Headless CNC/minimum pc specs

[maxcnc]

What are people using to control the Millright M3?  My desktop PC is two floors away from my workshop, so if I buy an M3, I'll either need to buy a cheap laptop or build an arduino card reader/g-code sender... or some other solution.  If I have to get a laptop, what will I need?

[markwisniowski]

Mar 24, 2017 12:15:13 GMT maxcnc said:

What are people using to control the Millright M3?  My desktop PC is two floors away from my workshop, so if I buy an M3, I'll either need to buy a cheap laptop or build an arduino card reader/g-code sender... or some other solution.  If I have to get a laptop, what will I need?

I purchased a cheap laptop with decent specs off of eBay just for the M3. Cost about $130.

[aforww]

I'm also using a dedicated shop laptop. I however, went a bit more expensive because I wanted to occasionally run Fusion on it to make changes without having to go back into the house. I'm using this www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014854RGK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1. The SSD and flash memory mean I don't have to worry about dust.

[andrew]

I too just bought a cheap Lenovo Laptop to bring back and forth to the garage.
Was about $150 from Best Buy when I bought it, looks like the price went up a little though (or maybe it was on sale).
www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-ideapad-110s-11-6-laptop-intel-celeron-2gb-memory-32gb-emmc-flash-memory-white/5580020.p?skuId=5580020
Have had no issues with it so far, works fine. Figure if it breaks I'm not out much. If buying from Ebay, be certain you get a legit (legal) operating system. Have been burned once in the past on that...

[quietfox]

I just ordered my M3, and I'll start out using a spare Dell laptop from work. Long term, I will be trying to setup a Raspberry Pi, so I can go headless/remote.