PlasmaCam is a proprietary system. You can only use THEIR software to run the table. you can only use THEIR motors on the table. This is the MAC mentality, where everything works, but it MUST all have the blessing of PlasmaCam in order to work. MAC computers were simple, and all you hd to do is to make sure that anything you add or plug in is MAC worthy.
The competition uses several programs to run the tables, and draw the designs, and so forth. Those guys can change to bigger motors, or much more easily reconfigure their machines tot heir particular needs. This is the DOS PC mentality. It allows owners more freedom to experiment with stuff. This was demonstrated by the infinite variety of internal modifications the 80's geeks did to their PCs.
I do like the PlasmaCam platform, mainly because the software, albeit "old technology" is actually FUN to use, and very fast and efficient when drawing designs. It feels like the old 1980's ASTEROIDS game in the way it works.
Newer software from other sources has FAR surpassed DesignEdge in the "sexy" user interface as it appears on the screen, with spinning dials, and wheels, and buttons, and lights, etc. More controls over colors and such are really nice. I really like DesignSPARK software. I wish PlasmaCam would bring DesignEdge into the 21st Century.
Still, for what it is, DesignEdge is a fast and accurate design software option. You just have to work within the rigid constraints of how it works. Changes to DesignEdge are just a bit harder to achieve than getting God to part the part the Pacific Ocean so you can ride your motorcycle to Hawaii
I can think of a hundred improvements to DesignEdge off the top of my head, that would make the software so much better. But NOPE! No such changes are on the drawing board, or even allowed to exist as a crumpled piece of paper in the Suggestion Box. Some software allows users to create "plugins" that do a specific task which is not part of the original software design. NOPE! PlasmaCam won't allow such creativity to flourish in DesignEdge.
I have been toying with the idea of getting another table from another manufacturer, JUST for the sheer exercise of breaking out of the PlasmaCam bubble. I know absolutely nothing about Mach 3 (or 4?) and stepper motors, G-code, and all. Then again, I am wondering if I would even use it for any real work, since I am so familiar with the PlasmaCam table and software.
Joe
