Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
(OP)
I don't need Civil3D, nor do I want to pay 6 grand for it, but the intellicad knockoff I'm using right now (ProgeCAD) is so buggy I'm wary to keep working in it.
What are my other options? All I really need for the time being is the ability to draft civil plans with elevated contours.
I occasionally see Civil3d show up on Ebay with copies that have been "registered" and can't be "reregistered" but can still be installed. Do I need to stay away from those? Is regular old AutoCAD not an option to buy anymore? Is there a more solid/stable/lessbuggy intellicad supplier out there?
Thanks in advance.
What are my other options? All I really need for the time being is the ability to draft civil plans with elevated contours.
I occasionally see Civil3d show up on Ebay with copies that have been "registered" and can't be "reregistered" but can still be installed. Do I need to stay away from those? Is regular old AutoCAD not an option to buy anymore? Is there a more solid/stable/lessbuggy intellicad supplier out there?
Thanks in advance.
Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East - http://www.campbellcivil.com





RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
Never heard of BrisCAD until now. If it's an intellicad interface without any bugs, that'd be perfect. I'm happy with ProgeCAD right now, except it's buggy. Forgets what paper I've got my layout tied to. Viewports forget their orientation sometimes. Xrefs display as if they have the wrong insertion point. Etc. Bugs.
If I could just farging buy a copy of AutoCAD R14 I'd love to use that, but of course AutoDesk won't let you buy old licenses off other folks. What a racket.
This is why people turn to bit torrent.
Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East - http://www.campbellcivil.com
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
I looked at Carlson Civil before. Is it's intellicad front end buggy or not?
Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East - http://www.campbellcivil.com
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
It is half the price of AutoCAD LT, and has nearly all the features of Autocad 10, including autoLISP, VBA, COM, and a couple of other programming environments.
I've used it to load a complex several meg 3D drawing have made changes to the drawing and opened the file at the office using proper AutoCAD. I've not had a problem with compatibility and it exports in a dozen versions of AutoCAD, from version 10 down...
I would recommend it as an AutoCAD workalike.
It also comes in Platinum edition which contains Parametric modelling; I just recently updated. I've very pleased with the product.
Dik
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
You can purchase add-ons that are more expensive than the original program that does roads, pipes, etc.
It also has a Linux variant that is nearly as robust as the windows version.
Dik
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East - http://www.campbellcivil.com
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
Dik
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
I have used DoubleCAD XT for several years as an Autocad LT look-alike. And it's FREE! it is available from IMSI/Design, the people who make Turbocad. They have two versions, the PRO version is $695 but this XT version lacks some of its features but it is FREE after all. Just search on the Internet for DoubleCad and go to the website to read about it or to download it.
If you are accustomed to using the Autocad type of commands this will be different but then ANY cad system would have the same difference. It reads and writes .dwg files and is capable of doing virtually any 2D projects. My work is mostly mechanical for companies who still use the paper drawing on the shop floor.
I don't use those old-fashioned typed commands, haven't for many years, I prefer the icons. Much faster. Once when I worked at a company that used AutoCAD for DOS (version 10 or 12) the other people couldn't understand why I could complete a project faster than any of them. One guy said that he watched me and I wasn't typing fast or hardly at all. I told them that I was using the programmable tablet instead of typing and even though they each had one they refused to learn it. They felt their old-fashioned typing method made them "feel" they were going faster. Oh well...
Also, any attempt to capture speed of keystrokes doesn't work with icons. In my ACAD 2008 I have many of the icons customized. I don't type more than three or four commands ever.
Anyway, (as he steps down from his private soapbox) you might want to look into DoubleCad. Did I mention that it's FREE?
Frank Reid
Reid Engineering Services.
Frank Reid
Reid Engineering Services of Utah
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You'll never know what you are worth until you learn to say NO.
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East - http://www.campbellcivil.com
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
You may want to confirm the licensing issue in the US... I don't know if the Canadian dealer is different... but, from my eMail, I have it legally installed on 3 computers... 2 desktops at home and my laptop... as long as only one person is using it at a time, they don't seem to mind... one of the reasons I purchased it... no logging in to register... just a keycode.
Dik
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
Dik
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate
Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East - http://www.campbellcivil.com
RE: Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate