Lightobject.com Support Forum

What is the difference between AWC-608B / X7 DSP / R5 DSP ControllerBoards?
I know X7 and R5 has a color lcd and AWC-608 has a not color lcd.

it have functional differences in these?

Functioning are very similar. But software, they are difference. Some customer like the X7 (LaserCad) while some like the RD better. If you have a very big machine, you may consider R5 because it seems to have deceleration which seems a little smoother. The screen on RDF is 3" while the X7 is 4.5". RDWork is a little more complicated than the LaserCad but I do have access to the programmer in case some features need to add. In China, more manufactures are using R5 but in USA or Europe, people ma like X7 better. Probably we provide tech support while you may not get any from China, unless they buy the R5 from us


Marco

Tech_Marco wrote:Functioning are very similar. But software, they are difference. Some customer like the X7 (LaserCad) while some like the RD better. If you have a very big machine, you may consider R5 because it seems to have deceleration which seems a little smoother. The screen on RDF is 3" while the X7 is 4.5". RDWork is a little more complicated than the LaserCad but I do have access to the programmer in case some features need to add. In China, more manufactures are using R5 but in USA or Europe, people ma like X7 better. Probably we provide tech support while you may not get any from China, unless they buy the R5 from us


Marco

I will add I would prefer the RD software. when I purchased this is one detail I missed. (I was un aware that the controllers were tied to software types)
the bigger screen though I thought would be nice really has not been important to me. looking back I would jump ship on the LaserCad software and go to the RD. even if it meant a smaller screen.
perhaps it would be nice if the developers made the controllers work with either LaserCad and or RDWorks. In doing so I bet the customers would quickly adapt to the version that works best for them.
I use a cad program for my more intricate drawings but it would be nice for the quick stuff to be handled in the built in software. and say for instance the LaserCad. no Trim commands.... no grip snap commands.
modifying simple shapes is a real pain... just my two cents.
Sam

TheSniper wrote:

Tech_Marco wrote:Functioning are very similar. But software, they are difference. Some customer like the X7 (LaserCad) while some like the RD better. If you have a very big machine, you may consider R5 because it seems to have deceleration which seems a little smoother. The screen on RDF is 3" while the X7 is 4.5". RDWork is a little more complicated than the LaserCad but I do have access to the programmer in case some features need to add. In China, more manufactures are using R5 but in USA or Europe, people ma like X7 better. Probably we provide tech support while you may not get any from China, unless they buy the R5 from us


Marco

I will add I would prefer the RD software. when I purchased this is one detail I missed. (I was un aware that the controllers were tied to software types)
the bigger screen though I thought would be nice really has not been important to me. looking back I would jump ship on the LaserCad software and go to the RD. even if it meant a smaller screen.
perhaps it would be nice if the developers made the controllers work with either LaserCad and or RDWorks. In doing so I bet the customers would quickly adapt to the version that works best for them.
I use a cad program for my more intricate drawings but it would be nice for the quick stuff to be handled in the built in software. and say for instance the LaserCad. no Trim commands.... no grip snap commands.
modifying simple shapes is a real pain... just my two cents.
Sam

I agree Sam, After installing RDWorks I find it much better, I often thought that LaserCAD should not have the word CAD in the name as it implies it is a Computer Aided Drawing or Drafting but it is not much more than a display grid with very basic functions, like comparing Windows Paint to Adobe Illustrator. Even MushiDraw has three times the drawing feratures so it is nowhere near a CAD Should be named LaserControl or LaserCON That is my 2 cents (CDN) or 1.2Cents US I ended up buying Corel Draw X7 (X7 Graphics Suite), cost was over $400 US, I would have rather spent that money at Light Objects but I reached the end of my budget for this project. Without Corel, The laser is just not worth upgrading because at the end of the day I would have a higher precision laser with no way to utilize all that potential and I would not be able to do half the engraving I did with Mushidraw due to the lack of drawing functiontionality. Also I looked at the $140,00 Corel Draw Home and Student but it does not support macros so you can't add the LaserCAD plug-in - Useless...

Hopefully people will read this and be just a little better informed before they decide which controller to buy.

This is interesting as I am planning to build a 900 x 600.

I thought I would use the X7 controller, but perhaps I need to look
at the R5 ?

I'm no CAD genius, just a hobbyist. I have Corel PaintShop Pro and
CorelDraw 12 that came with the K40. Mostly I will use logos, images
and scans or simple line drawing. I want the ability to cut or engrave
at the same time based on line color. Also it would be nice that when
I save a project/image it will remember 'settings' for speed/power/whatever.

I look at investing 3K so I don't want to pick the wrong controller

Todd

litterbox99 wrote:This is interesting as I am planning to build a 900 x 600.

I thought I would use the X7 controller, but perhaps I need to look
at the R5 ?

I'm no CAD genius, just a hobbyist. I have Corel PaintShop Pro and
CorelDraw 12 that came with the K40. Mostly I will use logos, images
and scans or simple line drawing. I want the ability to cut or engrave
at the same time based on line color. Also it would be nice that when
I save a project/image it will remember 'settings' for speed/power/whatever.

I look at investing 3K so I don't want to pick the wrong controller

Todd

Todd,

The nice thing about the RD controller is RDDraw has the ability to remeber settings based on material, so if you engrave into Pine, once you master the settings, you can save them as PINE ENGRAVE, then next time you have a project that is to be engraved in PINE, you can load the settings easily... This is a big plus. Also, RD has better control and is better at acceleration so in the X7 if you speed up the engrave, you loose precision, where as in the RD you don't. And the RD is almost the same cost. I wish I would have went with the RD system, Next time I will. They say they will update LaserCAD but I find that the updates are far and few between so to get LaserCAD up to the RD level will likely be a few years. By then, RD will be well beyond current performance I suspect.

Remeber, I am no pro... Just a fellow user sharing my opinion

So in rating the various systems, 1 being best

1) RD Draw
2) Lo-X7
3) AWD608
4) Muchi

In rating the native drawing features I give this rating

1) RD Draw
2) Muchi Draw
3) LO-X7
4) AWD608

Don:

Something I'm not agreed with your review the difference between R5 and X7 or 608. With or without acceleration, the precision won't change on X7. You can try to cut or engrave the same pattern file for multiple pass and it will run on the same path. By the way, the acceleration and deceleration should only happen to the cutting only. I don't think it is happening for the engraving. If so, it would be very slow to complete a job.

Yes, R5 may have a better drawing tools but to be honest, I don't think it is good enough to handle any design work beside simple drawing of box, curve, or line which has no difference in between LaserCad or the LaserWork. If you are serious in design a graphic art work, you have to use an 3rd program like CorelDraw, Illustrator, AutoCAD, or Inkscape... I don't see any laser controller come with a powerful drawing tools at all. Even Leetro didn't come with a good drawing tool. That's why most DSP controller comes with a plugin for Corel, Illustrator, and the AutoCAD.

I don't think it need to take years to get X7 to reach R5 for the feature you list. Oh..btw, I can get help direct from the programmer for anything related to LaserCad (AWC608,X7, and future products) but I won't be able to get full support from the RD (R5). Some customer like LaserCad because of its simplicity. Some like the LaserWork for its complexity as well. Well, in some case, the fact happened opposite. R5 seems getting more drawing tools but in fact, most are available from the LaserCad. It is just that many features are hiding in the menu button while LaserWork shows feature more by icon.

Store of the setting is available in LaserWork but not in LaserCad. It may take a week to add it if the programmer is free from other project. Unless you have so many different materials to deal with, I don't know how significant it is to have that feature. Remember that even a pine is with different thickness and density. To ensure the job runs good, I bet most of you would have to one a sample to test it before hit the "RUN" button.


By the way, I don't mind to trade back your X7 for the R5 if you're that serious in getting R5


Here is a "to do list" that I have ask the programmer either to add the feature or to fix the error:
1) Add grey scale feature. You shouldn't be crazy about it because effect of grey scale should only work on RF laser tube only. My programmer told me that he did that before but result wasn't good at all

2) Made 'U' axis useful for the rotary attachment.

3) Print driver. He is going to purchase more sources code from the software manufacturer and it make it possible to "Print" the artwork without plugin necessary.

4) Text. Some fonts is not working and not editable once post. It is because the text change from text to graphics mode once posted

5) Support Inkscape. Not sure whether is it possible but I think it would be good if LaserCad can take files from Inkscape because it is free


So far these are major things that on top of my head. May be you guys can shoot me some idea what else good features would be good to add in. I can't guarantee but I'll tell him. But, I will not consider feature that is odd and is only suite for one particular case but not beneficial to the major users. In that case, I will not pass the idea.



Regards,
Marco

I think an Inkscape plugin would be fantastic!

Inkscape support would be fantastic...

I had a closer look at the RDWorks drawing features and there are not a lot more than LaserCAD, you are right, but there are a few, In fact I tried the bug with the guide lines that we recently discovered in LaserCAD and it is in RDWorks as well... It looks like the two use the same basic source code and is modified to fit the two controllers by different programmers.

Since I bought Corel and use it now, The drawing and text shortfalls are no longer a concern...

On My wish List...
1) The U for Rotary would also be huge, Save me having to go in and change a bunch of settings every time. I would suggest that when the box for rotary is selected that you can also change home speed so bottle does not spin like mad when the engrave is done... I suppose I could disable return home when done. But when it moves from the front of the bottle to the back it spins and sometimes spins off the rollers so I changed the home speed and mas Y speed to 5mm/s and that works,... But I have to remeber to set it back or it is so... slow so separate settings for rotary would work nicely.

2) Ability to save engrave / cut settings to a library like RDWorks.

I appreciate your offer to exchange the LO-X7 for the RD but it is a bit late now, I have the lid of the laser cut to fit the LO-X7 and it is all assembled, On my next Build, I am considering the RD controller, The LO-X7 is limited by the software so if the software changes are applied when I start the next build, Then the LO-X7 would be my choice....


By the way, This is no reflection on Light Objects or the fine work you guys are doing, You have to work with what is supplied and I am glad you have a connection to the software programmer to get changes done. That is great!


Don

Don:

Thank you for your feedback. In order for us to do better, your feedback is very important to us. If no one complain about the rotary things, I don't think I will come up the idea of using "U axis" for handing the rotary.

FYI, I made voice many times on the drawing capability issue so many times to the programmer before and the programmer was just too busy to make it possible. But recently, after a discussion he agreed with me that he would spend more time polish the drawing tools. One thing I want him to add is a 'Ruler'. There were times that I want to align an object for certain position. Without help from a ruler to tell the distance, it is hard for me to position the object on LaserCad. So, I think it is "a must" have tool to include it.

Well, we know that there is nothing come in prefect. We will work on it and I hope we can get get a decent product that is easy to use but power enough to handle most job. Stay tuned and I promise that LaserCad will become more and more user friendly. We just need a little more time. We will launch "Project 530" soon!

By the way Don, do you and will you have time to assist us to make LaserCad better to use? First thing that I need to do is to change the "English" and it make it more "readable". I need someone with technical background and know the terms well. Let me know so I can count on you for the project.


Regards,
Marco

Tech_Marco wrote:Don:

Thank you for your feedback. In order for us to do better, your feedback is very important to us. If no one complain about the rotary things, I don't think I will come up the idea of using "U axis" for handing the rotary.

FYI, I made voice many times on the drawing capability issue so many times to the programmer before and the programmer was just too busy to make it possible. But recently, after a discussion he agreed with me that he would spend more time polish the drawing tools. One thing I want him to add is a 'Ruler'. There were times that I want to align an object for certain position. Without help from a ruler to tell the distance, it is hard for me to position the object on LaserCad. So, I think it is "a must" have tool to include it.

Well, we know that there is nothing come in prefect. We will work on it and I hope we can get get a decent product that is easy to use but power enough to handle most job. Stay tuned and I promise that LaserCad will become more and more user friendly. We just need a little more time. We will launch "Project 530" soon!

By the way Don, do you and will you have time to assist us to make LaserCad better to use? First thing that I need to do is to change the "English" and it make it more "readable". I need someone with technical background and know the terms well. Let me know so I can count on you for the project.


Regards,
Marco

I would be happy to assist, Someone already provided an updated English ini file, But I will go over my file and make changes to the terminology to make it sound better in English.
I am the author of truck diagnostic software so I know a little about programming Below is a screen shot of one of my programs.

Wow ! All good information !

Regardless of choice (R5 -vs X7) it would be a learning curve
for me anyways. I am leaning toward the R5 for now... but;

Which is U axis Rotary friendly ?

IE dedicated U axis/settings ?

I saw the 'Project530' video's, very cool !

Tech_marco is working with the programmer to adopt the U-Axis for Roary in LaserCAD, so that would be the LO-X7

Here are front and back views of a Stainless water bottle engraved using the LightObject Rotary and LO-X7 on a converted 300x200 Cheap Chinese Laser

All good information. I will second Donl's hopefully you dont see the criticisms as a reflection of Lightobject. I think you guys do a great job. I will however say
I also agree that when a person purchases. they are more likely to be a newbie and not know the pitfalls pros / cons. In trying to make the best purchase decision Im going with how do you decide if you dont have all the information and or experience?. perhaps Had I bought the R5 I might have felt short changed and wished I'd bought the X7??? its a slippery slope purchasing something as a NEW purchase.

features I think are important.

1: some sort of line editing command. in Autocad it would be a TRIM or Extend In other pgms Im not sure the name.
2: something to Join lines and or break them. I think the pgm already has a join similar command.

With the 2 above commands one can conceivably make and or edit ANY shape.

This coupled with previously mentions features. Like a ruler? for alignment would be a monumental improvement.

Last thing Im willing to throw some of my time in if only for the need of proofing testing whatever.

For once it does not feel like complaining. But constructive

Thanks all!

Sam

Hi All - thanks for this great thread analyzing the two controllers. I have the AWC608 and am beginning to embark on a new build and will naturally want the most feature rich controller!

I am leaning towards the X7 because Marco is our direct support for it and he has been very helpful over the past years explaining and upgrading all of the controller details.

My question is : do either of these support rubber stamp engraving where they can do the "ramping" around the stamp design to support fine details?

This thread
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1750
is where I left off the issue with AWC608 which is unable to do this even though it seems to have the settings listed in the LaserCAD interface.

Thanks again Marco for LightObject making this possible for home laser cutters!