Wide Format Imaging

The results of WFI's third annual Readers' Choice Top Products of the Year are in.

In December and January, Wide-Format Imaging readers were asked to cast their ballots in the magazine, by email and online for those breakthrough products that have caused the most excitement in the industry and have had the biggest impact in their bottom lines over the past year. From wide-format printers and inks and media, to laminating equipment to toners, RIP software and scanners, Wide-Format Imagings' third annual Reader's Choice Top Products Awards applauds the best products have done the most for our reader's businesses.

These products deserve special attention for their technical merit and well as their marketing achievements. We salute those manufacturers who have brought forth these products to the wide-format market. If you chart the course of a product—from research and development through marketing through final sale—you begin to appreciate what a tremendous team effort is involved. In all, 26 categories were chosen for WFI readers to vote on as well as a category honoring what our readers felt that was the best overall Top Product. The results featured some amazing new products as well as some repeat winners form last year.

The voting in a number of the categories was so close this year that there were ties in four categories. Kudos to all the winners and we hope this annual issue will continue to serve as a small token of our appreciation for all your efforts in the wide-format industry.

Flatbed Printer
Durst Rho 800 Presto
The Durst Rho 800 Presto represents the next generation of UV flatbed printers. The unit's revolutionary mechanism for continuous board feeding was created by a combination of new mechanical and software developments. The Rho 800 Presto combines a compact, robust design with continuous printing and image quality who many feel provide a level of productivity and quality previously said to be unattainable in industrial printing. It outputs up to 100 sheets per hour (125x80cm / 4x2.6 feet). Top productivity is 1,200 sqft/hr (draft mode).

Grand-Format Printer
VUTEk UltraVu II 5330
VUTEk's five-meter UltraVu II 5330 digital inkjet printer with improved productivity and increased functionality was the big winner in this category for the third year in a row. The UltraVu II 5330, which replaced the previous UltraVu 5330 EC printer, delivers faster production speeds for grand-format output.

Wide-Format Aqueous Printer
HP DesignJet Z6100 Series
Our readers felt that the HP Designjet Z6100 printer series offered an unbeatable combination of speed, image quality and color consistency to enable them to increase their print capacity while producing high-impact prints. Utilizing HP Vivera pigment inks, the eight-ink HP Designjet Z6100 printing system delivers vivid, water-resistant, exceptionally fade-resistant prints, including high-impact indoor retail signage, museum-quality fine art photos and clean, crisp line drawings.

To view full Top Products 2008 article in PDF format, click here.