I am thinking of buying FeatureCam I have heard some good things about the software and the demo looks slick.

One thing that botters me is the pricing. The web site does not list the prices this makes me feel like the price is X where X is what the salesman and you end up with.

In the interest of finding the best street price before I call the slick salesman would any of you forum members be willing to let me know what you paid for the software?

You can post here or send me a private email via mark@gatorbackskate.com.

-Mark

Mark, it is about 4000.00 for a basic setup. To me there is none better! I have run master cam, Vector, Bobcad and surfcam I will trade them all for feature cam! I have been running feature cam for about 8 years now and it just keeps getting better. I as of this year will be teaching Feature cam too...

Hope that helps you out
Brian

Hello Mark, I have to stand by Barker806's comments too. I have tried other software, (mastercam, surfcam, ) and I believe Feature is not only the easiest to use, but you have more control over what you do. Let me rephrase the "easy to use" part. It is very fast and easy once you get used to it, there are a lot of little things, such as custom settings that took me a while to dial in, along with the post. One thing I learned, there is always a solution to every problem, you just have to have a little patience until you get comfortable with it. Once everything is dialed in, g-code creation becomes the simplest part of your job.
I bought Feature Cam in 1999. I bought the lathe and 2 1/2 axis mill program. The total came out to 7 g's, but they had a special going, if you currently have software and are using it, Feature cam gave me 50% off to switch. It was a no brainer.

Well We started out at $16,000 for our set up for 2006CAM in June05, Turn, TURN/MILL, Mill3D, Mill2.5, and FeatureReconize, pluss 4 classes and a year suscription service. this is set up on a Dongel for the computer to run it. in the last month We have upgraded to Machine Sim and Network Tool CRIB for $575.00 pluss added another day of school (price not know)

also DellCAM the owners of Feature CAM has had to give us Tempery a NETWORK Dongle (cost $3,500) due to the fact that their security program from safenet does not work on 64bit computer system, even tho I was told it did when we purchase the program, With out a dought I guess they forgot to test it. and have been using me for their test rat, due to no one wants to buy a 64bit computer to test it out so im about to tell them to give us our money back.

other than that its a great program, but time will tell if they back up their program or just another CAM Co. Ill let everyone know which way this goes.

I hear a lot about OneCNC. How does it compare to FeatureCam?

I am also looking to upgrade. Is there anyone that could give an honest comparison between One CNC and Feature Cam? I have heard that the support for Feature Cam is expensive.

I am also looking to upgrade. Is there anyone that could give an honest comparison between One CNC and Feature Cam? I have heard that the support for Feature Cam is expensive.

Just got an estimate and the costs are pretty steep for Featurecam. However it is a very nice program compared to what I see on OneCNC.

For 1 copy (dongle) including 3D and feature recognition the software is around $10,000 with a discount based on what you upgrade from. $1000 for Bobcad and 25% for some of the major companies. Next they want $1500 per year maintenance fee (includes support and version upgrades).

Since my post I have purchased One CNC Profesional. We have Feature Cam where I work but I never realy used it much. I was previously a BobCad user. From what I can tell Feature Cam is more powerfull than One CNC and is much more automated. Perhaps too much for me. It will automaticaly choose the tools needed for the job and has feature recognition for slots and pockets etc. I am on a limited budget in my small shop and a real drawback was the $1500 a year for support. One CNC is free and BobCad is $250.

I am very satisfied with OneCNC, there is no comparison between it and BobCad The simulation and the Cam side is great , but it costs considerably more. There are a few things like engraving and simple 2d drawing that I still would rather do in BobCad. I am not a BobCad basher as some people on this Forum are. I used BobCad for three years and got by. It is a good software for the money.

When you get ready to step up I would recomend OneCNC. I have been very satisfied so far. They recently released an extensive update to the last version for free. In another company they would have called it a new Version and would have charged you .

They will also give you a break on the price if you are presently using another software.

Pete

Anything I say about FeatureCam may sound like a sales pitch so I will be careful. If you have a current CAM license they will give you a big discount. Unless you are doing surface milling, 2.5D will meet all you milling needs. With the competitive upgrade 2.5 will be about $2500.00 and maintenance around $375.00. You will get full support and free posts no matter how many you need. I have used several CAM packages including MC and have found FC the best over all.

Gary :D

Gncc50,
If you don't mind, how much did your OneCnc Pro version cost?
Thanks.