Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work.

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Default Hard time obtaining a Solidworks Trial Demo CD

John2005 wrote:
Hi Everyone,

I have always used AutoCAD mechanical but I am currently evaluating 3D
design Software. I have narrowed my choices down to Solidworks,
Autodesk Inventor, or Solid Edge. I have heard good things about
Solidworks, but I'm having a hard time obtaining a demo CD from my
local reseller.

The Autodesk and Solid edge reseller's sent out demo CD's right away
and Autodesk even sent a very helpful book. When I contacted
Solidworks, they referred me to a local reseller. I called the reseller
and they wanted me to come to a meeting in order to check out a demo.
Some time passed & I contacted the reseller again explaining that I am
far to busy to attend any type of meeting. The Solidworks reseller said
that they could send a personal edition trial that expires in 90 days
or a professional version that expires in 15 days. Since the personal
version did not have rendering, animation, or data translation, I told
them I needed the Professional 15 day trial. Actually, I had heard
Solidworks had great rendering and animation and those were two of the
most important features I wanted to check out. I mainly do mechanical
drawings, parts & assemblies, but I also need something that is good
for presentation.

After I told the reseller that I wanted to try the Professional version
15 day trial, they said I had to send them a signed purchase order for
the program. I felt that this request was very premature, since I am
only evaluating the software at this stage. The Solidworks reseller
said they would tear up the purchase order if the program did not fit
my needs, but I do not feel comfortable sending them a signed purchase
order for the program at this stage. I did tell them I would pay for
the CD and shipping, but I have not heard back from them.

It seems Solidworks is making it very hard to obtain a demo, which is
strange because if they want to make a sale, you would think they would
have no problem sending out a demo. I would like to try the Solidworks
demo and compare it to the Inventor and Solid Edge demo's, but I am not
comfortable sending Solidworks a signed purchase order for the program
just to get a 15 day demo to test.

Has anyone else run into this type of problem before ? I would
appreciate any advice or recommendations for another reseller. You can
reach me via this forum or at the yahoo email given in this forum.

Thanks for your help.
John



You could download a demo he
http://isohunt.com/torrents/?ihq=solidworks, and try it out for as long
as you like. If you like it, you buy a legitimate copy, and get rid of
the downloaded copy.

Please note, these files are bittorrents. You need to know how to deal
with these. A great bittorrent client is Azureus.

--
Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com
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Default Hard time obtaining a Solidworks Trial Demo CD


"Abrasha" wrote in message
. ..
John2005 wrote:
Hi Everyone,

details snipped

Has anyone else run into this type of problem before ? I would
appreciate any advice or recommendations for another reseller. You can
reach me via this forum or at the yahoo email given in this forum.

Thanks for your help.
John


For what it's worth, some years ago I was evaluating terminal emulator
software for a fairly large purchase - (ok, many years ago) - I called all
the relevant vendors and asked for trial copies - all but one said no
problem, the other said "buy it" - I said "I am evaluating these for a
purchase of XXX quantity - you can be in the evaluation if you send me a
copy, or I can proceed without you, it's your choice" - I got my copy. And
they were the most expensive program. And the program was just plain
awuful. One of the cheaper ones was what I selected and we bought a goodly
bunch of them.

why am I telling you this? the "if you want me to evaluate it, you have to
give it to me to try out" seems to work pretty darned well



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Default Hard time obtaining a Solidworks Trial Demo CD

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:21:16 -0700, Abrasha
wrote:

John2005 wrote:
Hi Everyone,

I have always used AutoCAD mechanical but I am currently evaluating 3D
design Software. I have narrowed my choices down to Solidworks,
Autodesk Inventor, or Solid Edge. I have heard good things about
Solidworks, but I'm having a hard time obtaining a demo CD from my
local reseller.


You did say you want Solidworks, but I'd suggest you have a look at
Alibre Designer unless initial cost and recurring costs are not issues
for you. No sarcasm intended, SW cost should not be an issue for
those who spend 2K hours a year designing stuff.

http://www.alibre.com/

Solidworks is cool, but it is pricey. Alibre does everything I want
to do (on my own nickel), in a manner quite similar to Solidworks if
perhaps lacking some of the bells and whistles.

Don't go by their free downloads, they suck. Alibre offers a 30-day
moneyback deal where you only pay shipping if you opt out. The real
deal works a lot better than the free download.

Their manual sucks and included tutorials aren't much better, but
their (extra cost) tutorial CD's are very good.

Parametric modelling (Solidworks and/or Alibre) is quite a paradigm
shift from AutoCAD, so be prepared for that.

I've used AutoCAD for over a decade. It took me a bit of effort to
learn how to think in terms of parametric modelling, but I'll now say
that I really like Alibre. I did do a seminar with Solidworks. Would
I like Solidworks better than Alibre? Perhaps, if someone else was
paying for it, but the price was well beyond my reach.

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