I'm trying to hook up my Lap Top to my machine using a parrallel PC-MCIA card. Any Experience out there ?

The one that I used did not work I think there are others out there that have had better luck...

I am using a very old Dell laptop with a docking station.  I thought that would be the best way to go to get a parallel port.

The cheap PCMCIA cards give unpredictable results. Not all are guaranteed to be true paralell port replacements.

I "had" been using a Quatech SPP-100. i does work, but i seemed to be stuck at 15 ipm or less. i would get motor stalls over that.

now i have a cheap bargain-basement Dell desktop. Less than 300 bucks (monitor and alll) and now i can move almost 100 ipm.

  Hi dfurlano,
    I too, have a dell laptop,it's a latitude (pentium 3, with windows xp pro installed- I bought it used), is yours similar to mine, is mine powerful enough? Is yours pentium 4?  Is the graph smooth on your driver test, or very busy? Mine is busy, but I'm not sure if it is because of the internetconnection or not. How fast will your motors run? Thanks for any additional info, I'm just starting and don't know why my motors stall all the time.
   Also, FastCote, Is your computer a b110 type that dell seems to advertise alot? (not to mention they look like a good computer anyway) If my laptop doesn't pan out, I will have to consider a desktop, and want an economical one if possible! thanks  Glenn

Glen,

The desktop is a Dimension 2400, but basically, YES, that was last years model of what is the 110. It is their bare-bones "teaser" model, but it is more than sufficient for the milling task. You just have to be strong with the two-dollar-itus at the Dell site. Otherwise, your $299 Dell ends up costing $1,500 once you start upgrading.

Also, i did spend all the time reading Art's optimisation document. it DOES get the driver graph settled down, but my laptop still limited the mill's functionallity.


Ben

  Ben,
    Thank You for the helpful information, if I can say "no" to all the bells and whistles, (tempting as they are), it looks like dell just might be the best choice of a desktop.  I like the sound of 90+ ipm's ! thanks much,
                                    Glenn