Well not exactly. But in a way, you can do just that. First, lets throw out some numbers. For ease of discussion, I will round off some costs. If you are contemplating buying AutoCad, here is about what you can expect to pay: Based on Internet sources, a seat of AutoCad 2007 will run you about $6,400 plus subscription of $725 for a grand total of about $7,125.
A base seat of Solidworks will run you about $5,000 plus subscription of $1,200 for a grand total of about $6,200. But with Solidworks, you will also receive two seats of AutoCad. Well technically not AutoCad, but you will receive DWG Editor. What is DWG Editor? Let me explain.
DWG Editor appeared a few years back as an alternative to AutoCad. While it's not a direct copy of AutoCad, it is basically the same product, but dressed differently, and contains much needed user interface improvements over AutoCad. Take for instance the printing interface. Most users are accustom to a WYSIWYG interface (What You See Is What You Get). Ever tried to plot in native AutoCad, its not an easy task. DWG Editor simplifies it with a much more simple look and use. Many other areas inside DWG Editor follow the thought that easier is better. All keyboard commands and hotkeys are identical to AutoCad. Trust me, this isnt just AutoCad LT, its is a complete replacement for stand alone AutoCad.
So how do you get Solidworks for free with AutoCad, well, thats a somewhat twisted phrase used in the title. Lets say you have a budget of $7,200 dollars to spend on a CAD package. Well you can get both Solidworks and DWG Editor for about $1,000 less than your budget. When you buy Solidworks, you get two seats of DWG Editor included in the user agreement. That means that you can install it on two computers. Now you have one seat of Solidworks, and two seats of AutoCad for $1,000 less than one seat of AutoCad alone! Thats how you get Solidworks for free with AutoCad like software. Not a bad deal if I say so myself.
But is it as good? Some will argue yes, some will argue no. For the limited use of 2D I require, DWG Editor is everything I need and more. DWG Editor is so much more than just a 2D Cad program. Over at the DWG Series Page on the Solidworks site, they list a number of DWG tools, including some free ones. One handy tool is the DWG Gateway. This utility allows you open, and save back to most versions of AutoCad up to 2006 currently. Its a free downlad available to AutoCad users that plugs itself right into AutoCad. That means if you are using R14, and get a 2006 drawing, you can easily open it:
This is a screen shot that shows you inside AutoCad, the ability to open, and save different versions of DWG files. Not to shabby!
Inside DWG Editor itself, you can save all the way back to AutoCad 2.5!
So thats how you can get Solidworks and two seats of AutoCad for less than one seat of AutoCad alone. Also, I'm being generous with the rounding. The $7,125 price for AutoCad was on the low end. I was able to find a price on the Autodesk site as high as $8,830! So save your company some money, and your engineering team some headaches, it may be time to rethink those AutoCad subscriptions!
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