Beware Of Bobcad/cam

swatson144

swatson144

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We had a much older version at work and I bought V28 (current version) on my own dime. 45 days later my "support" ran out. I started to ge notices that I would no longer get updates or bug fixes unless I paid for more "support". Seems to be a new thing with V28, So I talked with a gent who assured me that it was all disclosed in our agreement disclosure. I do not recall any one saying that unless I pony up 400$ a year they won't even fix the problems they make. So I'm likely off to talk to the CC people.

Just thought I'd mention it YMMV.

Steve
 
The most annoying thing about BobCad that I have found is that once you make an inquiry about it including your phone number they will dun you weekly or daily with phone calls. For an entire year.
 
I had that same problem Wreck. I finally got them to leave me alone when I told the "salesperson" "I would call HIM when I was ready. Till then DONT CALL ME!"

Sent from somewhere in East Texas Jake Parker
 
Spend some time getting acquainted with Autodesk Fusion 360.
 
I recently switched from Turbocad Pro 16 to Fusion 360. Fusion is so much better. Also, I had a problem with my regular computer that required me to install Turbocad on another computer I had for temporary use. It said my activation code had expired and that I needed a new one. That went off without a hitch, but once I had the new code, I could no longer open any of my old files in Turbocads proprietry format. I called them and got the runaround, so I assume that is was done to screw with people so that they would update to a newer version (16 is about 5 or 6 versions old now). Luckily I found that out that way I did and saved all my complete files as .dxf after I got my main computer going. As the Tom Petty song goes "All the boys upstairs want to see, How much you'll pay for what you used to get for free".
 
Yeah, old DRM was to treat you like a criminal
New DRM is just subscription based, so you milk your regular user base constantly forever, it requires less support and makes more money.
 
cjtoombs said:
I recently switched from Turbocad Pro 16 to Fusion 360. Fusion is so much better. Also, I had a problem with my regular computer that required me to install Turbocad on another computer I had for temporary use. It said my activation code had expired and that I needed a new one. That went off without a hitch, but once I had the new code, I could no longer open any of my old files in Turbocads proprietry format. I called them and got the runaround, so I assume that is was done to screw with people so that they would update to a newer version (16 is about 5 or 6 versions old now). Luckily I found that out that way I did and saved all my complete files as .dxf after I got my main computer going. As the Tom Petty song goes "All the boys upstairs want to see, How much you'll pay for what you used to get for free".
Click to expand...
Free Software exists. http://www.freecadweb.org/ (among others)
 
Check out Designspark Mechanical. A lot like Fusion 360, but without the CAM part. It's free, and not
hobbled with with ridiculous on-line dependency like Fusion is. It is a very nice CAD program, IMHO the best of the free stuff.

http://www.rs-online.com/designspark/electronics/eng/page/mechanical

If you want to go with Fusion 360, you can set Fusion 360 off-line and it will operate up to two weeks before it has to go on-line to contact it's activation servers (even though it's free for enthusiasts). At that time it will automagically abscond with your designs and upload them to Adobe, however you can get around this fiasco by deleting some of the Fusion directory structure on your computer before switching it to go on-line.

It's funny; if you check around on-line about why Fusion 360's is hamstrung by on-line operation dependency, it seems the Fusion folks are completely flummoxed and left scratching their heads as to why the question of off-line operation is even considered. It is as though the idea of off-line anything is totally befuddling and unimaginable.

Fusion 360 is a great free app and may well be the best option and well worth working around the annoyance of it uploading your stuff to Adobe if you are like me and don't appreciate that "feature". Then again, if your shop does not have internet access it could be a problem every two weeks.
 
Thanks all, work is on a tightly controlled internet. I am allowed to bring my laptop in and have even placed a big monitor on my desk for working the cad/cam with permission, but plugging in to the network is not possible. I bring it in and update at home. I use a smattering of software to get work done. MasterCAM (permanent license) is provided by work as is autocad. I just find them cumbersome for some of the things we do. Mostly simple 2D with occasionally 2.5D. So Emachine shop to SLI into meshcam (my license) to gcode. and run it.

I really don't want to get into mastercam as I never see being able to afford it on my license.

I bought a personal license to bodcad with turning addon. It doesn't suck very bad as far as software goes, and has some good points. IMO anything those people have to offer is over ridden by the V28 policy of NO UPDATES, NO BUG FIXES, unless you pay for support. It is extortion in my opinion. You do get a "generous" *FREE* 45 days of support. Then shuck out another 400$ on something that hasn't began to pay for itself, just in case there is an error in their software.

I'm not needing someone to hold my hand and teach me how to draw, but I do expect the basic functions of the software to be corrected for the life of the version, or I have no use for it and have wasted my money.
YMMV

Steve (who hopes to retire from the job in a few years and run his own little shop, which explains the serious attitude :) )
 
Grepper, I am usualy online at home when I'm using it. Learning a new CAD program can be very time consuming and Fusion was very easy to learn, so as long as I don't have any issues with my internet that last 2 weeks, I am good. My WIFI reaches the shop, but I do most of my design and CAM in the house and load it onto a USB stick to take it out. I could see the whole cloud thing being a non starter for any kind of design that you wanted to be secure, though.
 
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