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Hello, all. My name is Rick and I am new to vinyl cutting. My wife has a Cricut and it seems like I took over it because of my sudden fascination in the vinyl cutting/business. I now plan to get [way] more serious and want to invest in a more advanced cutter. I am a serious believer in "buying once" instead of purchasing mediocre machines that will just lead me to purchasing "the one I need".

With that said, I have been looking in to Roland and Graphtec, which appear to be leaders in the industry. I was sold on Roland first because, well, its ROLAND, but then I saw many YouTube videos on Graphtec and loved the on-board screen and looked very easy to configure. I should mention that I am in IT and pretty savvy when it comes to computers and menus, but I am all for ease of use.

I recently went to a local supplier and they were recommending the Roland (GS-24) because software was easier to use, and the machine itself had American measurements, unlike Graphtec (CE6000-60 Plus) which uses metric measurements in their system. Not sure how true that is and if that is really an issue, but I made a mental note, nonetheless.

NOTE: The local shop had the Roland on sale for right under $1600 (with stand), and the Graphtec was right under $1800. Maybe they were just trying to push Rolands out due to the sale they had going.

 

So my questions are below. Please answer all or any of them. Anything helps a newbie like me and will be greatly appreciated:

1.) Which cutting/design software is more intuitive and also has more advanced features between Roland and Graphtec?

2.) Is there a third-party cutting/design software that is being used by people in the industry, instead of the factory-supplied, that will work on both machines? I am not talking about Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator.

3.) Is the metric measurement on the Graphtec really something to be concerned about?

4.) GRAND QUESTION: Which is a better cutter overall (i.e., able to cut more intricate details, on-board screen is easier to use, more reliable)?

 

I realize that my last question is very vague. If anyone knows of any pros/cons on both, please let me know.

 

Thanks in advance for your help! I'm eager to see your comments.

 

-Rick

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I have had my Graphtec FC7000-75 (30") cutter, bought new since 2008. Never a problem. Plus bought 2 CE5000-60 for my kids.  It is not metric..  Graphtecs are not just metric.  I use Flexistarter software for cutting.   Many people still use the old FREE Signblazer software.  You will see pretty soon that this forum's  old timers use Graphtecs.  They are great for detailed designs. Highly recommended  over the Rolands for detailed designs. I cut very large graphics even up to 16 ft and the tracking is great,  I have never used a Roland or their software.  I started with Flexi products back in 2006 and still use them. 

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35 minutes ago, rickr said:

Hello, all. My name is Rick and I am new to vinyl cutting. My wife has a Cricut and it seems like I took over it because of my sudden fascination in the vinyl cutting/business. I now plan to get [way] more serious and want to invest in a more advanced cutter. I am a serious believer in "buying once" instead of purchasing mediocre machines that will just lead me to purchasing "the one I need".

With that said, I have been looking in to Roland and Graphtec, which appear to be leaders in the industry. I was sold on Roland first because, well, its ROLAND, but then I saw many YouTube videos on Graphtec and loved the on-board screen and looked very easy to configure. I should mention that I am in IT and pretty savvy when it comes to computers and menus, but I am all for ease of use.

I recently went to a local supplier and they were recommending the Roland (GS-24) because software was easier to use, and the machine itself had American measurements, unlike Graphtec (CE6000-60 Plus) which uses metric measurements in their system. Not sure how true that is and if that is really an issue, but I made a mental note, nonetheless.

NOTE: The local shop had the Roland on sale for right under $1600 (with stand), and the Graphtec was right under $1800. Maybe they were just trying to push Rolands out due to the sale they had going.

 

So my questions are below. Please answer all or any of them. Anything helps a newbie like me and will be greatly appreciated:

1.) Which cutting/design software is more intuitive and also has more advanced features between Roland and Graphtec?   graphtec studio pro - or flexi cloud

2.) Is there a third-party cutting/design software that is being used by people in the industry, instead of the factory-supplied, that will work on both machines? I am not talking about Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator.   Both will work with the graphtec or Roland with the free plug in supplied by the plotter company but with new graphtecs getting the free corel studio pro means you don't have to purchase either - that program is essentially rebraneded flexi pro cloud and the design part is very very similar to corel draw - like I think it is licenced for use in flexi 

3.) Is the metric measurement on the Graphtec really something to be concerned about?    NO - both machines you can select us or metric

4.) GRAND QUESTION: Which is a better cutter overall (i.e., able to cut more intricate details, on-board screen is easier to use, more reliable)?

Graphtec hands down

 

I realize that my last question is very vague. If anyone knows of any pros/cons on both, please let me know.

 

Thanks in advance for your help! I'm eager to see your comments.

 

-Rick

sounds like your roland dealer is very unfamiliar with the plotters in this industry - owned both rolands and graphtecs - the thing that stands out like skeeter said is the metric thing - either one can select metric or us measurements - so that alone makes me question this sales person.  WIth a new Graphtec you can download graphtec studio pro free - essentially flexi pro cloud - price it and you will see what a bargain this is.  having owned several roland gx-24's and several graphtec ce3000,ce5000 and 2 ce6000 I do all my cutting on a graphtec - for a printer I have a roland versacamm and will say with print and cut the rolands will outperform any other cutter on finding registration marks - but unless you are ready at this point to drop $15K for all my plotting I use a graphtec.  the graphtec does finer detail better and is always ready even after a vacation to fire up and cut right.
now both roland and graphtec offer plug ins so you can cut directly from illustrator or corel draw but with the free download of graphtec studio pro there is no competition.   

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Plus, roland will charge you for a stand for the cutter and Graphtec includes it with theirs. not a big deal but $300 worth.

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