Looking for a windows computer

[Stephen50]

My 6 1/2 yr old MAC Pro computer had a catastrophic failure when I downloaded the latest version of Apple's OS system, Parallels 9, and Sketchup 2014. Spoke to Apple support and they informed me I had a hardware failure between the hard drive and the ram. I'm now looking towards a windows computer however, my knowledge base is limited so any advice pro or con is appreciated regarding manufacturer, operating system, size of ram/hard drive, and size of screen. Any and all information is greatly appreciated. I'm currently using V Carve Pro and the Desk Top CNC

[Marc F. Lupien]

I also use a Desktop CNC.

I had a HP Pavilion DV6 a couple years old and began having problems with the newer versions of Shopbot control software. I think its the computer.

I now have a Lenovo Ideapad and it works fine. I had difficulty pin-pointing the exact problem with my old computer but some poeple told me that some machines have problems communicating with the CNC. I guess that was the case.

[jpsabo]

My 6 1/2 yr old MAC Pro computer had a catastrophic failure when I downloaded the latest version of Apple's OS system, Parallels 9, and Sketchup 2014. Spoke to Apple support and they informed me I had a hardware failure between the hard drive and the ram. I'm now looking towards a windows computer however, my knowledge base is limited so any advice pro or con is appreciated regarding manufacturer, operating system, size of ram/hard drive, and size of screen. Any and all information is greatly appreciated. I'm currently using V Carve Pro and the Desk Top CNC

Is your MacPro definitely dead and not able to be recovered? I use a MacPro 1,1 running Lion and a VMWare virtual machine for Win XP to run Vcarve Pro. My MacBook (white version, 2007) is similarly setup and runs Shopbot 3 to control my Desktop.

[JohnCoker]

Wow, I'm amazed that the control software works properly through a virtual machine. That's good go know; I scraped up an old Windows small form factor machine to control my SB, but in the future I can use a Mac instead.

A 21" iMac might be a good choice, good sized screen and all-in-one design. I'm sure used ones can be had cheaply as well.

[jpsabo]

Wow, I'm amazed that the control software works properly through a virtual machine. That's good go know; I scraped up an old Windows small form factor machine to control my SB, but in the future I can use a Mac instead.

A 21" iMac might be a good choice, good sized screen and all-in-one design. I'm sure used ones can be had cheaply as well.

I've not had any problem running the control software at all. I do use a USB hub, which is recommended anyway, between the MacBook and Desktop. Can't speak to Parallels, but VMWare Fusion has been running very well on both my MacPro and MacBook (I turn off all win XP updates, networking, etc., and use A VMWare shared folder and Dropbox to share files). And as an aside, I refurbed the MacBook with an SSD so it boots really quickly.

You should have no problem finding good used Macs. http://www.macofalltrades.com/Refurbished-Used-Apple-Desktops-s/2.htm?gclid=CPW7l-2Kgr0CFchFMgod6BgARQ

[scottp55]

We wound up with a hp from newegg for about $335, Not in shop but I know it has an i5 chip and 8gb and 6 USB ports. Overkill maybe but I design on the fly for prototyping and some of my comparison programs have as many as 20 toolpaths and I appreciate the speed in previews. Never had a problem with the Desktop doing anything I asked it, so we used same specs when Kirk built one from scratch for the second Desktop. For monitors I went 21" and I still don't always see typos. Kirk uses a 19" but will move up as soon as we get some money. When I still knew nothing I started this thread and got some good info. Ours is desktop computer in a closet with dirtbag, I asked Ted when I had him on the phone discussing mods before first Desktop shipped and he said he uses a laptop with i5 and 8gb, But an i3 with 4gb would work. When doing time estimates in VCP my most accurate times are 2.0 for VCarving and .95 for everything else as a multiplier. Here's the thread, but there's a ton of others if you do a google search.
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17865

[tsipe]

I haven't had any problems with a Microsoft Surface Pro running Windows 8.1 with an i5 processor. The desktop is connected to a USB hub. I just needed to disable all of the sleep modes on the tablet.