For anyone who is planning to set up a t-shirt printing business, it is essential to know what’s best in the market. Every little bit of information we can gather can prepare us before venturing into business.
And, this information shouldn’t only be related to the leading business competitors or the potential monetary profit; having proper knowledge in the best equipment we should use in our t-shirt printing business is equally vital for success.
Being in the t-shirt printing business, naturally, one of the priorities we should have is the excellent quality of our prints. Having a reliable, state-of-the-art printer can be the determining factor whether or not our t-shirt printing business would be a massive success.
Knowing the best printers on the market today will be a great deal of help in making sure that we are not wasting money investing in tools and equipment that won’t produce good quality prints. Also, if we have some knowledge about what we should be looking for in a printer, we would know which one we should invest our hard earned cash.
The UniNet iColor 600 Printer and the Oki proColor C711WT Printer are two of the most sought after printers when it comes to printing designs on garments. Here are some crucial details about these two printers:
UniNet iColor 600 Printer
According to the website of Uninet iColor, the UniNet iColor 600 Printer is recognized as the “World’s Smallest A3 Tabloid CMYK+White Transfer Printer”.
Having the dimensions of 17.6″ x 21.7″ x 14.2″ (W x D x H) and weighing just 81.6 lb. or 37 kg., it is easy to see this printer’s first edge over other printers – portability. We can have the advantage of taking the printer anywhere with us should we plan to move from location to location. Also, a small-sized printer would not take up too much space, which means we can still carry out printing even within a small working area.
Aside from being portable, the UniNet iColor 600 comes with the iColor TransferRIP software – which could have possibly set this printer apart from the rest. The iColor TransferRIP software can give us the capability to print white as an underprint as well as an overprint in the same printer – all in one pass. Because of this, the UniNet iColor 600 can also help us in saving printing time and effort.
The UniNet iColor 600 Printer is also multi-purpose, which means we can save money because we no longer have to buy multiple devices to do various printing jobs. Here are some of the capabilities of this printer:
• It can do a heat transfer printing with white overprint
• It is capable of doing right side reading with white underprint
• It can do regular CMYK prints without white
• It can handle optional fluorescent printing
• It is also capable of optional sublimation transfer printing
This printer has a LED technology and low-temperature fusing, and consequently, there is low possibility that the fabric will be damaged. And speaking of fabrics, the graphics printed with the UniNet iColor 600 could outlast up to 100 wash cycles.
Additionally, the UniNet iColor 600 is easy to maintain.
The CMYK Printing capability of this printer can be used on Mac as well as PCs.
True black printing can be quite easy too since the UniNet iColor 600 comes with a true black printing kit.
There is an endless array of items we can transfer the print into aside from t-shirts: sportswear, jackets, sweatshirts, leather, light/dark fabrics, mugs, wood, and many more.
However, there are some downsides to the UniNet iColor 600. First, since it is toner based, we can expect the price to be more expensive than inkjet printing systems. Another drawback is that the iColor TransferRIP that comes with the printer is not compatible with Mac.
OKI proColor C711WT Printer
The OKI proColor C711WT Printer from OKI Data Corporation is something we can regard as exceptional when it comes to printing. This printer was, in fact, so good, that it was awarded the Silver Award from Hardware Magazine in Singapore.
As opposed to the usual printers we can find in the market, the OKI proColor C711WT is a white toner printer. And because of this special feature, we can transfer prints on dark or colored garments and fabrics minus the time-consuming weeding and cutting. Self-weeding transfer papers are used for the OKI proColor C711WT. This feature is what makes the OKI proColor C711WT an outstanding choice.
The dimensions of the OKI proColor C711WT are 17.17″ x 21.55″ x 15.32″ (W x D x H). The printer weighs 60.8lb. or 27.6 kg. Being relatively lighter and smaller than other printers makes it possible for us to easily place this printer in limited spaces. It could be ideal for any of us who plans to start a small garment printing business at home.
The designs printed from the OKI proColor C711WT come in HD Colors so we can expect the prints to be vivid. There are also no color limitations when we use this printer.
Prints for a variety of items can also be made with the OKI proColor C711WT – mouse pads, metallic paper, mugs, envelopes, stickers, puzzles, and fabrics of almost any kind.
Special transfer papers can also be used for this printer for us to be able to transfer prints on hard surfaces such as glass or ceramic.
Another great thing about the OKI proColor C711WT is that the printed graphics it produces are of superior quality AND are scratch proof.
But, since this printer uses white toner and eliminates the process of weeding and cutting, a specialized, self-weeding transfer paper should be used with it. And typically, these self-weeding transfer papers usually cost a lot; and this is one of the cons of choosing the OKI proColor C711WT printer.
Aside from the compatible self-weeding transfer paper being expensive, the refill for the white toner itself can be quite pricey, too.
Also, while the quality of the actual printed output is superb, there were some reports that, at times, the printed results show dye migration.
Here is a comparison of the key specifications between the UniNet iColor 600 Printer and the OKI proColor C711WT Printer:
| Printer Specifications | UniNet iColor 600 Printer | OKI proColor C711WT Printer |
| Processor: | 800 MHz | 533 MHz |
| Print Speed: | Up to 20 ppm on transfer media;
Up to 35 ppm on standard media |
Up to 8 ppm on transfer media; up to 34 ppm on standard media |
| Memory: | Standard 256 MB; maximum 768 MB | Standard 256MB; maximum 768 MB |
| Duty Cycle: | Up to 75,000 pages per month | 100,000 pages maximum |
| Duplex: | Optional | N/A |
| Resolution: | 1200 x 600 | 1200 x 600 |
| Operating Systems: | Microsoft Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008, Server 2008 R2 x64, Server 2003; Mac OS X 10.5 and higher | Microsoft Windows 7, Vista (32/64bit); XP Professional (32/64bit), XP Home, XP Server 2003 x64 (SP1); Server 2003; 2000 Workstation/Professional/Server/2000 Advanced Server/Server 2008(32/64) (all SP3 or later); Mac OS X Intel 10.3 and higher |
| Emulation: | PCL 6, PCL 5c; PostScript 3 | Adobe PostScript 3 |
| Interfaces: | 10/100-TX Ethernet, High Speed USB v2.0 | HiSpeed USB 2.0 and 10 BaseT/100 BaseTX/1000 BaseT Ethernet with internal Web Server |
| Paper Cassette: | 400-sheet Legal/Letter/Universal100 sheet capacity | 530-sheet Legal/Letter/Universal size |
| Multipurpose Tray: | Standard 100-sheet; handles transfer media, card and mailing label stock | 100-sheet capacity |
| Paper Sizes: | (Min./Max.): A3, Tabloid, A4 (LEF), A4 (SEF), Letter (LEF), Letter (SEF), A5, Legal 13/13.5/14, Executive | Multi-Purpose Tray – 3″ x 5″ to 8.5″ x 14″ ; Paper Cassette – 5.8″ x 8.3″ x 8.5″ x 14″ |
| Paper Weight: | Main Tray 17 lb. bond – 54 lb. bond/ 80 lb. cover (64 – 220 gsm); 2nd and 3rd Trays 17 lb. – 47 lb. bond (64 – 176 gsm); Multi-purpose Tray 17 lb. bond – 140 lb. index (64 – 256 gsm); Duplex 17 lb. – 54 lb. bond/80 lb. cover (64 – 220 gsm) | 20 lb. bond/80 lb. cover (75216 gsm)
|
| Power Consumption: | 84W and 161WA | Idle – 100W; Typical – 600W; Peak – 1300W; Power Save < 1.2W (approx 1.0W) |
Having sufficient knowledge about our choices of printers before we go about our printing venture can help us save a lot of money, time, and even effort. At the end of the day, we would get to choose which printer works best for our budget and which one suits our needs perfectly.