threedee 0 Posted February 1, 2008 Hello. I'm about to buy MH721 as is, but still want to know some things that are not on european Refine site. 1. What ports are there ? I expect it to have physical COM and LPT ports. USB is irrelevant really. 2. What about COM ports surge protection ? I ask because we had loads of MUTOH's getting busted COMports within couple of months of buying. Same happened to one roland and some old rubbish one i cant remember name of. All machines were on different computers so faulty port conputer-side can be ruled out. Some of my friends who work for different companies say the same esp. about Mutoh's. 3. I gather that MH uses roland blades, but i'll ask anyway. Will standard roland blades fit MH's ? 4. Will i have any problems cutting thick thermo vinyls ? There are 2 varieties, sticky thin and nonsticky thick thermoflex. I'm worried about latter. 5. Plotter will be mostly used for flexing shirts and caps and whatnot, how's the small details of cuts ? What is the smallest Arial style letter it can cut ? (always been a benchmark for a precise plotter) With Mutoh we were able to cut and properly weed designs with lines of 0.2-0.3mm thickness on thin sticky flex. 6. Dies it have a feedback function, to feed computer with dimensions of loaded media (width of loaded roll according to roller positions)? We were dong it a loooooooong time ago ('95?) on a small roland (cant remember model exactly) with hi-cut software (dont know the version), where upon loading media hi-cut would resize a page to cuttable dimesions, exactly. Meaning i can cut to 0.0254 off the edge of physical baundary of the plotter. Saves truckloads of vinyl and prevents sizing mistakes... I know some questions are a bit much, but what-a-hey, one can hope, right ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BannerJohn 1,324 Posted February 1, 2008 my refine mh721 has all 3...com,lpt, amd usb I have no idea about the surge protection thing. The mh721 uses standard Roland blades. I get mine at US cutter,nothing special,cheap,and last me 3 months of 7 days a week cutting. In vinyl,I have cut text as small as 1/4 inch with no loss of detail or problems The software (signblazer) has all sorts of sizing options,tile cutting,etc. YOu set the size of the media in the software. Jerry will be on later today (he is on Australian time) and can tell you much more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fourthsyde 0 Posted February 1, 2008 what are the odds that a refine series cutter could go down to writing as small as 1-2mm tall? despite the fact that it would be hell to weed... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
threedee 0 Posted February 1, 2008 I dont expect it to do 1-2mm LETTERS. For an arial i'd expect something of 5-6mm caps. Done this on mutoh. and on fat flex, i've been surprised about that for some time. Now i suppose i expect MH721 to match it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fourthsyde 0 Posted February 1, 2008 well, its always worth trying... would make awesome masking for some of the carbon fiber stuff i do Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FBRsportmod68 109 Posted February 3, 2008 why do people expect a $200 machine to do the same thing that a $2000 machine will do? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
threedee 0 Posted February 3, 2008 Technology goes forwards. Stuff gets cheap. Hi-tech stuff. Remember how much 8086 cost in its heyday ? 10k ? now my watch has more processing power than 8086 and only costs a fiver. So, yeah, i do expect 200$ machine to perform. Plus pricetag of 2k doesnt guarantee all the fancy stuff you want too. There are many examples of shiny things not being gold... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BannerJohn 1,324 Posted February 3, 2008 My first VCR cost $1200 and didn't even have a timer. You are 100% correct. You would be surprized what my $300 Refine can do.(Everything that my $1000+ main cutter can,and more). Threedee...if you can get one,the mh721 will probably do all you need it to do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
threedee 0 Posted February 3, 2008 I can get MH721 right here in UK (refinecutters.co.uk) for mere 350gbp (500$, yeah, yeah, rip-off brintain phenomena), plus shipping of about 20gbp ($40). Why i hesitate is knowing that refine is so "last gen" I'm not chasing trends here, but i'd rather pay a bit more but end up with newer tech. If Uscutters comes up with some stupid number on Copam i'll get MH721. Requested exact quote (KenImes, still waiting for that email) from USC including shipping and customs excise. I have never imported stuff from US, especially this big...size wise. Its bound to attract her majesty's revenues and customs service's attention. I've bought countless knick-knacks off ebay from US, none were pulled by HMRC. But they were small packages or envelopes... Not the bloody plotter in all its glorious size Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
