Need Help!- Mach3 on Laptop without Parallel Port

[Deviant]

I'd like to upgrade my current mach3 pc and crt monitor with something a little easier to manage.

I was thinking about getting one of the Dell mini 10's. Since the price looks good.

Unfortunately, they mini10 does not have a paralell port.

So, can I get a usb to parallel port adapater and be golden?

Or??

[ger21]

No, you'd need to use a Smoothstepper from www.warp9td.com

[TOTALLYRC]

Originally Posted by Deviant I'd like to upgrade my current mach3 pc and crt monitor with something a little easier to manage. I was thinking about getting one of the Dell mini 10's. Since the price looks good. Unfortunately, they mini10 does not have a paralell port. So, can I get a usb to parallel port adapater and be golden? Or??

NO

A smooth stepper or other external motion controller will work but not a usb to parallel adapter.

Laptops with pports can be problematic anyway.

Get a used lcd and stash the tower under the desk if possible.

I do sympathize with the space constraints of a small work shop especially when you stuff 6 machines in a space designed for 2.

Mike

[Deviant]

Ok

That's what I was thinking. I was just hopeful that someone would tell me that X adapter is powered externally and would work.

*mumbles*

Is anyone using the smoothstepper successfully? I've looked at those in the past and it seems to still be in it's infancy.

[TOTALLYRC]

You can get a small form factor pc if space is an issue. Some still come with a pport or you can add in a pci card if needed. Just need to make sure you don"t have video issues.

Other people can tell you which one to get.

Mike

[ger21]

If you don't need more than 25Khz, a Dell GX150 with a 1Ghz processor works great and are $10-$50 on Ebay.

[Deviant]

Mostly I was looking at space. I wanted to mount the laptop on a little arm that is attached to the table.

Currently I have a ~2.5ghz machine with crt. I guess I'll replace the crt with a lcd, maybe a touch screen one.

I'm not quite stepping over myself, but when I have the car/motorcycle etc in the garage. It starts to get very cramped.

[TOTALLYRC]

Originally Posted by Deviant Mostly I was looking at space. I wanted to mount the laptop on a little arm that is attached to the table. Currently I have a ~2.5ghz machine with crt. I guess I'll replace the crt with a lcd, maybe a touch screen one. I'm not quite stepping over myself, but when I have the car/motorcycle etc in the garage. It starts to get very cramped.

Wait until you start getting more machines in the garage.
You will need to put the car/motorcycle outside under a tarp.

[carvemylog]

I mounted one of thesehttp://cgi.ebay.com/Desktop-Table-LC...d=p3286.c0.m14 to one of the legs of my CNC and bolted a piece of plywood on the top of it. It holds a 22" LCD, keyboard, and mouse. A small Dell 2.7GHz PC sits on a shelf under the main CNC table. WHen I'm done, the LCD is removed and the whole arm rotates over the table. The CNC is on casters so I can roll it out of the way.