RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] CAD Programs

[Alec Smyth <Asmyth@changepoint.com>]

I used TurboCAD in the past. It comes in two versions, 2D and 3D. The 2D is
absolutely fine, its solid and easy to use. The 3D version was also easy to
use, but it had a couple of really annoying bugs that made it unuseable as
soon as a drawing got a bit complex. Due to these bugs, I ended up dropping
it in frustration even though I had invested months of work. A while later a
telemarketer called me to say they had a great new version, and for the only
time in my life I actually purchased something from a telemarketer. Well, it
turns out the new version was horrendously worse than the original... not
only did it have more bugs, they had changed the entire paradigm of how you
draw any object. I suspect they probably bought another company and it was
therefore an altogether different product. Anyway, they wouldn't give me a
return either, so I ended up looking for something else. Bottom line on
Turbocad is they're OK if you go for 2D, but forget the 3D.

Today I'm using something called QuickCAD, which is a cheapo program from
Autodesk (same guys who sell the $10K Autocad). Its just 2D, no 3D. But it
works like a charm, and I haven't found a single bug to date. It was only
about $100 or so.

If anyone has a cheap 3D program that really works, please let me know too!

- Alec

-----Original Message-----
From: Sean T. Stevenson [mailto:ststev@uniserve.com]
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2001 4:10 PM
To: Chris A. Henesy; personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] CAD Programs


Most of the CAD packages I am familiar with are high end packages costing a
few thousand dollars, but there is someone in my office who uses a somewhat
cheaper package called TurboCAD.  Might 
be worth looking into.

-Sean


On Mon, 9 Jul 2001 14:46:19 -0400 (EDT), Chris A. Henesy wrote:

>
>Can someone offer soem advice on a decent CAD program to use for my sub
>design?  I don't know much about CAD programs (never used one).  I've
>heard of AutoCAD of course, but I'm not interested in anything costing
>$10000.  Any suggestions for a slightly less complicated/expensive
>program?
>
>Thanks!
>Chris
>
>P.S. - Extra super bonus points if there is a Linux version!
>