I am still researching / thinking about buying a CO2 laser engraver. I spent a few hours with a Trotec rep last year and, of course, am very impressed with their machines. However, the price tag is also impressive.
One of the general opinions I'm seeing about western lasers (e.g. Trotec, Epilog, Universal) is that their ability to render text, images, etc. cleanly is greater than that of Chinese lasers (I am specifically thinking about a Rabbit RL-80-1290 or similar). Is this still generally true? If so, how big is the difference? Is there anything I can do to improve on a Chinese laser's rendering clarity / crispness (not sure of the right term)?
I know that a lot depends on the quality of the original image or vector file and on the material. Let's say I intend to mark quite a bit on wood, acrylic, and metal (with cermark or similar). I would also like to do some glass and stone. I plan to do both raster and vector work and am proficient in several graphics programs. One thing I plan to do a lot of work with is maps, where fine details will be important. Raster images of people will also be important.
I plan to make items for sale, and possibly do some engraving jobs for others. Money is a factor but not necessarily the deciding factor. Throughput is not a factor either. I will not be running the machine all day every day.
I'm really just trying to find out the difference in rendering ability. If anyone has pictures they could show, that would be amazing.
Thanks.