[camtd]

Is anyone doing Beta testing on Mastercam X5? Are there any new features to get excited about?

[foxsquirrel]

Is anyone doing Beta testing on Mastercam X5? Are there any new features to get excited about?

I have X3 and it acts like a Beta version, maybe they will pull their head out and actually release a final version this time, now that would be exciting!!!!

[TheBigJW]

I have X3 and it acts like a Beta version, maybe they will pull their head out and actually release a final version this time, now that would be exciting!!!!

They are to busy working on all those wonderful features they are going to add to lathe and wire for my yearly fees.

Did you know if you sell your lathe or wire edm and still have a mill you still have to maintain all three if they are all on the same sim. Or believe it or not I was quoted $5500.00 to stop using lathe and wire and have them taken off my sim. Can this even be for real. Can you think of any other software company that wants to charge you to stop using thier software?

John

[foxsquirrel]

They are to busy working on all those wonderful features they are going to add to lathe and wire for my yearly fees.

Did you know if you sell your lathe or wire edm and still have a mill you still have to maintain all three if they are all on the same sim. Or believe it or not I was quoted $5500.00 to stop using lathe and wire and have them taken off my sim. Can this even be for real. Can you think of any other software company that wants to charge you to stop using thier software?

John

They seem to have the "too big too fail" ego. Too many of their competitors are now producing MUCH simpler too use software and at a better price point.

[cadcam]

ThebigJW I have never seen CNC charge to stop using the a addon. I have had people take lathe for example off a key and we charge nothing. I would check with CNC on this one.

[TheBigJW]

ThebigJW I have never seen CNC charge to stop using the a addon. I have had people take lathe for example off a key and we charge nothing. I would check with CNC on this one.

Well maybe it was just my VAR trying to screw me then. This is right from the quote I was sent we I asked to continue on maintanance with mill but not lathe and wire.

MC-SIM-FEE Debundling Wire from SIM# 7###8 $1,850.00 1 $1,850.00
MC-SIM-FEE Debundling Lathe from SIM# 7###8 $1,850.00 1 $1,850.00
Debundling SIM# 7###8
MC-MR-ML1 Expired Mastercam Maintenance Mill L1 $1,065.00 1 $1,065.00

This to me adds up to charging me for not using all of the software.

John

[Shotout]

Well maybe it was just my VAR trying to screw me then. This is right from the quote I was sent we I asked to continue on maintanance with mill but not lathe and wire.

MC-SIM-FEE Debundling Wire from SIM# 7###8 $1,850.00 1 $1,850.00
MC-SIM-FEE Debundling Lathe from SIM# 7###8 $1,850.00 1 $1,850.00
Debundling SIM# 7###8
MC-MR-ML1 Expired Mastercam Maintenance Mill L1 $1,065.00 1 $1,065.00

This to me adds up to charging me for not using all of the software.

John

Is this charge maybe for the unused (unpaid) amount of a maintenance contract? If you are contracted with those options billed in intervals over a time frame and decide to drop them they may have you under a contractual obligation to pay for the unbilled portion. Just a thought.

[TheBigJW]

Is this charge maybe for the unused (unpaid) amount of a maintenance contract? If you are contracted with those options billed in intervals over a time frame and decide to drop them they may have you under a contractual obligation to pay for the unbilled portion. Just a thought.

No. For sure not. The maintenance had expired and I just wanted to continue on with mill only. I was told I had to debundle the lathe and wire from the sym to continue only paying maintenance on mill. Please find me another example of a company that wants to charge you to stop using the product. Except maybe a cell phone company.

John

[Matt Berube]

Is anyone doing Beta testing on Mastercam X5? Are there any new features to get excited about?

Yes. Unfortunately we're not allowed to discuss it but there are at least 2 items in there that I personally will gain huge benefits from.

Not exactly sure what's going on with foxsquirrel but X4-MU3 Mill Level 3 is rock solid here. Yeah, there are some things I'd like to change but no serious bugs are bothering me.

[cadcam]

John did you tell them you do not want Lathe and Wire any more?

[foxsquirrel]

Yes. Unfortunately we're not allowed to discuss it but there are at least 2 items in there that I personally will gain huge benefits from.

Not exactly sure what's going on with foxsquirrel but X4-MU3 Mill Level 3 is rock solid here. Yeah, there are some things I'd like to change but no serious bugs are bothering me.

My problem is first release of X3, my maint. expired before the updates for X3 were released. I think that is a bunch of crap because Microsoft and others will at least let you update the version you paid for. I am in the playing stage with Visual Mill and they quoted $399 a year for maint and upgrades!!! I think our MCAM rep quoted $2500 + (its been a while so that might not be correct) to get back on maint. but that would before they release another version.

[foxsquirrel]

Well maybe it was just my VAR trying to screw me then. This is right from the quote I was sent we I asked to continue on maintanance with mill but not lathe and wire.

MC-SIM-FEE Debundling Wire from SIM# 7###8 $1,850.00 1 $1,850.00
MC-SIM-FEE Debundling Lathe from SIM# 7###8 $1,850.00 1 $1,850.00
Debundling SIM# 7###8
MC-MR-ML1 Expired Mastercam Maintenance Mill L1 $1,065.00 1 $1,065.00

This to me adds up to charging me for not using all of the software.

John

Based upon the quote and you only need level 1 you can buy Brand X's entry level for around $999 and it would be the latest and greatest. The cost to upgrade is almost 1/2 of a new 3/4 axis package so it does not make sense for us to continue with their non sense. If you want to scrape the bottom of the CAM vendor market I believe BobCad is even less

[Matt Berube]

My problem is first release of X3, my maint. expired before the updates for X3 were released. I think that is a bunch of crap because Microsoft and others will at least let you update the version you paid for. I am in the playing stage with Visual Mill and they quoted $399 a year for maint and upgrades!!! I think our MCAM rep quoted $2500 + (its been a while so that might not be correct) to get back on maint. but that would before they release another version.

I agree that the situation you're stuck in should be handled better by CNC Software. Unfortunately I don't think you're going to see it happen.

If I was in your situation I'd just use the last MU from the X2 version instead of fighting with X3. I think the last X2-MU? was pretty stable, right ?

[TheBigJW]

I agree that the situation you're stuck in should be handled better by CNC Software. Unfortunately I don't think you're going to see it happen.

That is the most frustrating part in dealing with this company. They make you hate the product after long enough. I think they count on most people working for a company that doesn't see the gouging that takes place.

John

[TheBigJW]

If I was in your situation I'd just use the last MU from the X2 version instead of fighting with X3. I think the last X2-MU? was pretty stable, right ?

That is exactly what they count on. That seems to be the maintenance stradegy. The software is never really stable but let's put X92 out with 50.00 worth of upgrades for the poor people who can only afford Mill level 1 and charge 1800.00 for the lastest translators. Mean while how long after SW comes out with a new version do you have to wait for the translators. Half way through you yearly maintenance.

Well I feel a little better now.

Rant.......

John

[Matt Berube]

Glad you feel better now. I don't see it quite the same way as you do.

There is a large number of really smart dedicated people over at CNC Software who are producing the best quality product that they can. I can assure you there is no conspiracy to keep the software buggy to keep maintenance contracts going. The way I can prove this is by pointing out that by the last MU each year the software is usually working damn near perfectly.

It would be nice if they were able to fix all known bugs for free regardless of maintenance status but for whatever reason this is not the case.

There are a lot more than $50 worth of upgrades coming along in the next release and this has been the case every year that I can recall. I am confident that the new features introduced in X5 will make it worthwhile for us to continue maintenance. Consider that along with the other obvious benefits of staying current and I would say that we can't afford to not be on maintenance. It's a cost of doing business and it has benefits that pay for themselves. If MC is too expensive then perhaps you would be better served by a less expensive software but in my business we need every advantage we can get and for now Mastercam is the best answer for us.

[foxsquirrel]

[QUOTE= The way I can prove this is by pointing out that by the last MU each year the software is usually working damn near perfectly.[/QUOTE]

Matt, you wrote it but don't see the problem. Think hard about your statement.

[Matt Berube]

I understand what I typed. If they were trying to keep maintenance subscriptions up by ignoring bugs they'd NEVER release a version with less bugs.

If you don't like the way they're doing it you should definitely find something better. Good luck with that. :cheers:

Run the last MU of X2 or pry open your wallet and get something better.

Another suggestion would be to make your case to your reseller and ultimately to CNC Software about how you feel that you're entitled to an X3 release but you find your current limitation un-usable because of the date your hasp expired. Perhaps if you make a good argument they'll change your expiration date to allow you usage of the last X3 MU...

CNC Software often catches a lot of heat because of sticky maintenance issues like this but in general I've found them to be a reasonable company to deal with and they really do want to have happy customers.

If your reseller doesn't want to help with this I'd contact CNC Software directly using this address. [email protected]

I'd be really surprised if you presented a calm honest argument and they didn't bend over backwards to try and help.

[foxsquirrel]

I understand what I typed. If they were trying to keep maintenance subscriptions up by ignoring bugs they'd NEVER release a version with less bugs.

If you don't like the way they're doing it you should definitely find something better. Good luck with that. :cheers:

Run the last MU of X2 or pry open your wallet and get something better.

Another suggestion would be to make your case to your reseller and ultimately to CNC Software about how you feel that you're entitled to an X3 release but you find your current limitation un-usable because of the date your hasp expired. Perhaps if you make a good argument they'll change your expiration date to allow you usage of the last X3 MU...

CNC Software often catches a lot of heat because of sticky maintenance issues like this but in general I've found them to be a reasonable company to deal with and they really do want to have happy customers.

If your reseller doesn't want to help with this I'd contact CNC Software directly using this address. [email protected]

I'd be really surprised if you presented a calm honest argument and they didn't bend over backwards to try and help.

I did do that already, I made the mistake of buying level 2 instead of 3 and it became an issue after maint. expired and X4 was current ver. They did upgrade X3 to Level 3 but would not do any of the X3 Maint for the year. Poor decision on my part because the $3500 should have been spent on something else.

As for looking for other software I am doing that right now, its hard to toss out $17,000 in software but its to the point its costing us more money in lost parts and time than what it is worth. I can say with 100% confidence we are not going to purchase Mcam again or recommend it to any one that asks.

Buying the maint. is not a cost issue, we have Solidworks premium with the simulation and buy the maint. for it. Why, THEIR SOFTWARE WORKS WITHOUT QUIRKS AND NEED TO RESTART,ETC. I have no problem buying maint. if I am 100% satisfied with the product.

I did find the Solidworks plug-in method to be a much smother way to go for our in house design. Importing has been an issue but I cannot cry about that since it is nearly impossible to get everyone's format, just make sure the mainstream ones work correctly. For example X2 and X3 will not directly import Soliworks 2010 files, that just made X2 and X3 obsolete unless you buy maint. You can use the X_B import to get it in but that omits all the details.

[TheBigJW]

I paid $40.00, that's right, $40.00 for Mastercam X4mu3, works great!!
Solid works 2010 premium was a little more, $50.00
China wins WW3

And then on top of all the problems I have with CNC software there is this. I always feel like I am one of the few people who pay for this software.

John