Greetings! I recently purchased the Shapeoko 5 pro and was looking for suggestions for a laptop to purchase, and potentially a tablet to keep in the shop to keep connected to the machine. Here is what I am kinda looking for:
Can be used or new.
I would like to use it in the living room/office and then connect to CNC or use thumb drive to load the project up for execution once I am done.
Would it be wise or unwise to use a touchscreen tablet?
Should I have a tablet that stays in the shop that I can use to move/adjust the machine and to load the projects on?
I hope my questions made sense, as I am new to this. Thank you in advance!
Raspberry Pi 4 in a Raspad v3 tablet case w/ touchscreen — this pretty much only gets used for running Carbide Motion to control a machine
MacBook Pro w/ Touchbar — this gets connected whenever I need to test the Mac build of CM — and every time I do so, I wish it had been sufficiently popular that it would have made sense to set up Touchbar support for CM
Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 convertible — this replaces a Galaxy Book 12 tablet (which I’d still be using if I could), plugging into a docking station I leave my pendant and SO5 Pro connected to
for a pendant I use:
except for when a job feels finicky enough that I’ll need the smallest increment often enough that I load the key remapping software which makes:
work.
Obviously, I like a touchscreen (and miss it on my Mac), but it’s not a requirement to use the machine. One option on a Mac is to use Sidebar and an iPad.
I only have one laptop. I carry that to the shop and use on my SO3. I have had dedicated computers for the shop but it is not a good environment and dust gets sucked up inside. The shop computer was a small form factor PC I bought off ebay.
A tablet would work but you may want to make a stand for it to sit on. The less you handle it the less likely it is to drop it. Holding on your lap with one hand and using the other hand to navigate can be tricky. Plus sometimes I need to modify a design in CC before cutting so it would be somewhat cumbersome to type on a tablet unless it is solidly planted. I just have a small portable table that I prop my feet up on but use it for my laptop when using the SO3. So there are advantages and disadvantages to tablets. Lets face it a shop environment is not really conducive to computer use.
I have a 13" Dell laptop that I wasn’t really using anymore, so it now sits out in my workshop (OK, garage) permanently connected to my Shapeoko 5 Pro.
I picked up an inexpensive laptop stand that clamps to the side of my Kreg worktable and it keeps things relatively tidy and out of the way. Pic attached below.
I only really use the laptop to run Carbide Motion and drive the CNC machine, but in theory I could make quick changes to a project if I needed to.
My Shapeoko is in my wood shop…there’s a lot of dust. I had a laptop for a while, but then the keys started getting sawdust under them and caused me a lot of grief.
I ended up getting a Fusion 5 Win 10 tablet - and a nice stand mounted on the table. Very easy setup.
The tablet is not 100% sealed, but it has worked flawlessly for a couple of years now - and the shop gets daily use.
I’m not much of a touchscreen fan - as I find typing to be a hassle and drag and drop to be a real pain…so I have a USB mouse and flexible USB keyboard this one, which keeps the dust out as well - and gives me a numeric keypad I use as a controller for jogging the shapeoko. Inexpensive and works.
@mrrwashington Aside from the browser, I run CM, CC, and Lightburn on that tablet. I’ve never had a memory issue (that I can remember ).
These are the specs for my tablet (I’ve upgraded Windows several times since this photo). It’s just a 6GB RAM machine…very simple. Your storage needs depend on your usage patterns, how much you take advantage of Dropbox (or equivalent), USB Drives, etc.
[EDIT] FYI: My set up includes a small USB hub (powered), which attaches the Tablet to the keyboard, mouse, Shapeoko, USB Sticks, and anything else I need.
@mrrwashington Another thing I do is utilize Dropbox as the means to move design files from my home computer (where I tend to design in comfort) to the shop where the CNC sits. I used to move it on USB Sticks, but that got old. The free version of Dropbox is more than enough memory to keep the key reusable files (like my logo Lightburn files) and the current projects c2d files.
I have an HP I7 16gb ram with 2Tb solid state drive. I specifically got a non touch screen. Don’t like to touch my screen. Have wireless mouse and keyboard. Windows 11.
I’m running a little fanless pc hooked to the 5 pro with wireless keyboard and mouse, and a LCD monitor I had sitting on a shelf. cheap and gets the job done, but I wouldn’t want to do design work and stuff on it although I have done a few small edits.
).
