Still comparing Universal and Epilog 50 watt (timer and beep questions)

[Joe Hillmann]

Not having a timer gets to be a pain in the but when it comes to pricing items. My yags don't have timers. To figure out how long a job took I have to remember too look at the clock when hit start and when it finishes. With the lasers with timers I can check how long the job took by looking at the timer. Even if I forget to check the time I can bring that job back up later to check how long it took.

[Ross Moshinsky]

Sorry Ross, I don't live my life by worst case scenario's. The real world facts for us is that in 6 years time, we've never had it happen. If I were doing any basic business calculation or ROI, if I saw the benefits of having something possibly happen versus the financial benefits of all the features, the benefits would far outweigh the risks.

If you want to know what happens if the computer freezes, that's no mystery. That's a known. If the computer dies, then the machine stops working. It loses it's connection to the laser and the job will stop. It's easy to recover for 95% of the jobs, just start the same job back up, reverse the direction and stop it when it gets to the point it left off. I agree, some critical or expensive parts that might be a problem.

However, if you'd like to do the "what if" game, "what if" the electricity goes off when you're engraving on the Epilog?". I've had that happen to me far more times than the computer going down while it was running.

In the real world, it's not an issue. Trotec and Universal combined have more machines out there than Epilog. How many times have you seen it brought up as an issue anywhere, other than in theory? That's what I thought, close to zero.

That's great for you. What if someone else has older computers running their lasers with less competent employees? Something that might not be a big deal for you might be a huge deal for others.

Once again, you're going to have to explain to me why it's crazy talk to suggest you should have a separate dedicated PC to run a Trotec/Universal laser yet in the printing and CNC world you're crazy to do the alternative.

[Scott Shepherd]

That's great for you. What if someone else has older computers running their lasers with less competent employees? Something that might not be a big deal for you might be a huge deal for others.

Once again, you're going to have to explain to me why it's crazy talk to suggest you should have a separate dedicated PC to run a Trotec/Universal laser yet in the printing and CNC world you're crazy to do the alternative.

It must be great for everyone that uses a Trotec or Universal because to date, I've never seen it be raised as a technical support issue or a problem issue on this forum. I've been on this forum for more than 5 years, I think, and I have yet to see one real life example from ANYONE that shows it's an issue.

My CNC router uses a dedicated PC too. My Universal has it's own PC and my Trotec has it's own PC. All files are stored on a network drive. It's not just that I haven't had a problem, it's that no one else seems to have had one either.

[Dan Hintz]

I have one machine for my laser, and one for my CAMaster. Never had a crash on either one. Take that for what it's worth...

[Kevin Cederquist]

Not having a timer gets to be a pain in the but when it comes to pricing items. My yags don't have timers. To figure out how long a job took I have to remember too look at the clock when hit start and when it finishes. With the lasers with timers I can check how long the job took by looking at the timer. Even if I forget to check the time I can bring that job back up later to check how long it took.

Just to make sure there is no confusion. The ULS DOES have a timer feature built in to the job control software and it is quite accurate. I also like the once you run a job, every time you run it again, the timer counts down to finish instead of up.

[Mike Null]

I don't know how relevant this is but I run all of my equipment from one pc. Often I run the Trotec and the Newing Hall at the same time. I can't recall any crashes that have impacted the job running at the time. Engravlab does crash once in awhile but if the job has been sent the NH will finish it.