Need advice about used 4 color 50 x 70 machine

[JFB]

We are looking to buy a 50x70 4 color press and our options are 1) Roland 304 2) heidelberg SM74-4. years of production 1995 to 2000.
Till now all our machines are heidelberg but the Roland is on average 40 000 Euros cheaper and the specs are great.
I need anybody's opinion ( Make ready time, printing quality and very SPECIALLY reliability) about both machines if possible so it will help me with my choice.
Thanks.

 

[Paultheprinter]

Re: Need advice about used 4 color 50 x 70 machine

Hi there,

I have run a roland 304/5 for two years and SM the last five. They are both very capable presses but i prefer the heidelberg. The roland i ran was a early model and it was plagued by electrical problems, so much so that the company which owned them have now chosen to run Sakurias. I always thought that the roland was was a more difficult press to stop marking the tail edge of the sheets on but that may have been due to my less experience on that press. The SM series presses also suffer with electrical issues but theres lots of well trained people out there to sort these out. My choice would be the heidelberg, you say its 40.000 euros less than the heidelberg and that would tell me that theres a reason the heidelberg holds its value. The M/R times will be similar as will the print quality and if you run heidelbergs then i would stick with what you know

Paul

 

[JFB]

Re: Need advice about used 4 color 50 x 70 machine

Thanks Paul,

I had already made up my mind on the Roland when one guy talked about it having a lot of problems, specially electrical, and we have the same situation here with a lot more people knowing to fix the heidelberg than the Roland. I can't afford a machine that has problems and that has no good support. Thanks again for the advice.

JFB