Alternative to Alibre and Solidworks

[TomB]

I have used DesignCad 3D since it was introduced but found I wanted more capability. Especially the capability to draw something and then change the dimensions and have the drawing adjust. The work I do involves assemblies and I want/need to have 3D modeling capability.

I looked at Alibre and Solidworks and bought the professional version of Alibre because Solidworks was too expensive for me. I have now found Alibre will not run (see my other thread in the Alibre forum) and need to find an alternative. Before I go out and spend huge amounts for Solidworks I'd like to know if there is an effective home use alternative?

I appoligize if this question has been asked before and if so a pointer to and old thread would be an adequate response. I looked thru the more recent threads in this forum and saw two names so I will go check them out while I await any responses here.

Thanks in advance

Tom B

[tobyaxis]

Tom,

Gerry and I replied to your post in the Alibre section. In all honesty you might be better off upgrading to a better PC rather than buying more software.

What are your current Stats on the PC you have now if you don't mind me asking??

[TomB]

Thanks for the feedback. This thread seems like a deadend so it may not be worth responding as I’ve probably been forced into a plan. I’m not sure what you mean by stats on the current computer. I do application work and really just think of the PC as the computer that is supposed to work. But from the spec sheets it is:

Series X41 Model 1866
Processor: Intel Pentium M 758 / 1.5 GHz
Data bus speed: 400.0 MHz
L2 Cache: 2.0 MB
RAM: DDR2 SDRAM - 400.0 MHz, Maximum 1.5GB

The laptop is probably too slow for what I need but I think slowly so that is not a problem. I use the Tablet feature because I have normally taken notes in longhand on the screen. However, I retired from a 45 year professional career in October, so maybe in the future I will not need the small size and tablet features. After retiring I agreed to apply my skills to getting a Ski Mountain running effectively. To do that I have to design some safety feature for an old ski lift and so I need to make up drawings do a bit of stress analysis and have the state approve the plan. I’m up against time stops and that is making me quite tense.

Buying a new laptop is probably a good idea but it is $2500 and (1) shipping dates are about 3 weeks out and I need it now, (2) any new laptop will come with Microsoft System 7 and I’m not hearing that it is good, (3) I have ‘upgrade’ versions of Office Professional and if a new laptop does not include a suitable base version it won’t load, (4) other SW like Mathematica and Visual Studio C++ may not load with System 7, (5) PC warrantees are now limited to 1 year and over the years I’ve found that PCs fail after a 2 or 3 years, etc. It seems like I would get a new PC and have to spend weeks making it work and be subject to it being too expensive to repair before I figured out how to use it.

As for what SW I might buy, last evening I looked at Rhino, Inventor, ViaCAD, and OneCAD. Only Alibre, SolidWorks and Inventor seem to have parametric modeling. Rhino says they have it via Grasshopper, but that seemed to relate to mathematical visualization rather than drafting. Parametric modeling is an important requirement. Albre and Inventor say they need 2 GB min but Inventor seems to connect memory size to big assemblies with more than 1000 parts. That is not my kind of problem. SolidWorks says they can work with less RAM but recommend more. That leads me to think SolidWorks is the only viable parametric modeling CAD package. This morning I started doing my design using DesignCAD. Lacking parametric capability means I’ll draft like a sketch, then go out and climb the tower to measure everything, and finally redraft everything to scale. That’s extra work and it means climbing without fall protection as fall protection attachment points are one of the things I need to add.

Tom

[agapios]

SolidEdge!
is good! and worth 4000Euro

[Santa Fe Al]

Hi Tom,

Disclaimer first - I am in no way affiliated with the below named business. Nor do I have stock in the business.

Have you tried Tiger Direct @ tigerdirect.com ???

I use them every time I have a computer need and they've always come through. Anywhere from overnight to 4-5 days. On line or over phone ordering.

Also, add-ons are available. I can't see spending $2,000.00 plus for a laptop computer. The cheaper ones are just as good and can do everything the expensive ones can do, for the most part.

I'm a tight-wad and willingly admit it. Try them and see if they have a laptop you can use.

Just my opinion.

Al