[MrWild]

I took a look at eBay point of sale computers. After reading they were small in size, offered touch screens, and low cost, I had to see for myself. I must be looking on an off week. Neither in the computer or business/Industrial areas were there any examples of my idea of inexpensive. For me, $1,200 is about $1,000 beyond inexpensive.

Speaking of which, I was looking at the Keiling BLDC spindle motors. He ;lists a controller kit for well into $200, and was i shocked when i realized it was just the control, the motor was another $230. My X2 ran $380 with tax, so $460 plus shipping for just a spindle motor set up is out of the question. Those large hobby electric motors sure look inviting. A complete set up for well under $200 is inexpensive

[plasmator]

It depends on what your use is. If something is being used to make a full-time business money, it has a lot more value than it does to someone who's a hobbyist or running a part-time business from their home.

Also, you didn't come out and say, "They're ripping people off" or "It's not worth that much" (so this isn't necessarily directed at you), but for those who might think that way - well, they wouldn't be selling it for that if there weren't people willing to pay it. I have been surprised before to realize that an item cost more to *produce* than what I thought it was worth. Throw marketing, distribution, overhead, and profit (yeah, profit) on top of that, and one can start to see why things cost what they cost.

[cornbinder23]

you can get a small form factor computer on ebay for pretty cheap as I did, actually purchased 3 of them and have them all set up and configured so if I do have a problem with one its a quick swap out I think I paid around 250 for all 3
As far as the touchscreen goes I think it is much less expensive to take an old 16:9 15" lcd and do a resistive touchscreen overlay which I did, took a little bit of custom fitting to get it under the bezel but it works great and can be had for about 50-60$
You can use them on the outside of the bezel as well but it doesnt look as nice
search ebay for 5-wire resistive touch panel you will be surprized at what is out there

JT

[thewoodnerd]

So true. People often look at a product and just see raw materials, not the overhead like facilities, machinery, insurance, advertising, government paperwork, and all the other expenses of running a business. Not to mention your time, risk, and the fact you need to make enough money to make all that work worthwhile.

[MrWild]

As noted, I wasn't throwing stones, just saying the cost is out of my price range for the product. As for "A business can spend more because it is needed for the business" argument. This is true in a business sense, but if i were a business, I wouldn't be using any small hobby mill for it. Buying one pf these motors would only be affirming the original purchase of a hobby mill for a business was a poor one and the purchase of the more powerful motor would be likened throwing good money after bad. Because these motors are aimed at the hobbyist, (I'm assuming here) prices that are more than the entire mill itself might not see sales of epic proportions.

On small form factor computers, I picked up an Asus MB Intel Atom with 1GB DDR3 RAM for $100 shipped from Newegg two weeks ago. Absolutely tiny, giving tons of room for all the rest of the electronics with no crowding. I was looking at the point of sale comps out of curiosity, to see what was offered for touch screen ease.

[thewoodnerd]

Oh, I wasn't addressing my comments to you. Just a pet peeve that I see a lot on forums like this.

[mwood3]

As noted, I wasn't throwing stones, just saying the cost is out of my price range for the product. As for "A business can spend more because it is needed for the business" argument. This is true in a business sense, but if i were a business, I wouldn't be using any small hobby mill for it. Buying one pf these motors would only be affirming the original purchase of a hobby mill for a business was a poor one and the purchase of the more powerful motor would be likened throwing good money after bad. Because these motors are aimed at the hobbyist, (I'm assuming here) prices that are more than the entire mill itself might not see sales of epic proportions.

On small form factor computers, I picked up an Asus MB Intel Atom with 1GB DDR3 RAM for $100 shipped from Newegg two weeks ago. Absolutely tiny, giving tons of room for all the rest of the electronics with no crowding. I was looking at the point of sale comps out of curiosity, to see what was offered for touch screen ease.

I see your point on all of this, and at one time i thought the same way...however, when you look at how many people have converted their X2 using the fusion hardware kit (double the price of the machine?) and used the keling drivers and motors or geckos(1-1.5x the price again?) you can easily see this is not the "normal thinking for the main stream hobby market. I think the motor/driver combos will actually sell good.

[MrWild]

True, and if I were to start at square one again, the LMS X2 with BLDC motor and larger base, would have been my choice even though nearly twice as much money when shipping is included. If the 1100 watt motor and controller were at a $325 price point, it'd be beans and rice time until I had the coin. As Marris pointed out in his Stepper servo drive thread a long time ago, a stepper is just a 200 pole BLDC motor. The Keiling BLDC motors and the steppers sure look a lot alike. I bet if Keiling were able to make the same volume purchases, the prices would be a lot closer.

Anyway, Mr. Keiling sir, hint, hint, nudge, nudge, wink, wink. A $325 X2 capable combo would have me camping outside your door.

[JonRichard]

MrWild, I recently purchased a 15" elo touchscreen off ebay for $90. Here is a link if you want to take a look.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=263602_263622

I haven't tested it yet but the seller has great feedback and the price was right.

[dertsap]

http://cgi.ebay.com/17-4-Wire-4-3-To...item3ca8c0a1c5

these types of touch panels work great and are reasonable in price , I bought one a while back and its made life much easier , rather than taking the monitor apart , i just double side taped it on