Originally Posted by
ger21
I've never used either one, but here's my take.
I think the number one reason is stability, and the fact that you get everything you need in the one board. Your not mixing multiple boards, from multiple manufacturers, which may not always work well together.
For many people, the fact that it runs in Windows is a huge advantage. No matter how many Linux users tell you how easy it is to use, 95% of people don't want to deal with it.
I believe that the centroid is the only low cost control available where the actual motion is handled on the board, and the software is really just the interface.
With all other low cost controls, the motion is handled by the software.
No, but it requires high speed, and very precise timing. Linux CNC achieves this with a real time OS. Most others use a buffered system, where the software sends a series of moves, and is always running ahead of the machine.
Developing a product like this is not cheap, and companies are in business to make money. It's just not fair to talk about cost when you are comparing it to a free product. And a free product that's been developed for 20 years.
Centroid does provide free support through their forum. There's a reason that phone support is expensive, especially on a low cost product. 1 hour on the phone costs the company any profit they made on the sale. Support is the biggest cost to any company in DIY CNC.
I think they have a big advantage in probing, but you pay dearly for that option. Otherwise, probably not much else. A lot of the hobby controls allow a tremendous amount of customization, letting you do pretty much anything you want, if you know how.
A potentially better trajectory planner. But you'd need to do real world side by side testing to see the difference, and you'd need to know how to get the most out of both systems, for a fair comparison.