Howdy folks

Hello everyone,


I’ve been a lurker on these forums for some time now, and would like to post for the first time and get some feedback.

To begin with, I’ve been in industrial controls for about 11 years and have a lot of experience using many different systems. However, most of my PLC experience is using AB, with some AutomationDirect and Modicon PL7 Pro. I've used RSLogix500 enough I could write most rungs faster by typing them in instead of drag-n-drop. (BST XIO I:0/1 NXB.....)

I have a new job now, and the PLCs in use here are Toshibas. Several machines have been decommissioned, so now there are only two machines with a Toshiba PLC. I believe you can understand that with my experience with AB, I’m not impressed with the Toshibas, and I think the T-PDS32 software is horrible compared to RSLogix or PL7 Pro (I know, you get what you pay for). Even the old version of DirectSoft we were using outshines T-PDS32 in my opinion.



So anyways, given that we only have a couple Toshibas still on the floor (they’re simple 20-40 I/O bricks), I would very much like to convert to something else. As much as I would like to use AB, it likely will not happen due to AB’s premium. I would be interested in AutomationDirect, but I’m not sure how well the current software works. My previous employer never updated DirectSoft from version 2.something. While I believe it is better than T-PDS32, DirectSoft would give me headaches from time to time. One of the biggest problems I've had with DirectSoft is actually getting a program to download. Often I would have to download 2-3 times or more for the program to actually work.


We've recently had a salesman in here pushing Mitsubishi, and as any good salesman would say, it’s the best PLC on the market. They’re number one in the world, even. 0.o I've read a couple of the reviews on this site (they're rather old), and from the literature that I was given Mitsubishi does have a larger market and product line than Toshiba. So, I'd like to get a comparison/opinion from someone that has possibly used Mitsubishi/DirectSoft5 and can compare the mileage they've had between the two.

Thanks in advance,



EM

P.S. Have a good weekend

Downloading problems? Besides the obvious problems with flakey cables, the only time I had problems was downloading to a running system which was processing interrupts. Not affecting any outputs but just keeping a count via interrupt. That messed up things.

I would update to the newest software. Any previous version counts as a starting point. And it's an upgrade to the full blown package - all families, all capabilities.

I've used older versions of Mitsubishi. I wasn't impressed.
I have used AD versions 2.4, 4, and the latest 5. In my opinion, it's the best. AD market share is pretty impressive too.
Your download problems were probably related to the 486-P1 machine you were using along with Windows 95, not the AD software.

I would start out by getting the free Directsoft from AD.

http://web5.automationdirect.com/adc/Shopping/Catalog/Software_Products/Directsoft_PLC_Programming_Software/Directsoft_Software/PC-DS100

This does limit the amount of code you can write because its free. But I think it will give you a good idea of the new software.

The only time I have had download problems is when I had cable problems. I don't like the univeral cable kits they sell. Its worth getting the good ones.

I use GX Developer 8 and Direct Soft 5, with Mitsubishi and Direct Plc's. I like both of them as far as price, reliability, and I think they are both user friendly. You won't be going wrong with either. I personally like Direct Soft a little better.

I also use GX Developer version 8 after having been trained on Siemens S5 20 years ago, I have used the Mitsi software for about 10 years now from the old DOS based version which was slow to programme with but I have always found it easy to use and I have never had any training with this software.

I think people will always have a preference for the software that they are familiar with so you should bear this in mind when taking advice on the best way to go.