ETC Element & ION Windows XPe to Windows 7 upgrade costs

Scenemaster60

Well-Known Member
Was just doing some reading/research this subject here: https://support.etcconnect.com/ETC/Consoles/Eos_Family/Ion/Ion_Windows_7_Upgrade_Eligibility and have noticed that nowhere in my research can I find the approximate cost of these upgrade/rebuilds.

Given that basic new Element II setup is going to run around $6,000 and a new ION XE could easily be around $10,000 (depending on fader and touchscreen options), I am wondering if an upgrade is a sensible option if you have a 10 year old ELement or ION? I suppose to some extent it depends on the amount of physical use that the console has seen and what demands will be put on the console in the foreseen future.

Anyone "in the know" willing to share information?
 
Upgrading the Ion makes sense. Upgrading and Element is debatable given the dirth of buttons on the face panel. Cost varies depending on the serial number and where you live since it either goes back to factory or an authorized repair centre. It's much cheaper than a new console. Console pricing is also variable so don't try to compare MSRP with street price.
 
I'd say it depends on what's important to you and how you use it. We are currently in the process of upgrading our 10 year old ION XP Gen 2 console. We aren't upgrading the wings which means we have to go usb cable from wings to console which takes up a tiny bit more room than having them attached.

I've debated this a while, EOS 3.0 is going to be pretty cool but overkill for your average user. In the long run I'll run 3.x on a windows based nomad and keep my ION for 2.x
I'd really only recommend a replacement if you are really interested in the Augmented features OR you have a desire to run pixels in a better environment than the current cell based system. I am not going to run Aleda B.Eyes or the likes on my ION so I don't need the upgraded hardware.
The question you really have to ask is what is lacking about your current system that makes it need replacing? If nothing, than upgrading is a good option in my opinion.

Under $2,500 vs $9,000 for a replacement. which meant we could spend budget on relays for our ETC rack and some other stuff that needed attention.
https://www.musson.com/etc-console-windows-7-upgrade.html

My ETC rep is San Diego Stage and Lighting and they gave us a similar price.
 
Was just doing some reading/research this subject here: https://support.etcconnect.com/ETC/Consoles/Eos_Family/Ion/Ion_Windows_7_Upgrade_Eligibility and have noticed that nowhere in my research can I find the approximate cost of these upgrade/rebuilds.

Given that basic new Element II setup is going to run around $6,000 and a new ION XE could easily be around $10,000 (depending on fader and touchscreen options), I am wondering if an upgrade is a sensible option if you have a 10 year old ELement or ION? I suppose to some extent it depends on the amount of physical use that the console has seen and what demands will be put on the console in the foreseen future.

Anyone "in the know" willing to share information?

Call up your favorite dealer and get actual pricing. It shouldn't cost you anything for a quote. They will need your console serial number.
 
My concern on my 10 yr. old Gen 2 Ion is the remaining hardware, especially the face panel. No way to determine how worn out the keys and buttons are, thus I’ve made the choice to not update this console.
 
Development is ending, though, on the EOS 2.x release train, right?

Will that include fixtures, or just features?

I forget where I saw it, but basically they will be still publishing fixture profiles, and major bug fixes on the 2.9 version, mainly to support element and XP consoles.

Also, I believe you can have ETC replace your keys if they are getting old, but I'm not sure if that's the most economical choice on a XP console...
 
I forget where I saw it, but basically they will be still publishing fixture profiles, and major bug fixes on the 2.9 version, mainly to support element and XP consoles.

Also, I believe you can have ETC replace your keys if they are getting old, but I'm not sure if that's the most economical choice on a XP console...

Are you saying that ETC will replace an entire face panel set of buttons ?. Cannot imagine them being able to do that and cannot imagine the cost. The XP Gen2 upgrade to Win7 was in the ballpark of $2000 last I read.
 
I forget where I saw it, but basically they will be still publishing fixture profiles, and major bug fixes on the 2.9 version, mainly to support element and XP consoles.

Also, I believe you can have ETC replace your keys if they are getting old, but I'm not sure if that's the most economical choice on a XP console...
Well, for our part, we bought a new XE this season to go in our main stage, and we will hand our 3000 down to our black box, as is likely pretty coming... Whether we're going to send it in for the Windows 7 upgrade or not is an open question.
 
Development is ending, though, on the EOS 2.x release train, right?

Will that include fixtures, or just features?

Given that the fixture library and EOS install have to stay in step, my understanding is that if you have an XP machine you're stopped at the last fixture library supported y 2.9.x but obviously check this with your local friendly ETC bod - that's just my understanding from conversations on the forum and on the Facebook EOS groups.
 
Development is ending, though, on the EOS 2.x release train, right?

Will that include fixtures, or just features?

Yes development is basically over with 2.x the official beta's have closed. That said, if there is a major bug found down the line, ETC has been known to patch discontinued software if needed, but it will likely only be for something big.
https://community.etcconnect.com/co...about-xp-based-devices-and-future-development

You can continue to download fixture patches and install them separate from the feature set. This may change at some point but I haven't seen any official announcement on changes to how the fixture library is accessed within the console. On a side note, EOS 2.x allows for data harvesting from GrandMA, Lightwright, etc. so you have a bunch of other ways of getting fixture profiles; not to mention 2.8 (or maybe it was 2.7) introduced an advanced fixture editor that you could make pretty much any profile... I doubt that is going away in 3.x
 
Given that the fixture library and EOS install have to stay in step, my understanding is that if you have an XP machine you're stopped at the last fixture library supported y 2.9.x but obviously check this with your local friendly ETC bod - that's just my understanding from conversations on the forum and on the Facebook EOS groups.
@Jay Ashworth I'm not sure where it is on the website, from the 2.9.1 announcement email (emphasis mine, however the expression server system is still theirs ;)).
This is the last currently planned feature release for XP-based hardware, but we anticipate additional releases to support networking products. We will continue to generate library patches for v2.9.x in addition to the same patches for v3.0 and higher.
 

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