PC or Apple ?

Marco Bernardini said:
I want to try LinuxCNC which is working with a realtime kernel (more or less like the Korg Oasys synthesizers) and doesn't require many resources, so I can run it on some old PC.
But of course what I miss is a 9 axes CNC machine… I don't even have a 1 axis one :biggrin:
On the CAM side (converting drawings to G-code) there is an interesting project under development: http://www.openscam.org/
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That looks interesting , :)
I run an emc2 rt linux system for developing and play, theirs a live cd of it so you may find you could run that on a mac or a pc , same architecture same parts same sh*t (varying build quality).

as for power required for cnc does anyone have a good grasp of this as i run on a 1ghz via c3 and have never felt cpu power to be holding me back.

its in a micro atx form factor (did i remember the abriviation, 17cm square mobo). Very handy for space saveing.

although its a bit bigger than my brothers mini mac.

stuart
 
I used a mini-itx board to make my first PVR. It used Mythdora, a customized Fedora and MythTV package. I could record 3 channels at once and have DVD quality play back and burn to disc if I wanted to. I should upgrade it to OTA HD but I have not as of yet.

The reason I mentioned this, is that the little netbooks / webbooks are quite capable of running a CNC machine for not much cost. Their motherboards are populated with the same components as the mini/nano/pico-itx boards that are available today. They can run Windows or Linux based CNC packages. Obviously not good enough to run a full blown Autocad without a seperate screen but a screen is in the budget anyways.
Pierre
 
pdentrem said:
I used a mini-itx board to make my first PVR. It used Mythdora, a customized Fedora and MythTV package. I could record 3 channels at once and have DVD quality play back and burn to disc if I wanted to. I should upgrade it to OTA HD but I have not as of yet.

The reason I mentioned this, is that the little netbooks / webbooks are quite capable of running a CNC machine for not much cost. Their motherboards are populated with the same components as the mini/nano/pico-itx boards that are available today. They can run Windows or Linux based CNC packages. Obviously not good enough to run a full blown Autocad without a seperate screen but a screen is in the budget anyways.
Pierre
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Currently there is even no need of a motherboard, with computers of this size: http://www.digi.com/products/wirele...olutions-on-module/digi-connect/digiconnectme
Into a crowded shop, anyway, I suggest to avoid WiFi connections with these small devices: in the worst case you can follow the CAT5 cable to find them
:roflmao:
 
JPigg55 said:
Didn't mean to start a S%*t storm, I don't currently own a CNC machine, but would like to eventually.
I've always had a PC, but have lately considered switching to an Apple. Getting really tired of the garbage Microsoft keeps pumping out.
I currently have a 5+ year old Dell running Vista. At work, they just upgraded to Windows 7. I've also heard Windows 8 is a nightmare for a desktop since it was designed for cell phones and tablets.
Any new computers seem to be loaded with a bunch of crap which runs in the background slowing everything down and I'm not computer savy enough to be able to disable it.
When it comes time, I've considered having a computer built for and dedicated to just running whichever CAD/CAM software I decide on.
Click to expand...

I'm running Windows 8.1 on two PCs without touch and a Surface tablet which of course has touch. There was a bit of curve getting used to it but it didn't last long. I'm not going back or jumping ship. I also have a newer PC running Windows 7 with an SSD and more memory but it can't transcode video as fast as the Windows 8.1 machine. The weird user interface aside Windows 8 is a superior operating system. My CNC platform dual boots LinuxCNC and Windows XP but I hope to upgrade it when Mach 4 is released generally.

Somebody mentioned viruses, but in the 2+ decades I've been running Windows I haven't caught one. My machines are patched regularly and security software configured to update daily. I don't have Java or Flash installed which accounts for 73% of the Windows vulnerabilities though those usually exist on other platforms as well. I also don't surf questionable websites which I'm sure means I missed some great cat videos. :rofl:

Dave
 
John Hasler said:
Or a $35 Rasberry Pi: http://www.raspberrypi.org/products/
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Although we are getting away from the original topic of a computer for CAD/CAM and into machine control...

I never have really figured out where the Pi fits into things. By the time you buy one and a flash card, you are up to the price of a min-itx that you can put real memory on and have real storage options. It doesn't have the I/O capabilities of an Arduino or the like for embedded stuff and a lot higher overhead of having a real operating system on it. For portability, a little android tablet has a lot more to offer by economy of scale in terms of battery life, storage, connectivity, and display.

Not knocking the low CPU powered solutions. It is just silly to try to do machine control with a general purpose OS. The controllers that they are putting on the 3D printers are awesome and not much more is needed for even high performance solutions.
 
By PC I am assuming you mean "Microsoft Windows"?

I am not a Windows fan by any means, and I feel even less fuzzy about Apple. I tend to do whatever I can on Linux. When I got started with CNC, I tried my hardest to remain "pure" and run everything on Linux, but at some point (after much frustration) I came to the realization that I was not helping myself. Now I have a windows setup for running CAD/CAM and GWizard (as well as gaming), but most of my daily use is on Linux. My machine controller uses LinuxCNC, which I am quite happy with.

Regarding the MAC vs PC question, I am guessing you are already a MAC owner/user. Unfortunately most software for mechanical design is Windows only. Now, you can either buy a separate machine to run your CAD/CAM software on, you can run Bootcamp (to run windows on your mac), or you can go with a VM (Virtual Machine). I would not use a VM for running a machine controller like Mach, but for running CAM it should be fine as long as you have enough RAM. If it is an older machine, try it out, but if you don't have enough ram, you may be frustrated very quickly. I found dual booting frustrating, as I got "stuck" in the last environment I was working in.

I am currently running an older version Alibre/AlibreCAM. I like the CAD more than I like the CAM. You can get free trials for most CAD/CAM software (usually 30days, or limited in file size), so I would recommend trying a few out. If you have a MAC already, install bootcamp or some virtual machine, and see how the software runs.

Keep in mind that you can pick up an inexpensive Windows laptop for pretty cheap, and it will run most cam software just fine.
 
Well, we're all doing great and not arguing. Good job.

FWIW, if anyone is interested, I had tremendous success using this virtual machine software from Oracle: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/VirtualBox We used it in our test labs -probably installed on 50 machines and it was probably the best "freeware" product I've ever used (in my opinion).

All this discussion of PCs has prompted me to visit tigerdirect and put together a new desktop. I think I've selected a bunch of good (but not bleeding-edge) components (not going to mention them until the proof is in the pudding) for $1400 bucks. This is an entire machine and monitor built-up from scratch. I haven't built a machine in over 5 years and had to brush-up on all the latest processors and socket types. Good heaven's I think Moore's law has finally faded away. The processors, memory and bus speeds available today are not five-fold faster than from 5 years ago. Graphics cards have improved quite a bit though but, I'm not into "gaming" and even sophisticated CAD/CAM does not need the graphics capability that some of those interactive games require.

I did go with a large touch-screen monitor -not because I want to but as a fail-safe in case we get forced to use Win 8. :).

As far as operating systems are concerned. Like a lot of you, I'm not crazy about any of the current selections -and I'm familiar with them all. Truth be told, the last OS I really liked was SunOS 3.something which later turned into Solaris when Sun Microsystems split themselves into a hardware and software division. In my opinion... what I did and the ease in which I did it on those systems from the mid 80's still cannot be done on any currently popular OS.

Currently, all the OS's have good & bad points so you pick the one(s) you hate the least, use them -and grin and bear it.

Ray
 
JPigg55 said:
I'm wondering if there's any difference between using a PC or Apple computer for running CAD/CAM software ?
Will programs run on either or are they specific ?
Any opinions on which is better ?
Click to expand...
rqrrrr
JPigg55 said:
I'm wondering if there's any difference between using a PC or Apple computer for running CAD/CAM software ?
Will programs run on either or are they specific ?
Any opinions on which is better ?
Click to expand...
the first response was probably the best. find the app you like and get their recommended platform. that said, i supported the cad department at a large energy company and it was all pc based autocad, mapping, rendering, modeling stuff.

if you are going to do anything beyond hobby, you will need a serious GPU (video card) and that will put you in windows/ pc or linux.

i have laptops with windows, linux, a macbook pro, and a few tablets.

my absolute best advice would be to build the best PC platform you can, max ram and a very good gpu. then i would install windows, either on it's own partition on the hard drive and install Mac OS on another partition and make it multi boot. better yet, i would install free ESX and the create a PC virtual machine, a mac virtual machine, and a linux virtual machine. then you can use any of the Operating systems , either singly or all at the same time.

doing that, you can try free cad in any flavor or even full versions. it is so easy these days, hardly makes sense to limit your options.

Kevin
 
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