CAD programs

I have used:
AutoCAD from release 7 to 14 - moderately awful, but OK once you've
learned it
EasyCAD - very fast, not very capable
IntelliCAD - moderately good AutoCAD clone, some improvements
Rhino3D - not much good for CAD or machine parts
SolidWorks

For just drawing one part, perhaps it doesn't matter much what you use. If
you are designing a complex assembly, then you're way ahead with SolidWorks
(or ProE). It won't pay off in the first job, but after a few jobs it will
be indespensable.

You can design a car, with every nut and bolt in place, in SolidWorks.
Every part can be edited in place in the assembly if so desired.

Semi-automatically creates drawings from parts, and has a really neat
feature called eDrawings that are used to distribute drawing information in
a way that is much better than paper.

I have a FEA module for it that does stress analysis of parts and
assemblies.

It is a bit more pricey than some of the other programs, around $3500.

Elliot Burke