Roland DGA BN-20 review: BN-20 Versastudio 3

Roland sells, among other things, printer/cutter machines. They recently released a new desktop version of their printer/cutters, the BN-20.

I purchased two of these units and used them from during November 2011 until today, Jan. 25, 2012.

During this time I have run into a magnitude of issues with the machines.

- Unable to register, error is returned upon submission
- Inability to print gradient patterns, sometimes they work, sometimes they do not, there is no rhyme or reason as I use the same file to print
- Inability to successfully print & cut heat transfer material. The vacuum pressure is not set high enough and the end-user is not allowed into the service application to adjust without getting a service access code from the reseller, which usually entails a service trip at my cost.
- The waste drain bin application states the bin is full but upon further inspection of the bin, there are numerous felt absorption pads that are not saturated at all, this appears to be a way to gouge the purchaser.
- The single print head will NOT function correctly consistently. I have had my service rep out and they'll do a nozzle check and the nozzle will print 100% correctly, they'll print another and it will not print magenta or cyan or yellow, again there is no rhyme or reason, there was only seconds between prints.
- Another issue with the single print head is that in order to fix the check nozzle issue aforementioned, you have to pump ink, usually "powerful" cleanings which pump a LOT of ink through the head in an attempt to "blow out" the clogged heads. This wastes ink as well as filling the waste ink reservoir prematurely.
- The blade holder, for heat transfer material, has to be set in such a fashion that the blade holder nib rubs against the heat transfer media causing it to tear and/or smear the print.
- The service application requires a code to gain access as I have previously mentioned, but we have had an occurrence where as the rep got a fresh access code but it would not allow entry into the service application and I was basically told sorry, nothing we can do about it.

I had to have the "cap" replaced when there was no need, I have wasted $ on heat transfer and vinyl media for erroneous/non-working prints, I have had to purchase a waste bin @ 70 only to find out it was not even close to what any reasonable person would call full.
Roland's customer support has been NIL! Jim Day, their regional sales manager has been non-responsive and unwilling to even reply to my email.

After numerous discussions with my Roland reseller and Jesse @ Roland Tech Support, I was promised a different machine in replacement for my, a vp-300, unfortunately this machine does not offer "metallic" printing options. After Roland retracting this offer I found out I was able to get two new machines exchanged outright when I asked for substitution of similar models under the amount I paid for my two BN-20's new. I am not interested in owning a machine that does not function as promised and feel that the replacement of comparable products in exchange for my two BN-20 machines is fair and validated. I was informed today that Roland has "washed their hands" of my complaints.

All in all I would not recommend Roland DGA to ANYONE and if you do decide to purchase be prepared to be charged for EVERYTHING, even if it is a design/manufacturer flaw.