[cncadmin]

I came across this software https://www.alibre.com/products/ the demo looks really good, like solidwork and MD. Is anyone using it, what do you think of it?

[Cammotion]

I D/L'd it, and it looks pretty good so far, although I haven't had much time with it yet. I understand the online support is pretty good, and you can get live tutorials, I believe. It appears to have a lot capability for the price.

Bill

[cncadmin]

For the money it looks like a great program, did you see all the examples of what people have designed with it https://www.alibre.com/products/gall...ll-cabinet-iso , I like the fact that it does BOM's just like Mechanical Desktop all for under 800.00.

[Cammotion]

Pretty impressive stuff alright. I especially like the 5 cylinder radial engine! I may end up buying at least the CAD package down the road. They also have a CAM package to go with it for less than $1800 total, CAD and CAM.

Bill

[WOLOG]

Paul,

I use Alibre Design. I really like it for the price. Maybe SW or iInventor may have more features, but at a significant price difference. I would say just buy Alibre design and not Pro. The other two packages have more add ins, but are limited in use. It is like a timed preview. If you want to keep Sprutcam, you have to pay an additional fee for the regular version. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them.

James

[WOLOG]

Oh yeah, support is $295.00/year! Support is great. Training CD's are great. They have a lot of online examples.

James

[cncadmin]

How mach is like Mecanical Desktop?

[ger21]

How mach is like Mecanical Desktop?

I think they phased it out in favor of Inventor, which is $5195.

[cncadmin]

I think they phased it out in favor of Inventor, which is $5195.

I'm aware of that, but I use MD5.0 and want to know what the similarities of the two programs.

[ger21]

I thought you wanted to know how much MD cost?

[cncadmin]

I thought you wanted to know how much MD cost?

I have the same problem sometimes of not reading what I typed and reading in between the lines- what I meant to said was "How much is it like Mechanical Desktop?"

[fyffe555]

I've just downloaded the demo and it seems pretty intuitive.. I noticed that the version comparison table has the pro version including visual mill 3 basic? is that right? If so $1200 might be a good buy for 3dCAD and Cam...

[cncadmin]

I agree with you, I love that it's parametric and has a BOM for that price.

[cncadmin]

wolog- How well does it perform in a windowsXP environment? How well does the snaps work, in MD you always had to zoom in real close to pick a point?
Are you using the mecsoft software as well?

[Dan B]

Mechanical Desktop has not been phased out. It has been combined with the Inventor Series. It is still a separate software with it's own installation. What has been phased out is development of MDT. There has not been a significant change for a while now, but there have been 3 new releases in the last year or so (MDT2004, MDT2004DX, and MDT2005) I queried Autodesk about this, and they stated that the changes are mainly compatability related with the latest Autocad and Inventor. There are no new features or enhancements expected, ever.

As for Alibre, I downloaded the demo a while ago, and was extremely impressed. Unfortunately, it does not support wireframe data (which we occasionally get from our customers) so it wouldn't work for us. We talked with Matt from Alibre, and he said it would be discussed at their next management meeting. If this capability is added sometime in the future, we would purchase a number of seats.

Based off of my limited exposure with the demo, and my knowledge of MDT, I would guess that Alibre could be a match for MDT in the modeling category. Having said that, I also have to state that MDT's Autocad base makes it a great hybrid modeler, not just a solid modeler.

I have been hoping to demo SolidEdge too, but it's like pulling teeth to get a demo CD, or a license code to activate the trial. I finally "qualified" for the CD, but my requests for an evaluation license code have gone unanswered. This puzzles me because we are already a UGS customer. I'm pretty much fed up with the whole idea of looking at SolidEdge at this point.

Dan

[cncadmin]

Looks like I will be purchasing Alibre Design Expert software, can't I will let you all know how it goes.

[WOLOG]

As i said before, watch out for the limited useage thing for the additional software. I believe that all of the add-ons are not good for the life of your 1 year ilicense. I am almost positive that you have a Limited Time to use the programs.
I did not buy Pro or Expert for that reason. If you want to keep the functionality of those other programs, you must pay an additional fee to get the regular license! I also bought Alibre when it was $500.00.

Paul, I do not use Visual Mlill. I have another program to program my Haas machines. As far as Alibre goes, I think it is a very good program. You should be more than happy with your purchase.

James

[WOLOG]

I forgot. i have no problems with XP Home or XP PRO. Just make sure your computer has the stuff to run demanding programs.

[cncadmin]

As i said before, watch out for the limited useage thing for the additional software. I believe that all of the add-ons are not good for the life of your 1 year ilicense. I am almost positive that you have a Limited Time to use the programs.
I did not buy Pro or Expert for that reason. If you want to keep the functionality of those other programs, you must pay an additional fee to get the regular license! I also bought Alibre when it was $500.00.

Paul, I do not use Visual Mlill. I have another program to program my Haas machines. As far as Alibre goes, I think it is a very good program. You should be more than happy with your purchase.

James

Wooh, I did see anything about that, I to look into that one.

[WOLOG]

I will see if I can find it in my information. i am not advising not to purchase Alibre. I just want you to know before you start throwing the computer when your "limited license" expires.