SolidWorks 2008 shipment

[wbuhler]

SolidWorks has announced that "starting with SolidWorks 2008 the product will only be available on DVDs. No Cds will be available."

Now there is another move from this company that I do not understand at all... and this is coming from the SW fan that I am. Granted more and more people are using DVDs instead of CDs, that all new computers are now shipping with DVD players/writers. But there are still guys out there with no DVD players and not all companies upgrade their computer equipment every other year.
I personally have a DVD player, but my next-cubicle co-worker doesn't. I just don't understand the need for SolidWorks to force their service customers to upgrade all their equipment. Are they trying to p*ss off management and all IT guys?
If the goal is to save money, such a saving on a software that costs $1,200 or so per seat seems a little cheap to me...

If they are looking for ways to differentiate themselves from the competition, customer support would be one way besides software capabilities, wouldn't it? Why don't they offer their customer the choice b/w CD's and DVD?

W

 

[rltw]

IDE DVD drives can be found for around $40.- and USB DVD drives, which can be shared between workstations, are available for about $80.- or less.

I think it's a mute argument. UGS has done the same thing w/ Solid Edge. I think there's no reason whatsoever to still burn, package, and ship the three or so CDs necessary for a full distro - the costs p/ seat are probably equal to what would be spent just sending out a DVD drive with the DVD-only distro.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I am all in favour of going for the one DVD and think it is a great idea, financially and environmentally. It is easier to install from one DVD rather than have to insert multiple CDs and have to sit and wait for each CD to be inserted.

The change does not involve the customer "to upgrade all their equipment". All that is needed is a DVD player which can be found for less than $40.

 

[J-C]

Dvd-Rom drive.....about $20 including shipping.......or a Dvd burner for around $35

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2010100055+1037906794&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=55

Not having to do the 6 cd shuffle on install and service packs would probably pay for it alone. Hard not to justify.

Another altenative if you have several users is to install an "Administrative Image" on one of your servers and install your users from there....no CDs or DVDs required....except on the computer that installs the image to the server. You could even write a batch script to make it completely hands-off.....hell...your really even don't have to write it...there are examples on the Solidworks website you can easily modify.

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2006 SP5.1 on WinXP SP2
SolidWorks 2007 SP2.1 on WinXP SP2

 

[ctopher]

The way I see it, if you want to use the newest technology software, spend the money to keep up the hardware.

Chris
SolidWorks 06 5.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 10-27-06)

 

[StefanHamminga]

Personally I think they should use 4GB (or larger) USB Flash disks, one write only partition and one small deployment tools partition (so the user can store settings, drivers & hotfixes).


Stefan Hamminga
EngIT Solutions
CSWP/Mechanical designer

 

[smcadman]

IDE DVD drives can be found for around $40.- and USB DVD drives, which can be shared between workstations, are available for about $80.- or less.

Have you tried putting it on a USB? I have tried simply copying the contents of the DVD to the computer (to put on a USB) and it never finishes copying it. The install dvd always ejects before it finishes copying it. 2 others here tried it also, and they get the same problem. I get an error about Cosmos and it auto-ejects the DVD. I was thinking there is some kind of copy-protection.

By the way, I prefer inserting 1 DVD instead of 5 CD's on installs (we have SW Professional)

SW07 SP2.0

Flores

 

[StefanHamminga]

Works fine here, though I prefer to copy an admin image to the USB stick, faster and SPs included. Just run the .msi to avoid the error dialog.

Stefan Hamminga
EngIT Solutions
CSWP/Mechanical designer

 

[handleman]

Some computers also lack a CD-ROM drive. Perhaps SW should include a 3 1/2 and 5 1/4 disks as well? ;-)

 

[rporter]

At work here we only have 2 computers with DVD drives on them we have to install onto 20 computers. Becouse of the number of computers that we install solidworks on I have been using an admin image for some yerars (I dont like having to wait and change cd's) So the only computer we will need to update with a dvd drive is the server where the image is stored. This will be a none issue for us here.

 

[engAlright]

IMO It's worth spending the 40 bones on a DVD-ROM drive to save yourself the time of having to sit in front of your computer and swap CD's...

I still shudder about the 1,2,3,1,3 CD order from SW2004...

 

[mcheeseman]

Whilst I agree with the logic that DVD drives are cheap and my time isn't, the argument surely is that Solidworks should not compel me to buy one.

In the interests of good customer relations, and bearing in mind the initial price of the software I would have thought that CD's available on request might be an option...

Mark
( a penny pinching 'realist' )

 

[J-C]

All new computers pretty much come with a DVD drive.....at some point you have to make the decision to switch to the DVD format, especially as th software gets larger and takes up more space.

You could argue that they should have the option to supply you with swx on floppies if requested. Some people may not have CD drives....ok...thats stretching but years ago the floopy to cd transition went through the same thing.....and CD drives were way more costly than DVD drive are now.

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2006 SP5.1 on WinXP SP2
SolidWorks 2007 SP2.1 on WinXP SP2

 

[SBaugh]

You can request CD's but only upon request. Otherwise SW will just send you DVD's which is the better way to go. And one better way then that is to have the IT make an Admin image on the server and then when its installed from the Admin image. It won't matter if you have a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM or not, because the admin image don't care.

I am glad to see the 1 DVD over 6+ CD's

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I'm looking forward to the Blu-Ray ... and then the Dilithium Crystal ... and then ...

 

[dblcrona]

Another solution is to have your IT department put the contents of the DVD on the network for distribution. No fuss, no muss, and no cost.

Dblcrona

 

[Heckler]

I wouldn't worry about 2008.....live in the moment 2007 rocks

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 2.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he'