I have two DEK 288s set up in our shop, we used to use a Fuji GSP_III. I could not possibly say enough good things about the DEKs - they are incredible. The only real complaint I have with them is that if an error pops up that locks up the software - you are forced to reboot. Rebooting/initializing the systen takes a riduculously long time - what is needed is a software/hardware upgrade to a P-III processor running NT. Print quality/consistency: outstanding (and fast). I understand that 288s are not all that desirable on the used equipment market because the 288 model has been dropped in favor of some new model that combines the best features of several of their older models. Unless you have money to burn, I don't see why this would make you look for a different model. To be honest, the vision inspection system on the 288 is of limited use given the consistency of printing results. The only time we get a misprint is when someone has let the paste level get too low. I would suggest setting up the inspection for the board only (not stencil and board). This speeds things up quite a bit and still catches any problems. One other nice point: Chase rails are adjustable for various size stencil frames. If you have old stencils for other machines, chances are you can still use them (you may have to add bottom side fiducials if the old stencils were for a top camera machine). Programming is a breeze. Lots of features are basically automatic to set up - touch a button on the screen, and that's it. I don't want to ever ever ever use a GSP again.
reply »