Having more fun testing my 8" winbook tw801 windows 8.1 tablet to drive my Eustathios printer.
Works great now that I have power setting corrected to eliminate sleep mode. Also with Chrome remote desktop I can access it anywhere.
I still love octoprint… But this is an interesting alternative.
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Especially given how fast Simplify3D is with its slicing. I used to think KISS was fast, Simplify3D blows it out of the water. If time is money, Simplify3D is worth the money.
Thanks for the great video, I think I am going to pick up the same tablet from Microcenter and hook it up to my Prusa i3.
This is an awesome idea for a Octoprint alternative!
I was about to set up Octoprint on one of my Pi, but this looks like a great alternative. Thanks for the heads up on the TW801.
@ThantiK I like that a higher percentage of my prints come out first try on simplify3d than any other slicer. Cura is great for a quick print because it is so easy. But if I NEED the print to turn out simplify3d is my go to slicer.
@Shauki I am interested. But the next project will be a CNC capable of machining reasonable thickness aluminum. I have some ideas that just need to be made of metal.
Does simplify 3D use the Cura engine? I think it uses Meshmixer for support. Actually I think MatterControl is my favorite slicer at this point because I like triangular fill. Don’t think it supports firmware retract yet though.
@Brad_Hopper I think simplify3d built their own engine from scratch. Same thing with their support controls.
Youmagine link to the mount if anyone is interested. Uploaded in stl and solidworks 2014.
@Eclsnowman really interesting alternative to replace my 8 year old notebook that serves as a “print server”. How is handling/navigation with 8" touch screen? It seems that the tw801is not available in Europe but I found a similar one on ali (CHUWI VI8 8 inch IPS ) for 110$ incl shipping. Seems that intel and MS are trying to buy the tablet market with subsidizing processors and giving away free win8.1 licenses.
@Daniel_F it is easy to navigate simplify3d via touch, but when the keyboard comes up for entering values it obviously uses a lot of screen. Cura is OK too. Slic3r is OK, but not optimal. I got a bluetooth keyboard and mouse now, and that works awesome. I even played with freecad and it works surprising well.
Once you have a tablet and Bluetooth keyboard why not a notebook?
@Brad_Hopper the keyboard/mouse isn’t required. But the option is nice. Now I can model, slice, print, remote view without port forwarding (via chrome remote desktop), timelapse, etc if I take my printer to a meetup all for a reasonable price and small package.
Is the 2GB RAM of the TW801 a must? The TW700 is insanely inexpensive at the moment but only has 1GB.
I just remembered I had an eMachines Netbook gathering dust. Intel Atom N450 512K Cache 1.66GHz 1GB RAM. Runs FreeCAD just fine. A complex 17MB STL file loads okay, rendering views takes just under a second but it still usable. Most of the stuff I’ll be printing is far far simpler. So a TW700 would be fine, but I like to reuse and recycle when possible, so this Netbook gets a new purpose in life.
@Eclsnowman you mentioned the poor quality of the webcam, but since that lil tablet has USB, couldn’t you just have a powered usb hub attached and toss a better quality webcam? if so, this would definitely be a winner with expandability (can’t imagine it not allowing for a powered hub).
this looks like such a great alternative… was thinking of using my aging core2duo mac mini as a dedicated print machine, but i think this little tablet has more processing power and at 2gb of ram, it has as much ram. love the speed of tech.