# Microvision Or ETC Nomad?



## Rose03 (Nov 9, 2018)

I have quite a predicament on my hands, I am looking to buy a DMX controller and I have narrowed it down to two possible candidates. Etc Nomad EOS or a microvision. Each is around the same price. 
The Pros of the microvision are I would have the opportunity to learn a new desk language, its an excellent size and all in one package, and I have always wanted one.
The cons of it are that it only supports desk channels and no fixture profiles, as I will be using this a venue that has a large amount of leds I don't know if it will be up to the task.
The pros of nomad are that it will be much easier to program on
The cons are that I won't be learning anything new and nomad will be quite boring, also I've noticed that down the line Nomad becomes a really bad deal, after buying the dongle one may want to get a fader wing, and then an on pc wing, and before you know it you basically have a more expensive Ion XE that seperated into different parts and may have less support from etc.


----------



## RonaldBeal (Nov 9, 2018)

No brainer. Nomad. 
The Microvision is nearing 30 years old. Trying to find a compatible monitor (if the existing one dies) will be difficult, and in fact many of the components in it are obsolete. I don't see any value to learning a "new desk language" for a desk you will probably never see again. 

just my $0.02
RB


----------



## RickR (Nov 9, 2018)

I notice many of your Nomad cons aren't even options on the Microvision. The only real pro for the MV is that you've always wanted one.


----------



## SteveB (Nov 9, 2018)

MV uses a floppy drive. Not a storage method I'd want to rely on, given that drives may be hard to find so if it fails, you hope ETC can fix it.


----------



## danTt (Nov 10, 2018)

Having microvision programming skills on your resume at this point is only going to get you jobs in theatres you probably do not want to work in. If they haven't upgraded their console from a microvision, it's almost certain that they have no money to pay people either.


----------



## RickR (Nov 10, 2018)

SteveB said:


> MV uses a floppy drive. Not a storage method I'd want to rely on, given that drives may be hard to find so if it fails, you hope ETC can fix it.



In the Express line FD drivers are hard coded into the OS. You can't use any old drive unit or USB retrofit. I'd imagine MV is similar or worse.


----------



## microstar (Nov 10, 2018)

RickR said:


> In the Express line FD drivers are hard coded into the OS. You can't use any old drive unit or USB retrofit. I'd imagine MV is similar or worse.


I'm not sure this is correct. At my old university, they retrofitted a USB unit into an Express 48/96 without difficulty. I do not know the manufacturer/model of the unit, but believe it was one of the generic China ones.


----------



## SteveB (Nov 10, 2018)

microstar said:


> I'm not sure this is correct. At my old university, they retrofitted a USB unit into an Express 48/96 without difficulty. I do not know the manufacturer/model of the unit, but believe it was one of the generic China ones.



It’s a complete hit and miss if you find a USB unit that’ll read the coded OS from the MV. You have no access to that OS to load drivers. I’ve heard of the occasional system success with an Express and I believe Litetrol did this as well. Not sure if they have any experience at it though. 

Bottom line is that is not the route I’d take. Nomad with a dongle and Gadget or Gateway is pretty much going to be the system for the next decade or more for ETC systems.


----------



## MNicolai (Nov 10, 2018)

You have no predicament on your hands. You can choose to have a museum piece or to have a functional lighting controller you can use to make a living. Buying a Microvision for any reason other than as a museum piece would be short-sighted and negligent. It fundamentally is not a console designed for controlling modern lighting fixtures and will easily add hours of programming time to each and every show you attempt to do with it.

Aside from your personal expense, consider the costs for your employer/producer/clients of having to refund tickets if the Microvision craps out on you and the show cannot go on.

If you are really concerned about the upgrade path for Nomad, there are plenty of other options out there. However, most hardware consoles will cost more. I would also not forget that generally modern ETC equipment tends to hold its resale value quite well on the used market. If you need to offload your Nomad dongle, a gateway, and a wing to move up to an Ion XE or something else some day, you shouldn't have a problem getting some money back by selling off that Nomad rig. For the price you would spend on Nomad, you're basically paying for a set of tires for a car, whereas you can buy an entire car for the cost of an Ion XE. Being concerned about buyer's remorse on the set of tires because they aren't an entire car is a little silly.


Rose03 said:


> The cons are that I won't be learning anything new and nomad will be quite boring



What are you even looking for in a console that this is a relevant factor in your purchase?


----------



## JJBerman (Nov 12, 2018)

My question would be is why would Nomad be quite boring? Have you become an expert on ETC EOS software? Do you know every in and out of the EOS software?
I would assume no, so go with Nomad and take this as an opportunity to dive deeper into EOS.

If you do know everything about EOS software, then still go Nomad but use it with Cobalt software. Both are supported via Nomad but both are pretty different in programming in my experience.


----------



## Rose03 (Nov 13, 2018)

The consensus seems to be Nomad, my hesitation about learning Cobalt pc based is that I have heard it is quite difficult to learn it on a pc with no command wing. I would also like to point out that buying a microvision will not cause the world to melt @MNicolai


----------

