[scudzuki]

I have to agree, with the base program going for $100 these days, the money to step up to Pro or Expert is disproportionate.


Joe

[ger21]

I have to agree, with the base program going for $100 these days, the money to step up to Pro or Expert is disproportionate.


Joe

Not if you compare it to the alternatives.

So basically, you'd rather be paying more for the Hobby version?

[scudzuki]

Not if you compare it to the alternatives.

So basically, you'd rather be paying more for the Hobby version?

I own the Expert versions of both CAM and Design.

I'm simply stating my opinion that the functionality gained by upgrading from the standard versions of each (which I first owned and used) is disproportionate to the price of said upgrades when compared to the features of the standard versions.

Oh, and I DID pay more for the "hobby version" at $300 plus maintenance. I certainly don't begrudge anyone who bought it at its current price though.

I used SolidWorks before Alibre and while I feel it is a better product, for my purposes it has no advantage over Alibre (and obviously a huge disadvantage price-wise).

Joe

[lkenney]

Years ago when I was learning wood working, I thought I had to have all the newest in power tools, table saw, radial arm saw, jointer, plane, shaper etc. I thought that I could and had to buy my way into excellance. My work still did not match that of other wood workers. I went to visit a fellow who made fine furniture and was amazed at the simplicity of his shop. Good basic power tools and excellant work bench and an amazing amount of handtools for this modern era that we were working in. Several years later when my work became much better I realized that my use of power tools was much more limited and my hand tool use and quility of tooling had increased a lot. How does this pertain to CAD/CAM? It is how you use the tools you have and not what you buy that makes the difference. I think that Solidworks is justified for about 20% of the designers/manufacturers in the market if they use all the features. The rest of us can and could get our work done with Alibre or other simular products. As I found in wood working it was not what I owned but how I used it that made the difference in the end product. Many time 15 minutes with a 4" wide piece of tool steel used as a planing scraper gives a better finish than 4 hours with assorted power sanders.

JMHO
Lowell

[helocat]

Bought my first level of AD in 05'. Upgraded over the years. Solid Works is the greener grass IMO. One still has to learn to use it as well. Yes there is more main stream support for it, but it all comes with a price. I am still learning with AD and very much a mid level user if that. Not due the difficulty of the software but due to my very limited amount of time as a small business owner to dedicate to learning beyond what I need to know to make my living. One thing is for sure, every time I have needed to learn more the support has always been there and AD continues to deliver.

Sorry no fancy file to share from me. Over 200 parts but they are all single parts and very few assemblies. Mostly sheet metal brackets and mounts. I think this might also be part of your problem for files to view. A lot of us use AD for exactly what we need little more. It would be fun to build elaborate models in AD but I have a business to run. AD has paid back the cost 10 fold in my 5 yrs of experience and use with it. In fact I just gave them more $ and added the basic CAM program.

Well wishes with your learning.

Mark

[Teyber12]

hey beefy!

look what i came across
http://www.lista.it/alibre/showcase.html
Click on any of the models to download them.

EXTREMELY complicated models you can download and see them step by step