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I´m about to order ETS3 Professional, What are the advantages and disadvantages of the two options? |
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Since the license management has become very good at knx.org I would recommend you to choose the Host ID. You get started immediately (after payment) and you don´t have to wait for a dongle. If you need to replace your computer, just update the license by logging in to your account at onlineshop.knx.org and enter the new Host ID. You will have your new license in just a few seconds. The money you save are better used to obtain a "supplementary license"- Then you can run ETS3 simultaneously on more computers. And you also avoid the risk of losing a dongle. I used the Host-ID option.
(Mar 16 '10 at 19:35)
Frank
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Hi Frank! ETS with Dongle is a little bit more expensive then the version with Host-ID, except that the advantages/disadvantages is following: Dongle: Advantages: You can use it with different computers, (one at a time..) If you need to change comp. it´s easy to install ETS and go on programming. Disadvantages: If you don´t have your Dongle, ETS will start in Demo-mode, you will always need the dongle for programming! Host-ID Advantages: You need no extra equipment when the ETS-installation is finished. Disadvantages: If your computer crash, or if you loose it, you will need to request a new licens with the Host-ID of the new comp. It might take some time. |
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A dongle on a desktop PC is usually not a problem, but yes, it is very risky to put a dongle on a laptop. One false move and the dongle is broken. Another alternative would be to generate a virtual image of a PC running Windows and run the image using a virtualization software (eg Virtual PC, Virtual Box, VMware Player, etc..). Then install ETS3 in the virtual image and validate the license by the Host-ID method. The virtual image can be saved and restored at will (eg in case of change of PC, or upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, etc..). Anyway, your Windows XP/ETS3 image will be always usable. I think that this method should be legal as long as you don't use ETS3 simultaneously on different PC. Note : Just take care about the support of USB or COM ports inside your virtual machine. It could be a problem. However, a IP interface (like Siemens N148) should work without any problem. |
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I´m using the dongle and it works good. However, i lost a few days waiting for the dongle and that could be improved. It would be better if they gave you a temporary license-file until the dongle arrives. |
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one more thing that's important to me: your dongle key takes one of your USB port, and that could be very bad if you working on laptop with few USB ports. not to tell how it's sticking out from your PC, and when you're doing field programming, well, that's not a good thing. you can connect it through USB extension cable, but that's one more thing to watch out on when you're moving arround. like user bavaria said, licence managing now works great, so even if you're changing PC, you can do it in seconds... |
