Greetings. I’m in the market for a new PC to run Carbide Motion for my Shapeoko 5 Pro. When I bought the SP5 not long ago I knew I’d want a dedicated control PC, but I punted. I’ve been using an old spare small screen Windows 10 laptop. It works but its very awkward to use. It also can’t run Windows 11 and I don’t like having an out of support OS on my network. I have it networked to share files with my design computer.
I’ve seen a lot of approaches people take. I’ve read a few posts the past year I’m wondering if there’s new suggestions. The few key features I need are
Windows 11 for consistency
A touchscreen I can mount on an arm at the right forward side
WiFi - the workshop doesn’t have wired network
USB hand controller for fine movements and if possible speed control
nice to have - decent enough performance to run Vectric software if I need to doublecheck a source drawing without running back to the office
I suppose a touchscreen tablet capable of USB could handle all this. But a mini PC and touchscreen monitor if such an animal exists would work too I think.
This was exactly my situation two weeks ago. I had 130 ornament orders that needed to go out yesterday when my Microsoft Surface Pro died. I replaced it with an HP Omnibook 5 i7 flip with a touch screen. I ask very few things of my shop computer. Windows 11, Run Vectric Aspire, and Carbide Motion. This one does it with ease. Of course it has wifi. I think I paid $525 for it because I needed right now. It was on sale at Best Buy at the time. A black friday deal would probably be better.
I use a Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 since I have two of them (panic bought a spare for reasons when I was worried that the Book 4 Pro 360 wouldn’t be released in the States — they’re up to the Book 5 Pro 360, which is typical for my luck/understanding of the world), and:
One esp. nice feature is sufficient USB ports (2 x USB-C, one full-size USB-A) — though of course, I’ve just had a camera freed up from my day job, so want to integrate it as well.
We’ve discussed machines at:
When refurbished Microsoft Surface units are available they can be a popular choice.
Thanks for these suggestions. Sorry to hear about the crash yikes!
I hadn’t thought of a Flip format laptop. That’s a great idea. Those are all full 360deg hinge? You can flip it so the two outer halves touch? I could make that work with an articulating laptop stand mounted near the right front corner of the table, plus keep mobility.
I had seen those prior write ups on the software machine requirements and keypads that’s good info thanks. Does the CNC keypad have an integral USB cable and if so how long?
Has anyone ever seen or done feedrate + / - with a handheld controller? Certain types and angles of cuts on wood need minor adjustments that can’t be easily programmed in.
I have a fanless N100 based mini PC. I cannot find the listing but it is similar to this:
Just search for Fanless N100. I have that as well as a touch screen monitor. I find that many of the PCs with built in touchscreens have no good way to clean the dust out of them which is not ideal for a work shop. Plus this way if the PC or screen does die I’m not force to buy the whole package again.
Chiming in with my 2¢ (even thought cents are now a thing of the past). I currently have a Dell XPS 13 laptop running my Shapeoko, mounted on a metal laptop arm off the front corner of the table.
I always buy Dell laptops, and have had great luck with them. I typically buy used or refurb, and Dell has a ‘secret’ site for those:
Thanks… I’m okay with the fanless Mini form factor and I do get the dust argument - I’m cutting wood and some plastics. Do they come with an OS or it roll your own?
The other issue is I’m lost trying to find a small to mid-size touchscreen monitor. It’s either very pricey name brands larger size than I need, or small no name brands on amazon. I’m finding nothing in between.
Thanks…Dell outlet is great…I’ve got several business class machines there on great prices for friends and family. I think the word refurbished scares a lot of people off but a lot is overstock from large canceled orders or returns that had no issue. Had some outlet Latitudes last 10 years with only minor parts needing replacement. I looked there first and got frustrated they rebranded their product lines (again) I couldn’t tell what was what…
I was about to pay for the extra year of Win10 support, but apparently Microsoft decided to offer it up for free. I was able to register 3 of my Win10 computers for free, so maybe that option will give you a little breathing room to find a more suitable computer.
Thanks I’ll look at that again while deciding. I thought it was only free in the US if you backup to an MS account which put me off because it sounded like yet another of Microsoft being needlessly creepy. Then again I understand they’ve made it almost impossible to use only a local account on new machines so I probably will have to deal with that anyway.
I already had a (not Microsoft) email registered for my (at the time) minor son’s X-Box account. I used that to “register” the PCs with my account, and the “backup to the cloud” sell was pretty hard during the registration, but I did not agree to backup to the cloud, and it still went just fine.
I need to pickup a cheap laptop for my new to me 4XL. I’ve been watching BestBuy Sales and refurbished laptops lately. Since all I want it to do is run CM. I think I can get one that meets the software requirements for under $300 Cdn.
For setup and testing purposes on the 4XL I’ve been using my Macbook Air(2020) but I’d rather have a Win11 laptop to keep continuity between my HP that I use for CC and one that is going to run the machine.
I just use a mini PC mounted to the back of a cheap monitor. They’re cheap, small, come in just about whatever configuration you want, and easy to keep dust out of if you make a shroud. The whole thing takes only the space of a thicker monitor.
Update… lol… the person with whom I cohabitate reminded me today that my old Win10 HP laptop was sitting around in her office and I should save my money for other stuff and use it to run CM. Genius! I’m stripping it of any software I dont need and I’m going to leave it configured for and connected to my new to me SO4XL
