Any Mac users in here...

[jenhuedepohl]

I got a couple questions!

I'm still looking for an entry level (OK, CHEAP!) cutter for craft/hobby use. All the low end ones use serial connections. They're telling me I need a $100 serial-USB cable to use them on my Mac. I want to know - will a Keyspan USB-Serial adapter work? At under $30 on Amazon, I'm willing to take the chance, but I thought I'd check with some people who actually know what they're doing before I take the plunge!

Jennifer

 

[phunkyone]

i have a mac but dont use it for cutting ...i use my sony to cut.

 

[JMDigital]

don’t know about mac.. However.. A friend of myne had to get a USB to serial because he used his laptop to cut.. It was a pain and he has to restart the program after every sent job. the adapter seems to be failing somehow. He cuts with a Gerber FastTrack 650 . He was told it would be better to use a "REAL" port then a usb to serial adapter.. This is all on a PC though.

On another note.. You use a mac. You must be used to spending more money for computers and parts anyway?

and if the people you say "THEY" that are telling you to use an adapter are also the same people selling you the cutter they may be just telling you that to get the sale...

Look into getting a SERRIAL card installed into the mac ..

 

[Bill Modzel]

Jen, I have been running by Gerber plotter through a Keyspan adapter for years. I also run a Graphtec 5100-75 direct from USB.

A more important question is what app are you going to run it from? Graphtec's plotters come with an Illustrator plug in but I'm not sure about the others. There is an app called Co-Cut that is Mac native too.

 

[Ruddbow]

Mac/Cutting

I run a mac and cut from Freehand to CoCut and it works slick. Connected via USB. Cutting with a Summa D60.

 

[drbrn516]

Mac Mini & Flexi

I cut all my vinyl from my Mac Mini (1.5Ghz, 1Gig Ram). I do most design in Illustrator or Corel 11 and copy to FlexiStarter when I'm ready to cut. It works great for me.

I had to get the keyspan adapter(off ebay) and figure out what cable & adapter to get to go from the Keyspan to my cutter(Summagraphics D610) (found out you can get most any cable from a mail order only CompUSA company) but then it worked great. I got the Flexi program from DesayPC.com for very little money for such a great cutting program. I am probably going to get the full featured design version of the program(FlexiDesigner) from them as well for just $499(not including cutting module).

Sorry for too much info, but I couldn't find much Mac sign info when I was starting out...

 

[HSG]

I have been using a Mac for cutting vinyl since 1992. The Roland cutters I had ran directly from the Mac. I don't know how the new Roland's are. I use an Ioline now and had to get a keyspan adaptor for the adb serial cable that connected to the 9 pin cable that came with the plotter thru an adaptor. It was a complicated mess to figure out, but it works just fine for over a year and a half now. Some new macs have the 9 pin port. The problem with mine was that Ioline does not make usb cables for Mac. I bought the plotter at a sign convention and was told it would run on a Mac. It does, they didn't actually lie to me, but if I would have known that Ioline never plans on supporting Macs, I wouldn't have bought the plotter in the first place. It is a good plotter. I have never had a problem with it. I have over 20' of cable and 2 adaptors, so I'm sure you could hook up anything to anything with the right adaptors. The plotter's tech support should be able to tell you what you need. The keyspan was $75 and the small adaptor was $25 (I think). The cable was sent to me by Ioline for free.

 

[foxesfarm]

Master XY-380P, flexistarter and Mac

If anyone's tried this combination, please let me know. There's a fellow who emailed me the other day to come look at my plotter for sale, but I couldn't tell hime how it would work with his mac. I didn't like the USB converter with my Windows XP laptop, but the parallel port on a docking station worked just fine for me. Don't have to turn things on or anything. Good luck.