UPDATE: The following article was written back in November of 2013. A lot has happened since then. Epson has provided a printer for us to use in our Printers Boot Camp classes and we can say we LOVE this baby! Because we only use it for classes, it will often sit for weeks and weeks. We have let it sit for over ten days and with a quick head cleaning we still get perfect nozzle checks! It is easy to use and very intuitive. 
In fact, we had a chance to help a local charity raise money this summer and we took the printer to the event to help out. We tipped it, hauled it, bumped it, jossled it and it was like the Energizer Bunny – it kept ticking and printed great on-site!
Watch for an updated article and review shortly. This printer is a game changer!
Written in November of 2013 – So…. is this going to be the Game Changer? On September 9, 2013 Epson released their direct-to-garment F2000 Series inkjet printer with lots of fanfare. They showed the printer at the SGIA Show in Orlando in October. Catch Scott Fresener’s Final SGIA Show Report video with a lot of comments on this printer HERE.
The list price of the Epson printer is $19,995 which is about inline with other comparable printers including the Brother printer – if you factor in the Brother trade-in program. We already hear rumors of dealers discounting it. You can get a non-white or white model for the same price. The print area is 16″ x 20″.
Although the Epson website still has some “coming soon” sections you can actually get more information from their dealer websites. At the SGIA show Epson announced they had setup Lawson Digital and Screen, Belquette, Axiom, Equipment Zone, All American Supply and Stahls as their US dealer network. They have since announced many dealers in other countries and are doing a major push world wide on this printer.
It should be interesting to see how this shakes out. Dealers have been promised delivery in early January (rumor has it European dealers will have machines sooner) and even if a dealer is making their own machine – as most are – Epson does not seem to care. We are anxious to see if the current manufacturer/dealers drop their own lines to concentrate on the Epson printer.
It will also be interesting to see how Stahls handles this. They have been wanting to sell a DTG printer for a long time but smartly sat on the sideline while the problems have shaken out. They are probably the best positioned to sell this machine with good financial strength and a huge following.
Epson is shipping a simple RIP with their printer and is letting third party developers step up and make their own. In fact, T-Biz will be making a T-RIP DTG version that will work well with the Epson printer (and others) – release date is early January! In fact, we are considering offering training classes for the Epson DTG printer at our upcoming Printers Boot Camp classes in Scottsdale and Nashville.
Why might this be a game changer? Epson stood back (like Stahls) and watched the blood bath of early adopters/manufacturers shake out tech issues. They are offering a ONE YEAR warranty on the print head AND free on-site service for one year (US). We are not sure how they will handle this for international customers. This is HUGE.
Plus, the printer has a special “purpose built” head, a cool head wiping system, ink recirculation and more! They pretty much covered all the problem areas. There is great little video on their Gallery page HERE.
Read all the facts and specs HERE on the Epson website. The Epson website still has many “coming soon” sections but here is an industry news release that has more details. Click HERE.
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