Most people don’t realize how affordable a service plan truly is for their HP DesignJet. And, that it only takes 1 or 2 service calls on a “time and materials” basis to exceed the price of having a service plan in place.
Included with the purchase or lease of an HP DesignJet plotter is a manufacturer warranty. Depending on the unit, it’s either 90-days or 1 year. The warranty can be supported by HP direct technicians or by your printer partner, providing they have received training, and are certified by HP.
You can choose to extend the warranty at the time of purchase and save a little or wait until the initial warranty is about to expire and extend the warranty with a post warranty HP Care Pack.
The price of the extended or post warranty depends on the model and age of your HP DesignJet. For example, an extended 3-year warranty for a new HP DesignJet T1600 1 roll printer is $909; five year being $1729. And, for comparison, a 2-year post warranty is $949.
This covers printer components, on-site repairs, remote support, technician travel. The consumables (ink, printhead) carry their own warranty. If something goes wrong with the printer, you call for service and the problem is resolved. Without a service plan, your printer sits idle for days or weeks while you waste valuable time trying to get approval from management for money to repair the plotter.
At MasterGraphics, we also provide a MasterPlan Managed Services Service Plan. This combines the repair service as well as consumables, including paper, ink, printheads.
HP DesignJets have a built-in web server that monitors usage in 4 categories; Monochrome CAD Line Drawings, Color CAD Line Drawings, Low Density Color Images and High Density Color Images. This allows for accurate meter readings for what you’re printing. You then pay a monthly base rate of, say $50 plus a square footage rate of something like $0.10 per square foot for line drawings and $.25 or more for color images.
Throughout the month, you order paper and ink at zero dollar amounts. At the end of the month, your printer meter is polled. You end up with just a single invoice for the month that includes the base rate plus square footage of printing. It makes the process of maintaining service and supplies for your plotter much more manageable.
Print away!
