Duplo 618 versus Aerocut X

[BSP]

Can anyone offer advice on either or both of these pieces of equipment? We are looking to lease a Duplo 618 but would love to hear if anyone who has experience with either could offer some insight. Currently all of our cutting is done with an older hydraulic cutter and we are hoping to move the business cards and smaller items to a machine like this for efficiency's sake. We saw a demonstration of the 618 and it meets our needs but it seemed to lose registration even during the demo which was concerning. Any input appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[ReproElectroProspero]

What kind of registration do you need? Our duplo 618 seems to be fine with a registration in the 1mm range. We cut full bleed business cards on it constantly and I never see a need for registration concerns. We do use the CCD registration feature though, it is a box that the machine scans to know exactly where to expect the paper. Perhaps they weren't using that in the demo?

 

[TJPrinter]

I have been running the Duplo 618 for a year now and love it. Registration is pretty much dead on as long as your sheets have the registration mark placed in the top corner correctly. The ccd will read where it is and then shift the cutters to adjust for movement. When you watch the machine run you can see the cutters shift from side to side as is adjusts for press shift.

I use it for all my short run stuff. Postcards, greeting cards, posters, brochures and more. It's a huge time saver for this short run stuff, load the job from the software, put the stock in and walk away. Initially it takes a bit to get each job setup but once it's done you never have to do it again. If you have Impose on your Fiery it will make the setup even quicker. I don't have Impose because I do all my imposing with Quite Imposing.

It really is a great machine and running 100# gloss text up to 14 pt cover is no problem and I never have problems with registration. If your press stretches or shrinks the image down page you can even make an adjustment on the Duplo to adjust for this so you hit your cut marks from the top of the sheet down to the bottom. You can't go wrong if you decide to go with the Duplo.

 

[tngcas]

We have an older Aerocut and just got a duplo 618. The quality difference in how the machine is built and runs is night and day difference. I’d happily sell you our old aerocut. ;-)

 

[BSP]

Thanks for the input. We are going with the Duplo During the demo, the sales rep ran some 12x18 sheets of full bleed business cards and the cuts shifted from the top of the sheet to the bottom. The sales rep's explanation was that the registration may not have been spot on when print. Fair enough, I guess, but it he didn't seem confident about it.

 

[AP90]

We have an older Aerocut and just got a duplo 618. The quality difference in how the machine is built and runs is night and day difference. I’d happily sell you our old aerocut. ;-)

Hmm, I actually might be interested in the aerocut if your looking to get rid of it.

 

[tngcas]

We are. I’ll send you a pm.

Hmm, I actually might be interested in the aerocut if your looking to get rid of it.

 

[jwheeler]

I've ran a Duplo at my past job, and we have an AeroCut Prime Complete here. I prefer the Duplo. Here's the reasons why:

1. The Aerocut has pre-determined gutters....mean you can't do a single slit between pieces. You always need a gutter. This sometimes makes it so we can't cut certain jobs, or it causes us to fit less pieces on a sheet.
2. The Aerocut exit the scraps out of the end of the machine into a small bin. This fills up very fast. The chute is also so low that 19" scraps will not fall all the way out, causing backup.
3. The Aerocut doesn't have a fixed side guide on the feeding end. It only has a magnetic plate that you place manually which can be annoying to try and get lined up square to the paper.
4. The Duplo has a setup mode that will output the first set of business cards only half way so you can adjust the catch trays to the proper positions. The AeroCut doesn't do this, or at least the tech couldn't show us how.
5. The feeding was much more reliable on the Duplo. It seemed to have a more powerful air blowing system and better feeding belts.
6. The software that comes with the Duplo is much more intuitive that the AeroCut.