questions about buying a new Aloha POS

[Tyler121515]

hey guys,

We are currently building another bar/restaurant, and with a very tight budget we are trying to save as much as possible, but still opted to spend a little more for Aloha since Aloha has worked so great for us at our other stores. On our quote from our dealer are RADIANT TM-T88IVP-834 EPSON printers. A friend of mine has two TM-T88IVP-834 EPSON printers that are NOT RADIANT, but is willing to sell them for $300 less than what my dealer wants to charge. Will they still be compatible/functional with Aloha? If so, will my dealer charge me extra labor to "tweak" them since they're not "Radiant" printers?
Also, would it be advisable to set up one of the thermal printers as both the guest check and order chit printer at the bar, and save on having to buy a third Chit/Order Printer?

Thanks you so much for any help!
--Tyler

 

[alohaakamai3]

Yes, it will work. Epson printers are usually 3,5,6,7 on the dip switches, on bank one.

As for the second question, if you're talking about having the guest check printer being used to print out drink orders instead of a separate bar requisition printer, yes, we do that all the time. The are only two reasons I ever suggest the separate bar printer... one is if the prep area for the drinks is no where near the guest check printer for the terminal... obviously, that can be huge issue in a busy bar, if the printer is 15 or more feet away or in a high traffic area behind the bar.

The second issue-less important, but we've heard the complaint before- most people use noisy impact printers from prep printers, thus making it a little more obvious when an order comes through. Thermal printers are pretty quiet.

We find bypassing the separate dedicated printer at the bar is a viable option probably 75% of the time, maybe more.

 

[TobeThor]

I agree with everything alohaakamai said, if the bar POS and the service drink area are close to eachother, then buy one printer.
I would add re: the noise, Epson also sells an anunciator that will beep once every time the "bar" printer receives a drink order. It is noticable to the bartender but not as noticable as a Dot Matrix printer that makes noise the entire time it is printing.

Your Aloha rep is problaby higher in price because the Aloha dealer is buying their Epson printers from Radiant and if that's the case it'll count towards the Dealers sales quota. Radiant is just creating another middle man, much like the Micros business model as Micros also sells Epson printers to its Dealer base. You can buy those Epson printers yourself and save a lot of money.

 

[oxygenetic]

I'm not a sales guy so take this for what it's worth. Yes, as stated, the other printers will work. Don't be surprised, however, when those printers break and then you have to BUY a new printer from somewhere else...dealer or no. That $300 you're saving could end up $300 extra in the long run! As far as configuring the printers that aren't theirs, if your dealer is interested in earning your business, make them work that in. The service guys probably won't be happy but in the grand scheme of things, they got your business. Just remember...the dealer won't cover equipment they don't sell you.

Second question...I was a bartender where we used the receipt printer as a service bar printer as well. We could never hear it but we learned to constantly pick our heads up and peek at it. These guys are right...as long as the location of the terminal/receipt printer is near the service bar, it shouldn't be a problem. On a busy night, you're more apt to have a service bartender standing there anyway, right?

Good luck!

 

[sanfranqsr]

Configuring a 'non' radiant epson takes 45 seconds. Unscrew the cover on the bottom, adjust the dip switches, plug the printer in. Everything else, like loading logo's, would be the same as if it was a 'radiant' epson.

As far as reliability, an Epson printer is an epson printer. If it failed, all you would need to do is buy another printer, open the covers on both, mirror the dip switch settings and plug it in.

You really want to get fancy - you don't need any radiant hardware, I use 15" elo all in one touch screens with mag readers and customer displays (with the stock display swapped for an OPOS display).

What I don't have is service and support which is crucial for 99.9% of installs. I do have a custom install that suits my needs exactly.

So that being said if 'your' printer fails your dealer is going to smile and that is about it (even if it has little to do with 'your' printer). An extra $1,800 may be worth getting him on site on your busiest night to fix a problem.

 

[alohaakamai3]

Dealer vs. Internet is an old argument, I see both sides. What I can tell you is IF the Epson printer fails say in the first year, you're dealer is likely going to come out, give you a new one or a loaner, and take care of the issue (at least I would).

If you buy it online and it fails, you'll be trying to find the receipt or wondering where you bought the damn thing, if the Internet company that sold it to you is still in business or even cares at all.

That being said, don't expect your dealer to compete with the Internet prices. That cracks me up when customers expect you to get anywhere close to online prices, when the costs associated for taking responsibility for these failures when they do occur is a huge cost to the dealer, and huge benefit to the end user (assuming the dealer is reputable).

It's basically like not having health insurance. If you're young and healthy and avoid years of paying premiums, then it could work out in your favor. If something happens though, it could take all you've saved and then some. It really just depends on how you see it.

 

[RosemarysBaby]

If you're handy and thrifty do everything yourself and always have an extra printer on the shelf. Learn to get your PC's on ebay. Search "small form pc". There are some there now for $139. My best find was 6 Pc's for $300. Bought them 4-5 years ago and they're still rockin. Way better than my Radiant 15's. Elo screens as the other post said. Try not to mix capacitive touch and resistive touch screens (confuses the help, different touch feel). Most people like the resistive touch but the capacitive is more durable. 2000 OS everywhere. Epson tm-88 printers are always on Ebay too. I see some clean ones for $100. Never buy one used from another restaurant. Always nasty.

Spend good money on all your networking cabling and printer cables. When you have troubleshooting issues you really want to eliminate wiring problems.

Will most techs on this site disagree with this approach? Yes.

Will you go through a learning curve and pull your hair out? Yes

Will you save a lot of money in the long run? Maybe

I have no regrets, whatsoever.

 

[Shift4SMS]

I fully agree with the last two posts with the exception of "Will most techs on this site disagree with this approach? Yes." -- I agree with this approach.

The only thing I would like to add is that if it were me, I would go the do-it-yourself route as it can save significant moola-- but I'm a techie and probably can't run a restaurant. If your expertise is in owning and running a restaurant, I would recommend focusing on that aspect and instead find a local and reputable dealer -- your time needs to be factored in to the cost and if you're not a techie, your going to be spending a lot of time installing, configuring and keeping your POS up and running.

Good luck with whichever route you take.


Steve Sommers

http://www.shift4.com

-- Creators of $$$ ON THE NET(tm) payment processing services

Blog:

http://shift4sms.blogspot.com