Mac or Festool? I found the answer!

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Sep 8, 2013
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I do a lot of music on my iMac 2011, following along on the cutting edge of technology is very expensive, very expensive..So I've almost always toying with the idea to upgrade my Computer, but it's such a pain in the butr,  you buy the latest and the greatest expecting double the performance for double the money, but I can tell you it's just not necessarily so..

Festool on the other hand, it seems mostly everything I'm interested in getting this time out has been out since 2011, the prices of the gear don't move hold a stable level, interesting observation. Especially in the Deflationary times..  And if you pay double the money you very often get double the performance.. My list if I go the festool route is.

CMS GE OF 2200 set includes the router CMS GE table, router module, and thats all, no sliding table or vacuum attachment..

This is OLD tech, but still seems to be unbeatable the 2200 Router, the CMS concept, that tells me that at this level there is not as much competition, so development moves slowly, to me an interesting observation..somehow comforting..

This set is still BELOW the cost of the computer setup I was thinking of, that will likely be a slightly bad fit for my intended uses mac is heavy on graphics which aren't need for music, so at least some of the functionality will never be used..

The next thing to think about is the modularity of the CMS setup, things are made to fit together, this makes it easy to decide what you need to get, but I see at least some situations that the modularity of the CMS creates limitations, I think for example the breadth of the table is quite limited this due of course to the criteria of portability.. The add on side extension table seems rather expensive and doesn't get you that much of an improvement in size, but I can't see not getting it, especially as I intend to get the TS 75 insert for it.

The Mac Pro has lost it's modularity generally to have to add a disk array extra audio hardware, there's only usb, legacy firewire, or Thunderbolt. 

These external solutions always end up being real expensive... closing in on the actual cost of the computer..

I think modularity is attractive when the modules fall into a price range that gives a balance between expandability and economics.. Whats the point of having a modular setup if the modules are more expensive than the core unit or  a separate unit? In this case a server..

Both Mac and Festool have this modularity, but a least in the CMS setup the modules like the TS 75 is priced less than the Saw it self, the same goes for the jigsaw modules the router modules is about equal the OF 1400, The Beltsander module is more expensive than the standalone Festool Belt sanders and of course it's an integrated unit the only one in the series so that makes it hard to set value for usage, it's a beast and my thinking is that it is a real important piece of gear to have mounted in a table..On the other hand it's not flexible, but Im not in the market for a belt sander generally..

I'm trying to talk myself into going for the Festool gear now, there's a learning curve with these tools that I'm just beginning with so my thinking is to get as much of the setup that I'm envisioning while there's still time to learn it. Putting things off seems to me isn't an option..

My total bill will come in at somewhat less than I would have used on the high end Mac I was thinking of getting.. Though once the additional accessories are included it works out to be about the same..

I'd get the CMS GE, OF 2200 set, the TS module, the sliding table, the fence and a few router bits.

It's a lot of gear for the same price of one high end computer that frankly is probably going to be superseded by a more capable model in a year, if I can hold off upgrading for two years, I think it will be a wise move..

Generally my plan is to have 5 months of the year, doing woodworking projects, 2 months where I travel or just rest, and 5 months where I focus on my music gear.. I have steady practical but terribly mundane work that pays the bills for now..

Just a peak into my thinking and how I invest my time and money. I think the investment is about equal between Music and Carpentry , photography a close third...

 
All of my Apple products earn me money... My Festool items do not (well they have but not very much!)

Both are a joy to work with...

I have 2x 6 core Mac Pros for work that run most of my development shop and are loaded to the gills.  that set me back 10k.  I dont have that much into my workshop yet but once i have the room and start looking at dedicated equipment I will surely surpass that figure easily!  My skill set isn't quite there yet for me to justify a fully equipped shop.  I really wish we had all the options that you have for the CMS.  I really enjoy using it in the way that I have it setup.

Cheers.  Bryan.
 
bkharman said:
All of my Apple products earn me money... My Festool items do not (well they have but not very much!)

Both are a joy to work with...

I have 2x 6 core Mac Pros for work that run most of my development shop and are loaded to the gills.  that set me back 10k.  I dont have that much into my workshop yet but once i have the room and start looking at dedicated equipment I will surely surpass that figure easily!  My skill set isn't quite there yet for me to justify a fully equipped shop.  I really wish we had all the options that you have for the CMS.  I really enjoy using it in the way that I have it setup.

Cheers.  Bryan.

Yup it's the Mac Pro 6 core I was looking at..

Sounds like a capable setup ..
 
Just use your iPhone, it should handle all your needs. If Taylor Swift can write 1989 on an iPhone should be easy for you.

Tom
 
PreferrablyWood said:
bkharman said:
All of my Apple products earn me money... My Festool items do not (well they have but not very much!)

Both are a joy to work with...

I have 2x 6 core Mac Pros for work that run most of my development shop and are loaded to the gills.  that set me back 10k.  I dont have that much into my workshop yet but once i have the room and start looking at dedicated equipment I will surely surpass that figure easily!  My skill set isn't quite there yet for me to justify a fully equipped shop.  I really wish we had all the options that you have for the CMS.  I really enjoy using it in the way that I have it setup.

Cheers.  Bryan.

Yup it's the Mac Pro 6 core I was looking at..

Sounds like a capable setup ..
I am the other way round, all my Festool products I hope earn me money and my apple products don't.
  But just recently my i pad has come in really usefull at work, instead of trying to describe new products to customers when working in their homes, I can now just google something. An example of this was the other day whiles putting in new stud walls I was trying to explaine to a customer how pocket doors work, as they are not that common here after 5 minutes with the I pad, the customer could quickly see the benefits to this install and it worked out well for them. So nowadays I try and remember to take the I pad with me to most jobs. I guess it's now one of the tools.
 
[member=42735]DB10[/member] do you make SketchUp drawings of any of your projects?  If so, you should check out "SightSpace" for your iPad.  It is a viewer that lets you look at your 3D models on the iPad.  I have used it to show a built-in design i made for a friend and he was very impressed.  He said "You should be a GC or designer because this is far more impressive than anything anyone has shown me!"  I am an engineer by trade so I am used to that stuff but it shows how well it will look before they even get it.

Cheers.  Bryan.

 
Hi Bryan,
  SketchUp is defiantly on my list of things I would like to learn and I can see a lot of benefits with using this S/W. years ago I used to use Auto Cad, but that was along time ago.
  I just need to get some quality time to pick up on this. With our winter nights drawing in now, hopefully I'll find some time soon.
 
I make my money as a commercial Sketch Up designer on my Mac Pro with. 2 x 30" Apple screens. this then affords me to have a well equiped Festool shop to play with  ideas Then sometimes I build items like light fittings and furniture of which I design to go into the interiors I design of the bars I design......phew. But I love my Macs and love my Festools even more , as it is fun to completely design items in SketchUp then have the equipment to make them in my workshop , I consider myself very lucky also I live by the seaside so my view out my workshop is awesome..... Then you die  but what an indulgant life.... I am a very content
 
The topic title is clearly wrong!

It SHOULD be: "Mac AND Festool".... oh, AND Canon! [big grin]

I still have, and use my dual quad Mac Pro original...along with a 27" iMac, MacBook Air 13, Retina MacBook Pro 15, and a 2011 MBP 17" I'm typing this on in my workshop!  Let's not even get into the number of iPads, iPhones, iPods, Mice, Routers, Apple TV's and other Apple products I have. Next up, the WATCH!  I am sooooo sick! [big grin]

Cheers,

Frank
 
Back to this thread. Well my main quandary with Mac Pro 6 core or the CMS GE with OF 2200 , TS 75, etc. is on the one hand it's always nice to get the latest and the greatest computer gear to run my sizeable collection of high end VST's, but Lacking the CMS GE set up also freezes development of my carpentry skills. I've got a learning curve ahead of me.

The Mac Pro is expensive kit in a newly updated form factor with expensive add ons, from experience I know prices will eventually  come down not super fast at the high end but it is going to get cheaper to upgrade the Ram, the SSD, and buy 4 k monitors in two years time I suspect. So waiting for the next version of the Mac Pro not only gets me a more powerful computer but it will doubtless cheaper to fit out.

The Festool CMS on the other hand costs about the same as it did when it came out, and likely won't be getting cheaper anytime soon. Festool holds it's value over time. perhaps because of the limited market, R+D is payed for by now, even if the actual costs of development of the core technology is not paid for by direct sales of the CMS, it's still no longer an expense. So I suppose a large part of the package is maintaining the service, parts, cost of manufacture and materials..

The conclusion I'm zeroing in  on here is that when buying the Festool brand the products have a much longer useful life than computer gear. Five years down the road the CMS GE with OF 2200, the TS 75 with module will still be working and productive , computer gear will be reaching it's end of usage, not because it doesn't work, but because it loses support and the software improvements always seem to force upgrades.. Festool and workshop accessories in might need som updates Ten to fifteen years, Computer studio 5 to 7 years..

Just noticed I've got the funds lined up to get either solution within a month, still undecided, but it's likely going to be Festool shopping that wins out..

I think I'll get more value out of the Festools by owning it sooner for realising projects I've got lined up.. and to get going improving my skills. I've lavished much time and money on my Music projects over the years, now carpentry can take a front seat with out washing out that experience and investment..

 
SittingElf said:
The topic title is clearly wrong!

It SHOULD be: "Mac AND Festool".... oh, AND Canon! [big grin]

I still have, and use my dual quad Mac Pro original...along with a 27" iMac, MacBook Air 13, Retina MacBook Pro 15, and a 2011 MBP 17" I'm typing this on in my workshop!  Let's not even get into the number of iPads, iPhones, iPods, Mice, Routers, Apple TV's and other Apple products I have. Next up, the WATCH!  I am sooooo sick! [big grin]

Cheers,

Frank

Yes it's a downward slope, I'll wait for the iWatch version 2 or 3 though..
 
sicd_steve said:
I make my money as a commercial Sketch Up designer on my Mac Pro with. 2 x 30" Apple screens. this then affords me to have a well equiped Festool shop to play with  ideas Then sometimes I build items like light fittings and furniture of which I design to go into the interiors I design of the bars I design......phew. But I love my Macs and love my Festools even more , as it is fun to completely design items in SketchUp then have the equipment to make them in my workshop , I consider myself very lucky also I live by the seaside so my view out my workshop is awesome..... Then you die  but what an indulgant life.... I am a very content

Glad to hear it. Design and the Mac is made for it. Interesting to be able to do the designs and then go out and build it, on a high end level... cool
 
I too need (want) a new Mac, but I am going to build a house instead. The Mac itself is 2007 vintage MacBook, and I use it a lot to design projects using Sketchup. In that sense, the Mac is critical to my business, but not the way it is right now.

Paid for one of those disk cleaning applications, and it did well by me, but not completely. Purchased an SSD (solid-state drive) along with 4GB RAM chips for all of $200. I have not received it yet, but I have great expectations for my Mac's performance with these upgrades. Check it out at crucial.com.
 
pugilato said:
I too need (want) a new Mac, but I am going to build a house instead. The Mac itself is 2007 vintage MacBook, and I use it a lot to design projects using Sketchup. In that sense, the Mac is critical to my business, but not the way it is right now.

Paid for one of those disk cleaning applications, and it did well by me, but not completely. Purchased an SSD (solid-state drive) along with 4GB RAM chips for all of $200. I have not received it yet, but I have great expectations for my Mac's performance with these upgrades. Check it out at crucial.com.

I'm doing music projects where I use some VST's that are extremely CPU heavy, so generally 3/4 of the way through my projects I run in to difficulty, so the only way to improve this issues is to upgrade to a more powerful CPU.. It's just that the CPU''s at that level are developing so fast, and they are so expensive, so It 's very easy to buy something expensive that doesn't improve your performance considering the cost.. I figure give the new Broadwell chips time to be integrated and things will take a great leap in performance..
 
You might want to look into the new iMac as well (with the 5K display). We have bought a few for our UIUX guys and they love them. I played with a few of them and done some pretty power user stuff. And they perform very well.

It is a nice machine and I think I would have one in my house if I already didn't have a few Apple products!!

Cheers. Bryan.
 
pugilato said:
I too need (want) a new Mac, but I am going to build a house instead. The Mac itself is 2007 vintage MacBook, and I use it a lot to design projects using Sketchup. In that sense, the Mac is critical to my business, but not the way it is right now.

Paid for one of those disk cleaning applications, and it did well by me, but not completely. Purchased an SSD (solid-state drive) along with 4GB RAM chips for all of $200. I have not received it yet, but I have great expectations for my Mac's performance with these upgrades. Check it out at crucial.com.
I've also got a mac book from 2007, only problem though is the battery died in 2011 and was not worth replacing, so it can still be used but only plugged into the mains.
This was my workshop pc until I was handed down an I pad.
That's what I like about apple, always coming out with new must have items, not must have for me but must have for my family, so I reckon by Christmas someone in the family will have handed down to me an I pad air2.
 
You could save a little by going with the retina iMac and the i7 processor and an SSD. On single-threaded tasks I think you'll come pretty close speedwise. On multi-threaded tasks, I think you only lose about 15%, but that 15% may be what you need. Plus, the retina screen is incredible and it has Thunderbolt 2 and USB3, of course. I just read somewhere that with a recent update you can now push to an external monitor as well -- not positive on this, though. I use one for my photography and artwork and it performs well for me.

I haven't used the CMS, but it seems better options exist, depending on your final goal.
 
ya the retina iMac if it can do what I need it to do. It's the upgrade processor with the 3 TB fusion drive I'd go with. I'm still on the fence with all this, no super rush on anything I've got my hands full with other duties at present. I'd likely wait for an update to the Retina Mac as reportedly it's could use more power for driving the Screen Graphics..
 
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