I’m a new Cnc user that’s considering buying a Onefinity 4x4 foreman or
avid 4896. How’s the support for begginers ? Any thoughtS
I have had as much support as I needed as a new user to Avid. This forum is great, and every question I have ever posed to Avid support has been answered within about 48 hours. They have a phone number but nothing I needed was all that urgent. Email and maybe a callback worked just fine. Frequently Avid support called me to make sure I understood all the issues. I use this forum for “how to use the machine” questions, and Avid support for when I need to know how to rewire the control box.
I have received support for using my pwncnc spindle, attaching an ether1616 board for more input/output, getting my rapid change atc working (not quite working yet), controlling more than 2 relays, and various issue related toassembly (some of the parts were missing/incorrect).
I am a pwncnc customer as well as an avid customer. There are a fair number of negative comments about Onefinity on the pwncnc forum.
In the end I bought a Avid 4x3 because I couldn’t fit a 4x4. It was nice being able to get one made to size 
.
I couldn’t be happier.
I’ve had mine for 7 years and support has always been great, whether its on the direct support page via email or phone, or just pinging users on this forum.
There are also a lot of good videos and documents that AVID has to get you started.
My biggest pitch is that AVID is a tier or two above the Onefinity IMO, and you have a lot more room to expand/upgrade/customize on an AVID than most other machines.
I’m still a bit new myself. I’ve had my Avid machine for about a year and a half.
I spent years considering a CNC and chose Avid based on reviews and people with first hand knowledge of the machines. I went all in with a 4x4 pro machine with EX control and servos and a 4th axis rotary. I soon after added a laser. Then the AV40S spindle, and most recently the full ATC system.
I did decide that the 4x4 was a little small with the rotary, so I called Avid and got a 2’ extension kit and BOOM, I now have a 4x6 machine. The modularity of the Avid machines is awesome.
The support is second to none. Every call I’ve made to Avid, someone picked up the phone and was able to help me. As Jim mentioned, this forum is an excellent place to get help, find new ideas, and help others with issues that you may have encountered over time. No matter how technical the issue, you will usually get a response in a couple of hours but no more than a day. It’s actually like having a whole troubleshooting team having your back here in the forum.
Eric here on the forum is with Avid and has very indepth knowledge of the systems and controls. I don’t think he ever sleeps! I’ve posted issues at night, on weekends, and on holidays. I’ve never had to wait more than a day for a reply. And in full disclosure, most of my issues were user error or just boneheaded mistakes.
I wouldn’t think twice about buying another Avid machine. They are very robust and have awesome flexibility and amazing support.