Anyone here ever use BobCAD?

The problem with 360 is I work in a gov't building and the only internet is through the secured gov't network so a cloud based answer won't work. They bought me a none expiring mastercam 7 which I use as needed but most of my needs are met by the Pro/hobby grade software on my laptop which I bring home every weekend to let them get happy. MeshCam Gwizard Calc and editor with drawing in emachine shop (waiting for the pro version to be available) also an old release of autocad. Every once in a while one of them will demand to connect and need to come hope with me. I see that aspect of 360 being problematic.

I don't want to get too reliant on mastercam as I can't see buying it when I retire in a couple years. I thought Bobcad would be a good fit for my needs but the Draconian support shakedown leaves me no desire to become more proficient with it. I see a gotcha looming over the horizon such as when I upgrade the laptop I'll have to buy support to get it activated on the new one etc.

Steve
 
I have not used 360 but I am told that there is a way to use it Offline. Might be worth a few google searches. I have heard good things about for hobby level use.
 
Boswell said:
I have not used 360 but I am told that there is a way to use it Offline. Might be worth a few google searches. I have heard good things about for hobby level use.
Click to expand...

You can use Fusion 360 offline. The caveat is you must connect to the internet at least once every two weeks. Autodesk says, "you can work offline up to a period of two weeks if needed. After this, Fusion 360 will need to sync back online so that you can stay on the latest version."

Tom S.
 
Hi all,
Thought i'd throw my $.02 on the table as well. I also have V25 of bobcad cam, and much like everyone here I agree that the CAM side of things is good for 99% of anything you'd want to do. I liked it enough that I went and bought a seat for the lathe as well. The CAD side is a joke, but I do all my work in solidworks anyways so that's not an issue for me. I don't really use the mill seat anymore as I have switched to CAMWorks, but I still use the lathe seat all the time. Mainly because I have the post working great with Mach3 and my post for camworks inverts all my arc for some reason and I've been too lazy to dig into it.

So all that said, anyone who pays $1000 can be justifiably angry. I bought V25 when it first came out for $300 and spent an additional $400 ( i think) for the lathe seat. I've also transferred my licence to different computers. It's a bit annoying to do as you have to call them up and have them reactivate the licence, but it is free to do.

with all THAT said, that was all before Fusion360 came out, haha. If I were starting all over again, I'd just use fusion. The moral of the story, for the price you can get it at bobCAM isn't a bad option for the start-up business or hobbiest...that is once you get off their call list, haha.
 
cs900 is right about the price. The SRP for BobCad is very high but they negotiate in a way few modern companies do. Have lots of patience and be ready to walk away from the deal they offer multiple times and my experience is the price will drop and drop until you are comfortable. I think they expect to get their real profits from annual maintenance. I did not purchase any maintenance so had only 30 or 60 days. Enough to be sure I had my post processor working correctly. Then after a couple of versions I "Let" them talk me into upgrading to v29. in 2 - 3 years I may do it again unless something better comes out. It takes some time to learn any complex software so your investment will be your knowledge of the tool and once you get real good at it, you will not want to use something else that you have to learn all over again.
 
Bobcad no way. If you have some AutoCad background either QCAD $50 or the 2D version of Draftsight free kind of...if you need 3D for 3D Printer like I do, AutoDesk makes Fusion 360, less hard to learn 123D or even easier TinkerCad. If you start with TinkerCad they all flow the same. I started with AutoCad in 1992 but never needed 3D until my first 3D Printer.
All the programs above from AutoCad are free if your just a hobby user.
 
wmgeorge said:
Bobcad no way. If you have some AutoCad background either QCAD $50 or the 2D version of Draftsight free kind of...if you need 3D for 3D Printer like I do, AutoDesk makes Fusion 360, less hard to learn 123D or even easier TinkerCad. If you start with TinkerCad they all flow the same. I started with AutoCad in 1992 but never needed 3D until my first 3D Printer.
All the programs above from AutoCad are free if your just a hobby user.
Click to expand...

I agree that almost anything is probably better than BobCad for the CAD work. I only use it for CAM and use AutoCad for the CAD.
 
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