Extremely Disappointing... Better options out there.

[Gun-Machine]

I regret paying for Alibre.

The CAD is fine, I actually found it very easy to use.
However, I purchased it simply because it was the only affordable integrated CAD/CAM.

The CAM on the Expert version is completely useless. And you can't complete any of the tutorial (except for the very first lesson which is very basic) without having the options offered in the CAM upgrade It's very misleading when they say "Yeah it has a tutorial that will teach you everything you need to know about it"... it taught me everything I needed to know alright... it taught me that Alibre CAM is totally useless I've been teaching the few features the CAM has to myself through experimentation, but it constantly crashes while running the CAM, making it EXTREMELY frustrating.

My PC is a very solid machine and never crashes... and I get System errors randomly when running Alibre. My computer is very capable and it's not my PC.
I am totally pissed off with Alibre, They were like my best friend until I purchased the Software. Now they never return my emails or phone calls.

Do yourself a favor, and don't give them your money. There are better options out there.

[scudzuki]

Agreed, the stripped down version of CAM (Express?) included with AD Expert is nearly useless.
It is not, however, inherently unstable.
Update your video drivers. If your video card GPU is made by ATI, good luck. Alibre is not the only MCAD software out there that suffers from instability on ATI graphics cards.
There is a patch for .net framework that improved stability on an ATI graphics-equipped laptop that I sometimes use but it still crashes occasionally trying to generate MOPS.
The standard versions of Alibre Design and CAM are pretty tough to beat feature-for-dollar wise, but the FREE CAM included with CAD Expert has too few MOPS enabled to make it a viable alternative for other than casual use.

Joe

[Gun-Machine]

I do like how easy the CAD is... but it's totally useless to me without a CAM integrated into it so I can export G-code into my machine.

If I wanted to manually program my machine, I could have just drawn up my designs in visio ... or by hand

Now I basically have an Over priced drawing program.

[blowlamp]

If you need a CAM program at a price that wont break the bank, you could always give CamBam a try.
I use it along with ViaCAD for my drawing, but quite a few people on the CamBam forum use Alibre with great success.
Actually, someone has written a piece of code that bridges Alibre to CamBam, which has the effect of updating the file in CAM when changed in CAD.
Link here CamBam Addon to Alibre Design

Martin.

[Caprirs]

I have Design Pro. For the price, Alibre is hard to beat for CAD especially for 3D. However, I have not purchased anything CAM related from them because the CAM demo has left me unimpressed. To be blunt, the CAM package is less useful and less powerful than the 15 year old Gibbs I currently use. Even integrated, the basic and everyday process of a simple task like spot drilling, drilling, and tapping a few holes is not efficient. The only appealing feature is 3D surfacing but the rest is so clumsy, I cannot bring myself to buy the CAM module.

Ideally, Alibre would be able to work with some of the same CAM packages that work with Solidworks. But I'm just daydreaming.

[tobyaxis]

I do like how easy the CAD is... but it's totally useless to me without a CAM integrated into it so I can export G-code into my machine.

If I wanted to manually program my machine, I could have just drawn up my designs in visio ... or by hand

Now I basically have an Over priced drawing program.

LOL, then get a quote from Mastercam.

BTW: Alibre doesn't make the CAM end of the Software, its MecSoft (Visual Mill). It's integrated with Alibre Design. So there is the possibility of a Bug in MecSoft, Alibre, or the Integration of both.

I would do as suggested above and update Drivers and if possible replace the ATI Card with an Nvidia Quadro FX.

The Nvida Quadro FX1700M in my Dell Precision is very solid.

Contact Alibre Design Tech Support rather than wasting time complaining.

[Gun-Machine]

LOL, then get a quote from Mastercam.

BTW: Alibre doesn't make the CAM end of the Software, its MecSoft (Visual Mill). It's integrated with Alibre Design. So there is the possibility of a Bug in MecSoft, Alibre, or the Integration of both.

I would do as suggested above and update Drivers and if possible replace the ATI Card with an Nvidia Quadro FX.

The Nvida Quadro FX1700M in my Dell Precision is very solid.

Contact Alibre Design Tech Support rather than wasting time complaining.

I have a Nvidia 9600GT that is plenty capable of running Alibre. My PC is not quite 2 years old, but is pretty solid. I built it and it's got it where it counts.
I might try updating the drivers, but I just recently installed the software via direct down load from their site, right after purchase. You'd think they would have it come with the latest drivers, if that were the case.

Then again, I haven't been having the instability issues with Alibre as of recently. Haven't changed anything... but it's been doing fine the past few days, even with multiple windows open and changing dimensions on multiple parts. We'll see.

[MichaelHenry]

Toby may have been suggesting that your video card drivers be upgraded. Neither the Alibre nor the Mecsoft programs would supply video drivers - it's up to the video card manufacturer to do that.

Mike

[scudzuki]

32 bit drivers for XP
NVIDIA DRIVERS 260.99 WHQL
32 bit for Win 7 and vista
NVIDIA DRIVERS 260.99 WHQL
64 bit Win 7 and vista
NVIDIA DRIVERS 260.99 WHQL

Joe

[Tweeker]

Toby may have been suggesting that your video card drivers be upgraded. Neither the Alibre nor the Mecsoft programs would supply video drivers - it's up to the video card manufacturer to do that.

Mike

Its true, updated video drivers may make all the difference in the world assuming you have a half decent video card to begin with. Dont bother with the cd you have, always download the latest from the net.