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Little background, I have been running the laser point II on my mac for several years. The business started as a hobby and has recently grown a lot faster than ever intended. I use an iMac, create my designs in Illustrator and export to SCAL 3 at the moment. Works really slick and I have become a pro at the process. The laser point II over the year has had to have the IO board replaced. Cuts are getting more and more sloppy. Trying all small maintenance and I just don't think it can keep up anymore with the capacity that I am throwing at it. The lightbulb finally clicked that I could be more productive with a upgraded unit. Time is money ya know?

I thought the Titan 3 was going to be that guy. It is upgraded, better paper handling, QUIETER! better cuts on long runs. Seemed like a winner. Than I saw this beautiful black Titan 3 SE version ONLY FOR PC. Better interface, even better paper handling and catch tray. I can't stop thinking now this is the one I need. I have not gotten into any contour cutting so the ARMS feature isn't really something I care about at this point. I just want to know...

Who is a software genius that can MAKE THIS WORK FOR MAC?! I work at a computer company selling and services Mac's and PC's all day. Sometimes printers don't work for a unit, you can fool it into working with a different driver, changing some settings etc. There always seems to be a way to figure it out. What about just standard cutting would not make this work for Mac when the Titan 3 version does work? I know I am probably asking the wrong people because none of you on the forum created the product but it's worth a try.

Or am I thinking about this the wrong way and should be looking at a different cutter all together? 

Thanks in advance.

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I can only think of this suggestion ---

Get a cheapie laptop DELL pc for under $100, install the abandonware SignBlazer (archived in a SECRET place at USCutter's servers) and let that be the unit to run your cutter directly and dedicated to the task.

With a little thumbnail drive you'll be able to design and control workflow from the mac, then just take your .eps cutfiles over for running within SBE.  (make sure to create older versions than 8 for the eps to render correctly in SignBlazer)

Just a tip from a guy who stands by SignBlazer to get USCutter machines dicing & slicing nicely.

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I thought you could use Bootcamp,  Parallels, etc on a Mac, so you could use Windows devices on a Mac.   I would just step up to a Graphtec and be done with it. They are Windows, /Mac.

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 I would just step up to a Graphtec and be done with it.

Sound advice. Always.

Has anyone seen SignBlazer run in Parallels? That would be cool to know it cuts from a mac hooked up with USB.

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I thought Parallels, I also have a Surface pro I could set up a shared drive and drop the files in there to use a PC software.  Parallels would also work. I have a lot of experience in the program but just don't like the thought of dedicating my system partially to windows when I need a ton of space for my design/photography work on my Mac.

Skeeter, which Graphtec would you suggest?

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7 minutes ago, ericmschwanke said:

I thought Parallels, I also have a Surface pro I could set up a shared drive and drop the files in there to use a PC software.  Parallels would also work. I have a lot of experience in the program but just don't like the thought of dedicating my system partially to windows when I need a ton of space for my design/photography work on my Mac.

Skeeter, which Graphtec would you suggest?

How big of one do you need?   

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Then the Graphtec CE6000-60.   Or a nice used CE5000-60   or used CE6000-60 

Also the 20" Graphtec lite 50  is less than $1000, but it does not come with a stand.   High performance stepper.   A guy on here just got one. 

 

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1 hour ago, slice&dice said:

 I would just step up to a Graphtec and be done with it.

Sound advice. Always.

Has anyone seen SignBlazer run in Parallels? That would be cool to know it cuts from a mac hooked up with USB.

Done and Done. I have both my LP and Graphtec running in SBE via Parallels. I can also have the Graphtec cut straight from the Mac side too.

Depending on what your budget is - I'd go Graphtec. It took me years to want to put more money into another cutter, especially since my LP was chugging along just fine, but WOW! What a HUGE difference. Now the LP is collecting dust and never gets to see the light day. If you can't afford a new Graphtec, then find a working used one!

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I'm not a mac user, but if your cutter has a serial port and you use that, there is no need for a driver and no logical reason why you wouldn't be able to cut from a Mac, so long as the software sends the correct HPGL commands over the serial port that's all you need.

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If you have been successful getting the LP to cut from your mac I would think you will be ok on the Titan but as mentioned earlier that a little more investment into a Graphtec will be well worth it IMO. You DO pay more for a quality cutter but there is a reason they cost more and they resell high as well. 

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Too bad you don't live in HI - there's a guy here selling a CE6000-60 plus all his vinyl accoutrements for $3000

I wish he had posted this last year, it would have saved me the wait time and shipping charges.

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8 minutes ago, haumana said:

Too bad you don't live in HI - there's a guy here selling a CE6000-60 plus all his vinyl accoutrements for $3000

I wish he had posted this last year, it would have saved me the wait time and shipping charges.

Wow yeah that would be nice. $1795 new doesn't seem like a bad deal when its only a couple hundred more than the titan 3.

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I have never had a Titan. I started out from an original LaserPoint, and 10+ years later I thought I'd better get a "back-up" machine in case the LP died. I'm just a hobbyist (word of mouth business), and know that I've made money back on it several times over. So even sinking a few thousand in a new machine was another big step, but I bit the bullet and got the Graphtec. Now the LP is the 'back-up' machine and the only time it got turned on after I got the Graphtec, was to make sure that I still connected successfully and could cut via Parallels after I changed up the wiring to my Mac a bit.

My husband doesn't help with the vinyl side of my hobby, but he knows how much better this machine is over the LP. When I told him there was a guy selling his setup locally - he immediately asked if we should get it. I'm not sure what he's thinking, but I have no room (unless I get rid of the LP), and I don't expect my new Graphtec to have any issues for a long time to come.

If it's only a few hundred more, get the Graphtec, you won't regret it.

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1 hour ago, ericmschwanke said:

Wow yeah that would be nice. $1795 new doesn't seem like a bad deal when its only a couple hundred more than the titan 3.

if you run parallels like Hanauma had said you can also run the Graphtec PRO Studio Software that comes with the ce6000-60 free ($2100 value) - it is private branded flexi pro and the best software I have used - use it daily . .  but must be used in a windows environment.     makes the ce6000 seem pretty cheap once you factor that in

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Graphtec offers us Graphtec Studio as their design softare on the Mac side. I have not really compared the Graphtec Studio (Mac) to Graphtec Pro Studio (Win), so I really couldn't tell you how much they differ. I still do really, really, really simple stuff with my cutter - the fanciest I will get is doing 3 or 4 colors (hahaha). But I have tested for cut in both variations of the sotware in their perspective operating side and it came out perfect each test. This is what a basic screen shot looks like of GS in Mac. I know I should be learning  GS or GPS (or even VM) because it's more powerful and versatile, but I also have to learn Corel and AI for my laser engraver, and that's taking priority right now. Meh, I no my way around SBE enough to get the job done, so until I get a good grasp on the engraving side, the cutting software will be "as needed" on the learning curve. :laugh:

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Screen Shot 2019-02-18 at 12.01.15 PM.png

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Nice thing is that we ALL agree that you won't regret it.  No buyers remorse to contend with. Had you spent "almost" as much for a titan you would always be thinking about that little leap you could have taken to the next level. The quality remains long after the price has been forgotten. 

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It's a real beauty. Getting it all dialed in but I can't believe how much of an upgrade this is! Thanks again for the help.

IMG_6276.thumb.JPG.09098f338bbb0cda795f733d15dab00a.JPG 

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2 minutes ago, ericmschwanke said:

It's a real beauty. Getting it all dialed in but I can't believe how much of an upgrade this is! Thanks again for the help.

IMG_6276.thumb.JPG.09098f338bbb0cda795f733d15dab00a.JPG 

pretty much the reaction of everyone one of us after we got our graphtecs - whole different world.

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