Looking at a new control computer

[CNYDWW]

Been looking at new compact computers to use for an SB control computer only. Would replace using my big design computer to do both jobs. Ran across this neat little setup.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883108536

Wondering how the wireless keyboard would work for jogging etc.

Regards
Randy

[GlenP]

Hey Randy. I tried a small form factor computer this spring on my shopbot and it didn't work well. I ended up building a new pc for it. I think the motherboards in these little pcs are just up to par for running the bot. I had ALOT of comm errors and lost steps while trying the little pc. It wasn't the same pc as you have listed. I also put 8 gig in the new pc to make sure it has no hardware slowdowns.

[CNYDWW]

Hey glen, thanks for the info. I've been looking into them and one thing that makes me think it might not be a good idea is simply the power supply. I figured i'd use a powered usb hub when or if i give it a try. I've only got 3gigs in my main tower along with a old amd x64 core duo. I do most of my design on it and run a gamer's program to shut down extra processes when i'm going to run the machine. If anyone else had any luck, i might run the risk of trying the small form factor pc's. If not, i'll probably wait a little bit before i would try it.
Thanks
Randy

[adrianm]

I've used small form factor PC's for my last two control PC's. The first one only had 512mb of memory yet I didn't have any problems at all until I wanted to process large 3D files. It still worked there were just long pauses while it buffered the rest of the code.

That made me upgrade to my current 2gb one which cost me £75 including the LCD screen. No problems with that one either even on ten hour plus jobs.

The external power supply is very handy as I can box the PC in a lot more than you could with a built in power supply (as most of the heat is in the power supply) to keep potential dust problems away.

I use a wireless game controller rather than the keyboard as I find it more convenient.

The only software I run on these PC's is SB3. Windows XP SP3 on both.

One potential problem to watch is that a lot of small form factor PC's use laptop chipsets that have more power saving features than traditional PC's. It's important to make sure that all the power saving stuff is turned off in the profile you're running.