MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Are people buying these off resellers or directly from source, what is the point of the resellers other than providing a "service agreement"
The guys at my new company use vector works, whilst I use auto cad.
I always bought VW/Updates from Computers Unlimted in the UK - they're Nemetschek's authorised UK seller. Not sure what the benefit is of going elsewhere other than maybe buying the package + training from the same place?
In our office we get our software from an authorised reseller for the service arrangement.
Always on the end of the phone for "free" (paid for) advice, also had free training as part of the package (a bonus for us as it was a change in software/developer).
Kept up to date with updates.
All that said, we're probably just paying for the convenience of not having to 'waste' our own time on software issues etc. and just get on with the job.
We just purchased direct, no support. Cant say i've ever needed it TBH. It just works. If I have any drawing issues I come straight to this place or one of the forums. Any major IT issues I get out offsite IT guy to look at it. He's not particularly knowledgeable on the product but we've had no major issues.
We have other software (Amtech Electrical etc) all of which we just purchased without support. You dont get the latest patches they send out but it has all the features we need so why spend a grand a year?
Licence fee's for large companies must be crippling.
The internet seems to offer many of the solutions that only the developer or re-seller could offer nowadays.
No real idea what resellers DO other than give you a point of contact and add cost. In theory it creates a "market" but I'm not sure that's actually the case as they all seem to have the same deals.
AutoCAD and especially the LT version is terrible value given it's functionality and by now ought to be a give away like DraftCAD is.
If I was starting from scratch with a new co and wanted a simple 2D package I'd go for that.
G
Sorry to hijack this guys but could do with some advice. I often need to open DWG and DXF files and remove some layers so I can 'clean up' a drawing before printing, Trueview seems to work fairly well but are there any free packages out these that would be worth looking at. If one provided the ability to add detail without being too complex that would be a bonus. Cheers.
Never used it, but DraftSight, from the people who do Solidworks may work for you:
[url= http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight/download-draftsight/#xtor=AD-508- [swfreetools]-[middle]-[intext]-[www.solidworks.com]]Draftsight[/url]
Edit: Can't get the link to work, just google it
ask1974 - Member
Sorry to hijack this guys but could do with some advice. I often need to open DWG and DXF files and remove some layers so I can 'clean up' a drawing before printing, Trueview seems to work fairly well but are there any free packages out these that would be worth looking at. If one provided the ability to add detail without being too complex that would be a bonus. Cheers.
Draftsight, would be the bunny.
I'll concur with the Draftsight advice - I called it DraftCad earlier and didn't mean to. It's a great program.
Thanks guys. Will give it a go.
Just had an email saying that Draftsight Pro is 25% off at the moment [url= http://www.solidworks.com/sw/products/draftsight-professional-trial.htm?scid=ext_em_DraftSight_lastc_05222014 ]25% offer[/url] if it's any help.
I've no idea what advantages Pro offers over the free version but it's damn cheap for a decent AutoCAD compatible/equivalent CAD package.