please consider using EDS' Solid Edge newsgroups

[kpalexan]

All,

I've been reading through many of the posts and replies here. There seems to be something "lacking" from many of the replies, ranging from inaccurate answers to no answers.

I'd really like to suggest everyone with a current Solid Edge maintenance contract try using the EDS newsgroups dedicated to Solid Edge. The users there are everday SE designers, engineers and support folks who can provide expertise and real answers to your questions. On ocassion, an EDS Solid Edge employee will even respond to you or post a request for user input.

Look here for instructions.

http://support.ugs.com/html/conferencing.html

You can use either a standard news reader or a Web browser. You will need a WebKey for authentication to access these newsgroups. Your system administrator or the person who purchased the software for your company should have the required information.

Regards,

Kevin

 

[Edgeomatic]

Very Well Put!

I heartily Agree, While I don't want to belittle the usefulness of this discussion group, The Solid Edge Newsgroups Hosted by EDS are an invaluable resource to any SE user, and probably the main reason that this discussion group is not that active, which may give the impression that not that many people are using Solid Edge. on the contrary you will be surprised by the amount of traffic on the EDS newsgroups compared to this one.

My .02¢

 

[swertel]

That is very true, but it is also why we should advertise this site to the newsgroup. There are a lot of people out there that don't have maintanence agreements and are still a valuable source of information. Having a public area for discussion rather than the private newsgroups is an excellent resource.

Besides, many SE users are dissappointed with the amount of marketing that EDS does with the SE products. Having more traffic flow here will show other CAD users that SE is still a contender.

 

[jwillison]

and what if you don't have a "maintenance contract"? EDS really leaves you high and dry in that case (but they're not alone in this era of "revenue stream" blackmail)

I'm sure there are many small co's like ours that cannot justify the continuing expense of the maintenance contract with its attendant costs of constant upgrades and hardware expenses (especially after 9/11 last year). We use V11 and it really added no major improvements for us over V10.

 

[NWJim]

I am in the same situation. I lost my job too. I was a Toolmaker for 28 years the last 8 of which were using CAD. First EMS, then Solid Edge. I frequented the SE forum daily and contributed a ton of information that was directly used in the early days for the improvements to come. Without a maintenance contract, I cannot even view those forums anymore. I haven't run machines in so long the only thing I know how to do is CAD. I want to start my own business, but being left High and Dry by my previous employer makes it difficult to afford the software, let alone the maintenance contract. The main reason EDS doesn't allow an open forum is because the competitors could peek in an get a glimpse of whats going on, (bitches and complaints) and use that against them. I would definitely like to see this forum succeed. It is needed for those of use that don't want to spend $2500+ per year for advice and a few upgrades. Keep up the good work.

 

[swertel]

EDS also keeps their newsgroups private to avoid spam and flames. It's a comformtable feeling going online into a semi-private area and not have to worry about who's lurking in the background, collecting information. That's why I like eng-tips so much. Their anti-spam/privacy/advertising policy is great.

 

[jijoh]

I have been using Solid Edge since its inception and was working for Intergraph with EMS as a Mechanical Application Engineer from the time it was called "MD". This is probably the best design and engineering tool on the market today in most any price catagory. Unfortunatley the same people who just about killed EMS, from a marketing standpoint, are still at the helm with the same attitude ..."if you build ot they will buy it". Not so if they dont know about it or are given nothing but negative non-truth from the competition (Pro/E and SolidWorks standard mode of operation). I love this product and will promote it as the defining CAD design tool today for any business model, and convert any companies as I can along the way (esspecially those darn Pro/E "operators&quot. The story just gets beter as time goes by. Unigraphics just needs to do a better job telling the story.

Jim Johnson

jijoh@hotmail.com

 

[cprest]

Jim,
Go to a college or university that uses SE and take a course that will allow you to get the help you want. Great for networking too. Remember, life long learning.Good Luck with your business venture.

 

[NWJim]

Thanks for the advice cprest, problem is I know more about SE than anyone teaching the courses around here. Actually, I trained the guy that is teaching the course at the local college. Not to toot my own horn but I was the most knowlegeable SE user in the entire shipyard that I worked at with over 140 seats. I was the go-to guy for everyone I worked with. I had nobody to ask for help except the SE users group. There is a tremendous wealth of information in that group. I really miss it. I'll get by just fine until I can afford the maintenance contract again. This board will help alot. I hope!!

Thanks,
Jim

 

[meganine]

High and dry is right. We've been using SE since version 5. Last year, my company hit a really bad dry spell and we had to cut back to the bare necessities. Maintenance was not one of them.

By reading this forum and others, I know that there are at least 6 or 7 patches for V11. When I called EDS Help Desk to see if I could download the latest patches, they quoted the maintenance clause and told me to buy into the latest version.

They would rather let me use a version of software that they know to contain bugs, than to help me out. These are not minor bugs, either. I remember that one of the things the first patch did was to fix the fact that SketchPoint didn't work.

From what it sounds like, I'm not the only one.

One last point. We all paid for the software initially and probably followed that with a few years of maintenance. I had a Webkey, and I used it quite a bit. What's the harm in allowing the 'expired' users access to the forum. We have the insight that probably will help many other users. The only thing that changed is that we couldn't afford to keep paying maintenance.

I'm all for making this forum work.

Thanks,
Chris