Office wise I have the choice of 2016 Pro Plus for £30 outright or 365 for £20 for 1 year. The storage and multiple users/platforms are swaying me towards 365 but I am wondering how much it will be to renew in 1 year. Can I simply look online for another cheap deal and use the code to activate or will I then be forced to pay MS direct?
I would quite like Project but it seems you have to buy that separate these days.
Next is CAD - I want something for some basic design of stuff I have machined and 3D print. Dont really want to spend £1000's.
FEA I have been looking at Mecway or might get a price for SimScale
Sub for MS if you deal with other people as you are always on latest versions.
CAD, fancy NX?? (out of budget and I don't even think I get commission on that one)
Onshape for 3d modelling. Free for individuals as long as you're happy for your models to be public. Fusion 360 is another option that's free for hobbyists
someone will be along in a minute to say fusion 360....
you can rent all the inventor suites these days
NX is 5.5k and then 10 for the machining module...i know this
I saw the SimScale community and for hobby tinkering that is fine but I will also be using it for my test rigs so need to keep them to myself.
I think Office 365 makes more sense, I quite fancy being able to have proper access of my phone and tablets. Laptop is an SB2 15" so technically a tablet but sometimes a small android one is safer to have around.
Onshape runs in a browser (also has an app) so might be worth checking out instead of Fusion 360 as you just need an internet connection for it to work and Chrome browser. Guess it depends what kind of models you need to create!
Fusion 360 is an option, shame the Ultimate version is quite a step up for the simulation stuff.
I might try the free version first and then if I get on with it switch to a subscription for my test rig designs.
ahh, turns out I can get the Start Up version of 360 for free as I stopped taking on work for the rest of the year to concentrate on R&D and took a permanent FT job in the mean time.Will give me a chance to try it out properly, tbh it's only £300 a year anyway. I was expecting most paid versions to be £1000's. Catia would be good to learn...
I'm not sure about the cloud based working though.
how on earth are you getting 365 so cheap?
Work deal perhaps though I thought these were usually free (i.e. use your work licence at home if employer signs up to the scheme). Or university plan. Or a subsidy on buying the laptop.
Anyway, Office 365 Personal is slightly cheaper than the Home. Only gives you 1 user licence but can install on multiple devices of different types (PC, tablet, phone etc) and still get the 1TB of storage.
I value the storage and see the subscription as paying for that plus Office as a bonus.
Well, I was using one of the top links on Google shopping...but as always was suspicious and always check out sellers (Ebay, Amazon Marketplace etc) before buying. Sellers store was showing what is supposed to be a genuine MS partner ID but on doing a bit of a search on the owners details I think I will be avoiding that. Might just go to John Lewis as it's £70 for the 5 license version there but will check out Costco as well.
Followed a link from a well known PC mags "best office 365 deals" to an Amazon seller which appears to be selling MSDS versions. I suspect the same is true for the above.
I can get MS products through Uni (I teach/supervise post grads as myself and am also affiliated staff through my FT job) but I shouldnt use that for my own commercial means. Can also get some nice CAD packages that way too but same again. Fine for learning on though but need something for commercial work, even though I don't sell things I design on the CAD I use it for my equipment I use to test and produce things with.