VX CAD/CAM Software

[MachineSMM]

Just seeing if anyone has heard of this. If so tell me what you think.

Web Site

Thanks

[cncman]

I never heard of it, now I'd like to know what it is.

[hardmill]

I actually stopped at their booth at Westec, gave them
a flyer and was invited to become a rep.
Pretty impressive software.

[HuFlungDung]

Hardmill, all the higher priced softwares seem to be impressive to one degree or the other, don't they?

What I'd like to know is what any of these software companies are doing to promote their products exclusive functions or approach? Do they even bother to research what the other companies have already presented to the market? Are they "reinventing the wheel" and then turning about, and without researching, claiming that their software can do "x" better than anyone else?

To me, there's entirely too much hype in the whole CADCAM scene, hype and status about the brand name of the software, and I have no idea how the small business person can take the time to research them all, which means putting them to the test for a month each, before making a choice.

What advice would you give about this?

[Zephrant]

I find it highly unlikely that they don't know their competition very well, and are pretty quick to implement features that the competition is using against them.

Any company that is not watching their competition is well on their way to becoming obsolete.

To answer your question, there is not much more that you can do. Research of course, looking for first hand accounts if possible.

Unless you are doing obscure things, there is a good chance that most/all of the packages will work for you. Their approach to each task is likely to be different though.

A first hand eval of the most likely candidates is probably your best approach.

Zeph

[hardmill]

Your absolutely right hungdung they all claim to do
this and that better than the other guys. When all
it is when you stand back and look at it is, like cars,
different manufacturer but same result. They get you
from pt.a to pt.b. As far as the small business the
bottom line is you get what you pay for. When I start
my business, which is within a couple months, I'll
go with Mastercam. Why? For me its cost effective
because i already know it like the back of my hand and
it can get the job done right. No learning curve means
the job gets done and out the door faster. $$$.$$
VX does have alot of nice features (but so does MC)
We just have to pick one and stay with it.
PEACE!!

[freddie]

Mastercam Rules!

[lstool]

HardMill,
I know what you mean about learning curve. If you are in business for yourself that learning curve can be extreamly costly but can also be a detramental investment to survival, if already have expierience with a paticular type of software than you are way ahead of the game and on your way. As for people researching their options remember you have to strongly concider what your intentions are with a Cad/Cam package you are concidering to purchase don't get caught up with comparing all the bells and whistles like I did, the hardest thing to do when in the evaluation process is to be realistic and take a look at what you are currently doing and what your plans are and why you are concidering to purchase this type of software because if you are not carefull you may end up paying good money or wasting alot of valuable time evaluating something with features you may never use. I also have a full functioning version of MasterCam which I am little by little trying to spend time to learn but dont because I have went through the learning of PowerStation and have become extreemly efficiant on it is a great all around package for the money that I dont believe gets the credit it deserves. PowerStation offers a series of "tools" which can help the small shop when simple 3D work arrives at the door which I have used and is easy to use.
If you are doing 3D work while the 3D world is a big one, it encompasses virtually any shape that can possibly be defined. Providing software that can create virtually any 3D shape is not a trivial task. There are many fine 3D dimensional CAM products on the market, and certainly if your needs are in the realm of complex molds then you should consider investing the $10,000 plus prices that they command.
Just a thaught.
The following is a solid view of the varification software within PowerStation.

[Quantum]

Originally Posted by HuFlungDung Hardmill, all the higher priced softwares seem to be impressive to one degree or the other, don't they? What I'd like to know is what any of these software companies are doing to promote their products exclusive functions or approach? Do they even bother to research what the other companies have already presented to the market? Are they "reinventing the wheel" and then turning about, and without researching, claiming that their software can do "x" better than anyone else? To me, there's entirely too much hype in the whole CADCAM scene, hype and status about the brand name of the software, and I have no idea how the small business person can take the time to research them all, which means putting them to the test for a month each, before making a choice. What advice would you give about this?

Hi, I work for a PCB software company. I can tell you first hand that they do check out their competitors. They software we sell is called Cadstar. The main thing that makes Cadstar different to all the other software vendors is that it offers Trunk routing. This means that when you are routing a large number of connections you can do it in one go. The auto router will re order your connections in any order you need. This saves a lot of time.