I've seen the Actua 2100 (MJM). It's a pretty nice machine. Great software. It makes pretty good parts (I've seen a few thousand RP parts, and I know what "pretty good" is). And it makes them pretty quickly. The approach to support construction is novel, to say the least, and support removal is a snap.
I've been reading a lot of talk on this list which looks mostly like speculation about the Actua 2100. Have any of you actually seen this machine?
With regards to the questioning of the value of "rapid concept modeling" (i.e., multiple iterations, quickly produced, not necessarily requiring high precision) - Frost P. related a comment from one of his customers: (I'm paraphrasing here) "I like Plynetics because you allow me to make mistakes faster" (The customer, not Plynetics. Of course, Plynetics doesn't make mistakes). Another one I like is: "If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a model is worth a thousand pictures" (Tom K., Amp, I think). The value of concept models is obvious. We sell a ton of 'em (Ours, obviously, are perfect in every way ;-) ).
Dave Flynn
Prototype Express, Inc.
dflynn@proex.com
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