I don't think it's quite fair to blame Mach3 especially when using a plasma and a PP.
Yes a little unfair, I was having a rant. I have tried mach3 a few times on different machines and have just fallen out of love for it, I'm looking for something a bit better. Don't get me wrong, I've made thousands of parts with mach and thats really brilliant, but I think I want something a bit more bullet proof for my mill.

have you seen this http://www.pmdx.com/PMDX-410
I have seen the pmdx mach4 stuff, but I'm not sure if I've got enough confidence in mach4 yet, I need someone to convince me that its ready and stable enough. Obviously, its on on the hobby version release of the software, I'm hoping to use my mill in a small scale commercial environment where down time would be costly.

you could also try Linuxcnc with a mesa card
I do really like the idea of the linux route, the mesa cards are also really cheap for what you get :) Each time I convince myself to go for Linux I get put off by fact that I might have to spend ages messing around getting the thing up and running... I've messed with computers quite a bit and am confident I could get a system up and running, but how much learning have I got to do to get to that stage?

Hmm decisions decisions......