Looking for a few pointers before purchasing plotter.

[Guest Taurus]

Hey guys I'm new to all of this but I've done my fair share of research.  I have been wanting to get into vinyl plotting for a while now.  Me and the wife got married back in may and we've decided that we are each going to do something for ourselves before we have a child.  She's getting into photography, and I've always wanted to do this.  I've always been very artistic and I've been using Adobe Photoshop for 10-15 years now so I know my way around graphic design.

Now, I don't want to be out a fortune on a plotter/supplies.  I'm thinking maybe $500-$600.  I have been looking at the MH series refine cutters.  From what I've read, they are a decent cutter for people just starting out.  Maybe if I could get a budget plotter now, I could make a little money with it to upgrade later on if need be.  I just want to make sure whatever brand I get has good support if I have an issue.  Does anybody have any objections to the MH series cutters for a beginner?

On another note, my wife and her sister own a small business here in town.  She told me that if I buy the plotter, they would like for me to put a logo on their window to promote their business.  I was thinking of starting out with a 25" plotter but the 50" is not that much more and is still within my budget.  I'm trying to think ahead and it seems that the 50" would be nice to have just in case I needed the extra capacity.  I'm just concerned about the tracking and the accuracy with a larger plotter.  That's a lot of vinyl moving around and I don't want it to get off track halfway through.  What do you guys think?  Should I go big or go home, or is the 50" overkill for someone just starting out?  A 50" plotter would still accept the narrower vinyl like 25" right?

Anyway, sorry for the huge post but I'm just trying to make all the right decisions now to avoid any problems in the future.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks guys,

Matt

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

one of my plotters was a 50 and I found I didn't use the big stuff enough so I downsized to a 24"  on the cutter I would seriously consider the copam and start there.  Just a little more to start but a very solid machine.  if that is totally out of reach I could go P-cut before the refine.  I have had the p-cut, refine, copam, graphtec and roland so I have had hands on experience with them all.  If I haven't touched it I don't recommend it!

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

I originally purchased a 30" Seiki vinyl cutter from the git go,  based my business around 30" to smaller, in over 4 years I have never needed anything larger. and I do full size vehicle graphics. When I upgraded in '08 to a Graphtec,  I still stayed with the 30"  Works for me.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

its also harder to find a variety of vinyl over 30" and expensive to stock

[Guest Taurus]

Yeah I thought the 50" might be a little overkill.  I'm going to go with a 24-25".  Now for which one I'm still not sure.  The Copam is a little out of my budget right now.  The only reason I'm considering the refine is because of the price.  I can get the 25" MH721 with a stand shipped for $299.  What's the difference between the pcut and the refine?