Motion control systems from China.

Hi everyone. Non technical newbie here so please be patient. I have bought a bare-bones 6040 CNC kit which I am fitting with 3Nm stepper motors and second hand AM882H drivers. I am a bit undecided on what motion controller to get.

Mach 3 and Liunxcnc seem to have the best support network but the need to get yet another obsolete computer +/- operating system when I already have 3 unsuitable ones is off putting.
Mach 4 and external motion controllers seem to cost quite a lot considering that I would still have to purchase a software licence. The other popular alternatives seem a bit daunting for a new user
PlanetCNC looks quite attractive price wise and was / still is my first choice until I came across this http://www.aliexpress.com/item/DDCSV...538034211.html

There is surprisingly little information about this and other similar control units available. Reading through the fairly decent user manual, with my rather limited understanding of motion control devices and software it appears quite attractive. http://kenswu.zzvps.com/cjcmall/DS_D...Manual_011.pdf I like the idea of not having to have a computer next to the router and transferring the G-code to it in a USB stick. Would something like this conveniently replace a computer + motion controller board + software? Is it not popular because of some obvious reason I am missing? I am very tempted to take a punt on one of these. I would greatly appreciate the opinions of more experienced members before parting with my money.

Here is a tear down video of a similar box https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCxDZmvb5po It is the only useful innormation I can find on these.

Why not use Mach3 with one of the available external motion controllers and use as new a PC that's as you like?

I think lots those Stand alone controllers have G-code limit which is quite small so be careful.

If you get an external motion controller, preferably ethernet based, then even quite old PC's can be used so those that you have will most likely work.
Cslabs IP-M is my prefered Motion controller for Mach3/4.

Thank you for your replies. I am just a little guy messing around in his shed, so I would like to spend the least amount of money I need to (like everyone else). The cost of an external motion controller + Mach3 licence is quite steep for me as my hobby brings in no income.

The convenience of not having to carry the laptop to the shed is quite appealing as is the cost of these boxes. They appear to be quite feature packed for what they are.

I don't want spam the forum with product blurbs but having said that, I don't expect others to have to read through user manuals to answer my questions so I have taken the liberty of quoting from their user manual:

1.2Performance parameter of Product

Ordinary digital input interface of 16-circuitoptocoupler coupling isolation
Ordinary digital output interface of 3-circuit optocoupler coupling isolation
Output interface of 0-10V spindle control port with analog quantity(can be modified as PWM output);
Support the 4 axis stepper motor control, the highest control pulse output of single axis is 500KHz;
ARM9 main control chip;
FPGA core algorithm chip;
4.3 inches TFT screen, resolution ratio：480*272；
17 operational keys；
The main control equipment is 18V-32V power input, the current capacity is required not to be lower than 0.5A;
Support the USB flash disk to read the G code,and the size of G code file has no requirement;
Supports the FANUC with high universality to be compatible with G code set
Be equipped with MPG port and support digital display MPG as well as support the general MPG in the market.
Support the panel key with single-axis manual operation, manual step and CONT operation;
Support the operation of quickly specify the running position;
Support the multi coordinate systems (with automatically saving function in case of power cut);
Support the function of saving data automatically after power down (press the start to automatically save the data in the operation, automatically save the data after power down)

I am prepared to take a gamble and buy one to try out if no one here has already done so and found it to be rubbish. If you have, please let me know so I don't waste my time. I will probably end up wasting money but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I say go for it and let us know how it works.

Same here, go for it.
I have been tempted for a couple of simple projects but TBH life gets in the way.
I have a little tiny drag engraver here that sits in a drawer, it only has a 4" x 4" working area but it does what it does very well. It's biggest problem is it has to be connected to a PC and monitor and keyboard to work.
One of these units would really work nice on it.

Thank you for helping me make my mind up. I've gone ahead and ordered this version as it seems to be slightly better specified than most of the others and it has a slightly better translated user manual. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/DDCSV...594969297.html
I'll report back in a month or so when it arrives either to ask for help setting it up or to confirm that it works as advertised.

Is very similar to the controller running my laser. As the others say, let us know how you get on.