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Looking for an affordable AutoCAD alternate 2

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beej67

beej67

Civil/Environmental
May 13, 2009
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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.


Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East -
 
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Have you considered BrisCAD with a CE addon? I've never used it so I can't say how well it works. I just started looking into it for controls drawings.
 
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Drafsight says it's 2D. If I just needed 2D I could use AutoCAD LT.

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 -
 
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You could do AutoCAD Civil. (Or did they discontinue it?) AutoCAD Map 3D might suit your needs and it looks like CAiCE is still available. There's also Carlson Civil or Terramodel. ... and if you wanted to go Bentley, they have PowerCivil that's supposedly their entry-level (integrated into MicroStation) product.
 
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I think in terms of AutoCAD commands when I enter a drafting environment, and I'm too old to relearn that, so Terramodel or Microstation really aren't in my wheelhouse.

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 -
 
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I've used Bricscad for 6 or 8 months now and have had no problems with it. It has hung twice in that time, but exited well and my drawings were not lost. I've had AutoCAD LT hang more often and have lost work.

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
 
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Forgot to add that I talked to them prior to purchase and it's OK to load it on my computers at home as well as my laptop. As long as it's not being used by more than one person, it can be loaded on several machines. There is a key code that extends the trial version... you buy it... and then the same key code works on each machine it is installed on. You do not have to register it to a specific machine. Try the trial version... I'm pretty sure you will like it. It can be greatly configured and I've set mine up for my old AutoCAD LT 'desktop'. I've also set up three 'profiles' one for 2D, one for 3D and one for parametric.

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
 
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Try the trial version for a month... I used the trial version for about a week before I purchased the program. I think the only thing missing is the VBA stuff, because Bricsys has to pay Bill Gates a royalty for including it... other than that, I don't think it's crippled... plots to my DoroPDF 'printer, my Laserjet 5, my Epson 11x17, my Samsung colour laser, and by DesignJet 350C, without a hitch...

Dik
 
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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
-
You'll never know what you are worth until you learn to say NO.
 
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Nah, I'm sold on Bricscad. It's clean, fast, slick, and does everything AutoCAD does in terms of a basic drafting package, including 3d and layouts, and I've had no problems with it. They'll be earning my money soon.

Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East -
 
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Glad you like it... My AutoCAD LT 'broke' when trying to install it on my Laptop with Win7...

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
 
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