Some 2017 small Windows 10 Pcs ideal for DIY CNCs

[AndyGuid]

Only if you show the desktop though :D

I do get that's just different, no worse and no better from an ergonomic point of view but it's Microsoft's new revenue stream model plans that I worry about and how that's going to work out down the line, they are desperate to move to annual licences for as much of their product range as possible and I want nothing to do with any of that.

I also want nothing to do with any of that, the prospect of the end user becoming increasingly controlled ala 1984 makes me feel quite sick. Also, I have been deceived into installing what are effectively downgrades too many times now. I will be saying goodbye to the Proprietary world as soon as I can no longer get by on Windows-7.

I recently watched a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6xUaK4DZU0 of a talk by Richard Stallman at TEDx 2014 and reckon GNU/Linux is the closest thing to an alternative to the Microsoft/Apple world. I only hope that my brain is still capable of adapting to yet another big change!

[magicniner]

Don't know is anyone else is seeing W10 problems but i'm starting to get a bit twitchy about it.

Neale,
Even with Windows 7 I have Internet connectivity disabled on my main CAD/CAM PC and my CNC PC, you can do this whilst maintaining local area network connectivity so file transfer isn't a problem, work and anything you need to download with an "Internet PC" can be stored centrally on NAS,

- Nick

[Neale]

Nick,
I'm not so worried about my cad/cam machine, especially as I use F360 which needs to be cloud-connected to get the best out of it (yes, I know, another can of worms ). However, the machine control PC has a dedicated Ethernet connection to the motion controller, and a wireless dongle for connection to the main WiFi network in the house for file transfer but which is unplugged during cutting. Because I run W10 Pro, I can also turn off automatic update download and install - a little-documented (by Microsoft) feature which isn't in W10 Home. My problem with that machine is continuous CPU load, not "hang on a bit, I've decided to do a bunch of downloads and installs". Main difference between that machine and all my other machines is that that one is AMD and the others Intel. All latest drivers, so hardware still current and supported by AMD.
I only mention this because Boyan's post about cheap PCs makes me a bit nervous, not because the hardware isn't a good buy but whether or not there might be a longer-term issue with W10 supporting the hardware. I'm also leaning towards the idea of Linux for the future, but there is some software I'm using today that just can't migrate - like Mach3.

[magicniner]

Windows 10 is not yet fully suitable for applications where the user expects their requirements to be paramount, regardless of whether you have control of when it installs updates it will use system resources for things which are out of your control at times which are out of your control.
Windows 10 has been designed for "Surfers", "Gamers" and "Makers" and is no place for engineers and manufacturers at this time, they don't call it the "Bleeding Edge" for nothing :D

- Nick

[Desertboy]

Just "upgraded" to Windows 10 when I got a new pc it's truly dreadful. I almost miss OSX it's that bad! Having no Microphone or webcam in this pc makes me a lot more comfortable with it.

If it wasn't for Fusion I'd have Linux on this machine either Ubuntu or Fedora.

The best solution for me is 2 pc's one cheap to run pc with linux for day to day use and 1 for Fusion, from what I read you only need to sync occasionally to fusion for it to work the pc I have now has no wifi so easy to unplug the ethernet to ensure it's offline.

I'm guessing windows 10 doesn't play so nice with Parallel ports and breakout boards, I'm going the Linuxcnc route because at least it works today and will work in 5 years from now unlike winblows which is going to need dedicated motion controller.

[Ger21]

I'm guessing windows 10 doesn't play so nice with Parallel ports and breakout boards

If you want to use Mach3/4 with a parallel port, Win7 32 bit is the last OS they will work on.

[Boyan Silyavski]

If you want to use Mach3/4 with a parallel port, Win7 32 bit is the last OS they will work on.

Another nail in Mach3/4 coffin

[magicniner]

Another nail in Mach3/4 coffin

You say that but people are still doing perfectly good work running Mach3 on Windows 98 so the hammer is falling very, very, very, very slowly on those particular nails ;-)
The latest incumbent really screwed the pooch by ditching Mach3 development and support but given their performance probably best they left it alone rather than bugger it up further :D

- Nick

[Boyan Silyavski]

What i am saying is before some years when had my first CNC i had Mach3 "pirate" edition downloaded from torrent. Then even if i don't needed i payed the money for the original version, just to help the product. Because I understood then the value of the program in terms of what it brings to the table.

Nowadays? I don't think so. Plus have in mind each cheap chinese board ships with pirated Mach3. If they were any clever they would have continued to develop the product, maybe even lower the price to under 100 and continue to make money by offering better product.

if i was starting with first machine today, the only thing that could make me purchase Mach4 is a specific machine/ plasma or similar/ that could be made to work otherwise due to special plugin or similar.



But my point here in this thread was to show some new nice All in one Pcs with touchscreen and all . Which nowadays can be very cheap. And are nice to play with. Not some old buggers running on windows 98. I like to enjoy using nice things, not some rusty boxes. Not that i dont have one or 2 of them still.

[magicniner]

And are nice to play with.

For me Windows 10 spoils the deal, it's one of their "First version's a complete dog" operating systems and there's no sign of OSR2, SE, SP1 or whatever term they will use for "Ooh look, we've fixed it now" this time around.

Serious business isn't mass-adopting 10 yet and Microsoft have had to extend support for Windows 7 (as 8 is a dog too from a business perspective) because even their major vendors have complained about the negative impact of such early retirement of support for Windows 7 on their big customers.

Fingers crossed Microsoft will sort it out, but on the bright side their constant cock-ups are resulting in increased uptake of open source and perhaps serious open source CAD/CAM will experience the same kind of surge that 3D printing software has seen, although uptake of "free until you are committed and then we decide to shaft you" packages such as Autodesk is reducing the chance of this.