Set up questions (I'm kinda worried)

[cynd11]

@dan

trackpads are a poor substitute for mice.

I agree in general, but this iPad Pro with Apple Pencil is a whole ’ other ball game. So I’m thinking (hoping!) it will work as well as a desktop for positioning.

[jrnelson]

@dan

but go back to the desktop for real design changes because trackpads are a poor substitute for mice

literally the reason i use macs. i could get away with pc hardware and linux, but dem trackpads, mang.

@dan_berry

Re: height, true enough. Thinking of it more, I’ll probably just take a cheaper $100 wireless router and flash DD-WRT onto it (for in the garage), but still use the EoP for the hardline back to the house.

just do what i do, give up trying to eke satisfactory performance out of consumer hardware and just run some ubiquiti APs

[rpegg]

Which is why I carry a Bluetooth mouse for all 3 of my laptops.

[Sawa]

In high school I went to a friend’s house and got the opportunity to use a thumb trackball mouse while simultaneously playing StarCraft for the first time(real time strategy game). Since then I’ve been hooked. Logitech makes one the last dozen years in a USB wireless fashion. Feels like Bluetooth but it’s on a proprietary frequency. Can’t get comfortable using regular mice anymore. So of course, I keep one with my laptop and my desktop at all times.

[dan_berry]

@jrnelson

just do what i do, give up trying to eke satisfactory performance out of consumer hardware and just run some ubiquiti APs

Ha! Can’t help it, dude. I do tons of networking stuff all the time for work. Poor network performance gives me a rash.

[kennethclapp]

used to use one of those, really liked it. of course StarCraft is pretty awesome too!

[Tom_A]

@kennethclapp

of course StarCraft is pretty awesome too

Hi. My name’s Tom. I’m a StarCraft addict.

[PrintToLaser]

StarCrack
My Son spent his adolescence in that game!

[Tom_A]

@PrintToLaser

My Son spent his adolescence in that game!

Great… Make me feel bad about spending so much of my adult time playing it.

[PrintToLaser]

No reflection on age there man, I played a game called Battlefield Heros, which eventually folded. Logged time in game was 6 months. That’s 24/7 stacked to 6 months!

Good thing it did fold or I would probably still be there, and never would have heard of Glowforge!

[kennethclapp]

Let’s not start looking at time lost, I would have to pull my old Everquest, and then Warcraft numbers out and that might be embarrassing (and depressing )

[kittski]

What an awesome group we have here. Thank you all for taking the time to respond, I feel much better now. I can deal with it being inconvenient to have the GF in another room etc, so long as it works! I do like the suggestion of a cheaper IPad as a solution to being grounded to a desktop though. My wifi is good so sounds like I should be fine. I didn’t purchase the filter, but I’m confident I can overcome configuring the venting out of my old crank windows. Hopefully my girl (GF ) arrives as planned during the summer so I have time to figure out the window thing. I’m actually OK as far as actual storage and tools etc. as my garage is right off my main family room and I’m pretty ell stocked with tools. I’d rather not delegate my girl out there, but it’ll be plenty close enough to utilize.

@PFI-Guy

Grounded outlets with a quality surge suppressor (those that give you a $25,000+ product protection guarantee - $25 to $40 price tag). If the house either has only two-prong outlets or a mixture of 2 and 3 prong outlets, get something like this to test if the ground is wired properly (without putting yourself at risk):

Thank you PFI-Guy, so much good info and just what I was looking for! I will definitely take your advise and get the receptacle tester as it’s been my only real safety hesitation.

@Xabbess

I do have a dedicated space for my Glowforge, but it’s in the tiniest room you can imagine.

This is comforting to know it’s workable in a small space Xabbess, thank you!

[dan]

Even cheaper than an iPad, an older laptop will do a great job!

[Sawa]

I could probably be alright to piggyback this question here:

Back in the day, I had used a USB drawing pad accessory for when I translated manga and had to redraw the picture behind lifted text. I’ve lost the pen and a quick search shows that model discontinued. I have no strong desire to let an apple product in my home, but I have seen some interesting videos of drawing with an iPad.

What is the collective recommendations to get something to digitally draw with? While I can claim superior tactical ability in gaming with thumb trackball, it does not make well for aesthetic sketching at all. Any product recommendations for other draw pads or is that apple the way to go?

[kennethclapp]

They did just announce a cheaper lineup on their iPads, but still not as cheap as a Chromebook or the like

[Tom_A]

@dan

an older laptop will do a great job

I’ve purchased my last several laptops on ebay for like $150 a pop. Usually they last 2-3 years at that price but if they last only a year I’d still say job well done.

Conversely I ordered brand new ones from Amazon Warehouse at $250 a pop for my kids for Christmas. I gotta say, I get more bang for the buck from the used ones. But I wanted the kids to have something that was brand new. I now think that was a mistake. Crappy screens, no Bluetooth. I shoulda gone used. But they’re not complaining. My son bought a $15 Bluetooth adapter from Best Buy (he couldn’t wait 1 more day for an Amazon order).

[PrintToLaser]

There is quite a range available, depending on your needs, and $.
Personally I am only familiar with a lower end Wacom, which served, but they can get pretty extravagant and very capable.

At the high end is a Wacom Cintique I believe @jbv uses one. @Shell uses a Surface Pro I think.

[rand]

I love my Cintique – use it for ZBrush and a number of art projects…

[marmak3261]

My bottleneck at the moment is not the Glowforge wrangling device. I have even tried an iPhone and it passes. It’s having a computer powerful enough to do the design work and video editing. Right now I lug my office computer home on weekends to catch up on things. My 8 year old Optiplex running Ubuntu is a little weak in the graphics department.

[millersw.628]

I finally upgraded my dinosaur machines and bought a very very nice alien ware tower that eats even the biggest models I can think up without a hitch. Processing power makes such a difference