Mini mac still worth it?

[raj]

hi, ive just sold my old Martin 218s to upgrade to something better. Possibly looking at mini macs (I already have mac250s..). Only other suggestions around that sort of price bracket?

 

Anyone selling any do let me know!! :D

[Stu]

There are also the Robe 160 and 170XTs you could look at or Pearl River 150s and 250s (which are about £650!)... (The PR Pilot 250s are very good for the money)

 

Robe

Pearl River

 

HTH

 

Stu

[raj]

ive heard that the robes are excellent but am concerned with their support service....

Also, the fact that the martins have ready made cases available is a real bonus in terms of avoiding custom case prices..

[Chris M]

I'm not sure about the prices, but check out Coemar. I borrowed some stuff from them a few weeks ago and was really impressed with the Pro Wash 250's, and the Pro Spot 250's. I'd reccomend looking at the Coemar range.

[raj]

will do. has anyone had any first hand experience of the minimacs anyway? what is the general output like?

[olistockman]

I could be wrong, but rumour has it that Robe build the coemar lights, can anyone verify this...?

I'm sure you're all fed up with my praise singing about the Robe products, so I'll refrain this time..

still better than the minimacs!

[raj]

yup I think ur right there-there are only a hand full of manufacturers for these things...

[ian kirby]

Lets explain this one.

 

Coemar used to have two ranges, Coemar and Tas.

 

Tas was their cheaper brand and this was made by Robe when Robe used to manufacture for Futurelight, JB, Movitec, American DJ etc.

 

Coemar was always their own brand and made in house. It discontinued TAS around 3 years ago to concentrate on Coemar.

 

Ian kirby

[SceneMaster]

Minimacs aren’t bad but you can quite simply get the same and better for less… in the form of the Robe and Pearl Rivers ranges… I have first hand experience of the Minimacs and the Robe range specs look better although I haven’t had first hand experience of them… Minimacs are also fairly noisy for there light out put and size if that makes sense… (meaning for something that noise you would expect something with the power and size of a Mac500…)

 

Anyway, Minimacs are fine and I have and will again hire them but I wouldn’t buy them I would rather pay less for a higher spec light (which seem to be height quality, not that I have first hand experience) from robe even if it doesn’t have the Martin brand name and anyway Robe’s name is building up some credibility…

[nickb12345]

Only looking at the features of the lanterns (not price) if I had the option of either a MiniMAC or Coemar iSpot 150 I would choose the coemar one simply because it can do a lot more.

 

By this I meen things like it has a built in dimmer shutter (the minimac one is only strobe, no dim), the coemar has DMX controlled focus, very handy if its rigged in aquard places, the light output 'seems' more when I have used them before... and the list goes on.

 

This is only based on memory (about a year ago I last used the coemar stuff).

 

However when we did use them last we had a few problems with things like getting them to all run at the same time... if at all, but it all came together in the end.

 

Just my 2 cents :)

 

Nick

[ag_lx]

Raj,

 

It depends what you are using them for. If you are hiring them out, then you might want to go with the MiniMacs - purely because they are Martin, and everyone knows them. Also, although there can be a few problems they are actually quite reliable and easy to fix if something does go wrong.

 

If they are for your own personal consumption, go for the Robes because they cost less and do more!

 

Do not go for Coemar! They are badly built and will let you down. They have too many reliability 'isues' and you can't guarentee they will always do what you tell them to do! It isn't because of the styling that they aren't used on big tours...!

 

Aleksis

 

[sits back and waits for Coemar fans (or fan?) to slap him]

[Bryson]

Of course Mac Minis are worth it..1.25Ghz processor, combo drive, nice small case,....oh wrong product....sorry...I'll get me coat....

 

 

This one, not this one.

[ben.suffolk]

I have a couple of iSpot 150's which I love, they work really well, and like you said the light output from them is great.

 

I do have a question about them though if anybody can help. The Movement speed channel can be set to standard (fast), Ultra fast (best for programming position), vector mode (proportional fast to slow) and tracking mode (proportional fast to slow) or Tracking mode (slow)

 

I can see no difference what soever between the standard and ultra speeds, and the manual does not tell me what the difference between tracking and vector modes are.

 

I just leave them in Ultra fast, and let the desk deal with the position via its cross fades. However I am intrigued to know the difference between tracking and vector mode, so if anyone can enlighten me that would be great.

 

Ben

[Davwal]

Re the Robe support, We find them excellent, they will go the distance to help you out. Cant fault them. Re the 160s we stuck 6 of them into a small upmarket club here over a year ago, havent seen them since except to clean them. And the little controller is great for a fast install, comes preprogrammed.

 

Cheers

Dave W.

[vinny baby]

yes I could highly recommend Robe. Its by far the best single armed mover out there, its super bright, bright, and has some nice functions.

 

I have had exsperience with both the mini mac and the Coemar I spot.

 

the mini mac has very low light output, and is quite poor in specs (to say its martin)

 

The I spot, is prone to faults, the shutter always stick, and your forever calibrating them. The light output on the I spot is the same as the Robe fixture.

 

non of the single armed fixtures mentioned in this topic dim!!!!! they only have a single blade shutter which slices the beam, rather than diming it.

 

Possibly due to the fact that these fixtures are not made for serious aplications, but are intending as up market disco/club lighting.

 

I would go for the Robe anyday!!!

 

you might want to go with the MiniMacs - purely because they are Martin

 

I hate this frame of mind

 

You should go with what ever is best, and the mini mac is the bottom of the pile when it comes to single armed movers

 

vince