Whoa!!! e-mail Graphtec about 64 bit driver support and just see what happens!

[Alphawolf]

First, this is a quote from graphtec's web page:  "We do not have plan to comply with the Windows Vista (64bit version)"

Here is the link:  http://www.graphteccorp.com/vista.html
I have a 2 year old (bought new) CE-3000-40 MII

So I e-mailed graphtec the following note:
"I am discouraged that Graphtec has decided not to support 64 bit Vista systems with upgraded drivers.

These 64 bit systems are about all you can buy now in the world of computers.
I will sell my Graphtec machines (while I still can), and then advise all acquaintances in the vinyl cutting business not to buy Graphtec machines until they support the new computers..

This decision will ultimately hurt your business I am afraid."  That was the entire e-mail I sent them.


Well...Within 5 minutes of sending that note, someone named "Charlie" (Asian accent so yu'll know him in case you have the pleasure/displeasure of talking to him.) called me on my phone and proceeded to ream me a new one!
Seems I "struck a nerve"?!?!
He said (and I quote) "Your e-mail is threatening, and you might be someone who would come in with a gun and start shooting!"  I'M SERIOUS!!!!  He said that!  Sheesh...
He lambasted me for about 15 minutes!

Anyway, he still wouldn't commit to a 64 bit driver for my "Old" (as he called my ancient 2 year old plotter) CE-3000 mkII.
He indicated that there might be one in a couple of months for "current shipping models".

Anyway, you've been warned: e-mail Graphtec "threatening" them, and you WILL face the "Wrath of Charlie"!

[BannerJohn]

Thanks for the update.Seems like someone on these forums just sold his US Cutter and bought a graphtec.....

[LeviHartzog]

Haha pretty funny. I know I get pissed when I get an email from someone like that but I certainly don't call them up yelling. Alpha did you sign up for these forums just to post this? Thanks for sharing, I am just curious.

[kenimes]

It is sad that Microsoft has forced computer manufacturers and re-sellers to push 64-bit, when they know for a fact that it is extrememly unstable. I am thinking it is a marketing ploy to get you super frustrated, so they can advertise their new OS (due out soon), as stable. To boost sales of the new OS. I have spoken with people who cannot even get their Micorsoft USB keyboard and mouse to work with 64-bit Vista- this is MS hardware on an MS OS!!!, so honestly, what do you expect from 3rd party hardware manufacturers?

[BannerJohn]

the problems have always been with th OS...windows hasn't got it right yet,and never will.

[ClawGFX]

Thats ashame.. I run 64 bit Vista as well but havent had any issues with it.. I like having the extra ram to make things nice and fast 

[TDBURN]

That story is hilarious, you should submit it at the Consumerist.com..

I just wish that 64 bit was more supported so that I could put more ram in my computer. Ram is so cheap right now, but with my 32bit OS it only recognizes 3.5gb of the 4gb that I have in the computer.

[tlzimmerman]

I respectfully disagree with this post.  64 bit vista is not unstable.  At first, when it rolled out and all the hardware manufacturers were scrambling to product 64 bit drivers there were problems, but that was a long time ago, and today its a quality product.  I get a bit discouraged when people are pushed away from 64 bit computers.....the fact of the matter is the extra RAM that it allows is most beneficial to graphic designers and those who use ram hungry programs like photoshop, illustrator, and the like.  Combine that with the fact that once these programs are written for the 64 bit processor you will see a big difference in speed.

Ok I will stop ranting....I just want to share my extremely positive experience building 64 bit machines for some of my high end clients, they have been more than pleased....and I hope that the cutter industry follows suit sooner rather than later.  There are always issues when adapting to new technology, you either have to get them out of the way at some point or be left in the dust.

It is sad that Microsoft has forced computer manufacturers and re-sellers to push 64-bit, when they know for a fact that it is extrememly unstable. I am thinking it is a marketing ploy to get you super frustrated, so they can advertise their new OS (due out soon), as stable. To boost sales of the new OS. I have spoken with people who cannot even get their Micorsoft USB keyboard and mouse to work with 64-bit Vista- this is MS hardware on an MS OS!!!, so honestly, what do you expect from 3rd party hardware manufacturers?

[GearboxGraphics]

Do yourself a favor.........buy a Mac.

--Cory

[tlzimmerman]

***Cough Cough***

Sorry I just threw up in my mouth a little bit when you said that...but I think I'm ok now!

No thanks on the overpriced hardware that doesn't run any better than windows (in fact runs slower in most cases).  If anything I would build a hackintosh and I do have OSX installed on one of my pc's....but personally I work in windows alot faster....so yeah!

Do yourself a favor.........buy a Mac.

--Cory

[tlzimmerman]

To each their own though...Macs are good quality machines...as are good quality pc's, unfortunately the perception most people have of a pc is the $400 wal mart or dell special.

[jheyne]

The 32bit vs 64bit argument aside.  Seems like you meet "Charlie"'s just about everywhere you go. I used to do computer repair, and still deal with a lot of techs in the job I do now.  Most are pretty good at what they do, but there's always that "ONE" who takes things a bit too personally.  Look at the bright side, if he's really concerned, maybe he'll mention it to someone who is in charge at the company, and they'll realize that they're making a big mistake not going with 64bit drivers for their products.  It doesn't matter wether or not your accepting of the newer platforms or software, change is inevitable  (do a search for moore's law and you'll see what I'm talking about).  As long as microsoft , intel, and amd are the big players, they will be constantly look for better products, and it's up to the rest of the world to fall in step.  Business is business, and if the manufacturer doesn't support new trends, they will quickly fall by the wayside.
That being said, it does kinda suck that I need to upgrade my system to keep up with things, but I just chalk it up to a cost of doing business.  
Just my 2 cents.
Peace all

[GearboxGraphics]

To each their own though...Macs are good quality machines...as are good quality pc's, unfortunately the perception most people have of a pc is the $400 wal mart or dell special.

Very good point! If you really do a comparison on specs, a Mac is really no more expensive than a comparable PC. I really hate when people say "Wal-Mart has a $399 desktop, WITH PRINTER." Ok, go get it.....

I just like the fact that with Mac, everything comes from one vendor and it all works seamlessly. No driver from this company, update from that company, this MB doesn't support that RAM, blah, blah, blah. That is my biggest complaint with PC's, and the upgrading factor really annoys me as well. I have an old Mac Mini here that is going on probably 5 years old now, still runs just as great as it did the day I bought it. I don't many PC's that do that without 3 or 4 reformats, defrags, 37 different spyware apps, etc.

I actually run WinXP on 3 of my 5 Macs quite often using Parallels.

--Cory

[mustangconv85]

taken from there website http://www.graphtecamerica.com/support.html

64 bit Windows Vista Drivers Available Summer 2009

You will only need the 64 bit driver if using CorelDraw© or Illustrator© with
Cutting Master 2 on a 64-bit Windows system

[zaxxon]

So being the geek that I am, I tried pretty much everything there is to make my new CE5000 work under Vista x64, and there is just no way with the current driver. Also, the post on Graphtec's web site that you only need the driver available summer of 2009 for cutting from Corel/Illy is kind of misleading. Even Robocut can not cut without the printer driver installed, however, the cutting plotter controller software can communicate with the cutter without a hitch.

But I did not quit there, as I could not find my usb/serial converter to use as described on some other posts I found as a work-around (not sure how that would work anyways, as the 32bit driver will not install on x64, period).

So, what I did is (and I realize this is geek-territory and not a solution for everyone!) I installed (Now-)Sun's Virtualbox software, a bare bone XP 32-bit install on it, created a shared drive to share from the host to the VM and captured the USB device for the cutter in the VM. Installed Cutting Master 2 on the VM as well as on the Vista Host where I cut from Illy CS4 (need to download newest Cutting Master for CS4!). Configured Cutting Master on the host machine to not print to a port or the cutter, but to "FILE:" to store into the shared drive whenever I cut something out of Illy. All I have to do now is open the cut-file from the same location in the VM in Cutting Master and hit cut - voila, only one step more and still a very streamlined workflow!

Just figured I share, in case you want to go through this hassle as well - once it is set up it works lightning fast, and I really did not want to set up another box with a 32bit OS just for cutting.

--marcus.
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