SMC Minimax and Felder Questions
I am looking at some SMC and Felder products and was hoping to get feedback on a few questions. First, I'm not trying to create an SMC vs Felder thread, just get some facts from existing owners as these are large purchases (for me at least). I've gotten good information from each companies Rep but I'd like to get some information from parties less invested.
1) I am trying to determine how the product lines align. For example, does the SMC ES series aligns with the Felder AD 700 or 900 series? Any opinions are appreciated.
2) I read every thread I could find on the topic of product choice out there. There appear to be a much higher number of Felder owners in general. Most of the threads are old (2005-2013), and many complaints circle around the options available from SMC. More recently it seems SMC has switched to an option model as well for combo units, so Felder and SMC options are comparable. I was wondering if any more recent purchasers had any updated opinions; maybe the chief complaint about configurability is moot now.
3) Finally, I haven't been able to find any real alternatives in the space of Slider/Moulder combo's. Does anyone know of any alternatives?
4) For anyone that has a 2500mm slider in a small shop or garage, I'm interested in how much space you have to allocate to it and how big your space is overall. (Thank you again Jim for your feedback on this!)
5) I haven't found anyone complaining about SMC support, but I am wondering if anyone has interacted with them and how the experience has been. I did talk to Felder support, without being a Felder owner, and they were super helpful. There isn't a Felder or SMC rep or support as far as I know in my area so all support would be remote, or expensively local (travel).
Thank you for your feedback. If some of these questions were covered in other threads I'm not aware of, I'd appreciate a link.
Derek