Head technology. The Epson F9470 and F9470H have 2 PrecisionCore TFP printheads. These are designed to last the life of the printer, which we find on average to be 3 to 5 years, However, this number can vary based on usage and how well you maintain your machine. The HP Stitch S500 includes 8 thermal inkjet printheads. These printheads are user replaceable and are considered a consumable. We can help you run some numbers if you’re wanting to look into this deeper.
This leads us to our next category, Consumables.
The HP Stitch has a consumable cost of $180 dollars per print head. The average lifespan is 8,000ml of jetted ink per head before you start to notice some degradation in your prints. Epson’s Piezo heads, as we mentioned before, do not have to be replaced but can periodically run into some issues. Piezo head issues are often correlated to poor maintenance or repeated headstrikes. This can be costly if you’re not under warranty, averaging about 2 to 3 thousand dollars per head to replace if not under warranty. At the time of this video, the CMYK ink on the Epson F9400 series costs $120.84 per 1.1-liter bag which comes out to 12 cents per ml. If you have the F9470H with the fluorescent yellow and pink inks, these are sold in two packs for $356. Each pack includes 2 – 1 Liter bags at $178 each. The Epson Fluorescent cost per ml is a bit more than its CMYK counterparts– averaging out to .17 cents per ml. The HP S500 uses 3-liter ink boxes at $270 per box, with a cost per ml of 9 cents. You may say to yourself, wow, the HP ink is less expensive! Well, let’s not forget, the user replaceable heads on the HP we mentioned before. At the end of the day, the consumable costs generally average out to a similar number. Since the HP Stitch Printhead is considered a consumable, it’s wear and tear per ml fired equals about 3 cents per ml fired. Once you add the printhead consumable cost of 3 cents per ml fired and the ink cost of 9 cents per ml together, you come out to about the same consumable cost as the Epson F9470 models. The Fluorescent ink cost being the only outlier in this comparison.
The HP S500 only comes in one flavor, a CMYK Ink Set. You might have heard Nick mention a fluorescent ink a couple times by now, so let’s talk about the third difference, the ink configuration. EPSON has two options, the F9470 which has a dual CMYK ink set of 8 1.5L tanks. The other option is the F9470H which features a CMYK + Fluorescent Yellow and Fluorescent Pink ink. The F9470H model still has 8 ink tanks, but the fluorescent yellow replaces one of the yellow ink bays and the fluorescent pink replaces one of the magenta ink tanks.
Let’s move into the applications portion of this video. With these two models, the F9470 and F9470H create their own application differences with the H model including the Fluorescent yellow and fluorescent pink option. Which is great for sports apparel and some really cool custom fabric designs. When comparing the Epson and HP CMYK models, we find that they are both great options for professional-quality apparel, soft signage, décor and more. One caveat is that the HP has the option to print direct to fabric. The direct option is best suited for flag and back lit application due to the non-stretch of these materials. One thing we can agree on when talking about these two models, is that we do not recommend them for hard or ridged substrate applications. Epson has a different solution for dye sub on hard substrate, which would be their F6470 or F7200 models.
Next, let’s cover bundled RIP software options. EPSON is equipped with their new Epson Edge® Print workflow software. Which features an Adobe PostScript 3 engine, job nesting, custom spot color options, project libraries, and pattern repeats. The HP Stitch S500 is equipped with an HP Edition of Ergosoft RIP. This featuring many of the same offerings as the Epson RIP mentioned before, but a key difference is the HP’s Ergosoft SmartColor feature which will Get a <1dE average color consistency across the fleet with its on-board spectrophotometer.
Finally, let’s talk about functionality in your space. Everyone’s spaces are different and may cater to one of the two printer designs. The EPSON F9400 series media is loaded from the back and the take-up reel is in the front which requires a bit more space. The HP loads and takes up in the front. This allows you to set up your printers back-to-back or against the wall, saving on space.
We hope this video helped you unravel some of the differences. If you still have questions, feel free to reach out to one of our textile specialists and they are happy to help you hone in on the right unit for your needs.
To view EPSON SureColor F9470H, click here
To view HP Stitch S500, click here
Still have questions regarding the EPSON or HP Dye-Sub Solution?
Call 1-800-771-9665 and ask to talk to one of our commercial sales specialists or visit our website https://www.itsupplies.com.
IT Supplies is your single source solution for everything relating to the perfect print. We represent some of the top manufacturers in the industry. Our full lineup includes Eco Solvent, Latex, Flat Bed, and Aqueous printers by EPSON, HP, and Canon. We also carry a large selection of Dye-Sublimation and DTG Printers by both EPSON and HP. Visit us at www.itsupplies.com
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