Software Costs

> Subject: RE: Software Costs
>
> This is a discussion that has come up many times. Just because it is for
> a hobby and no money is being made does not mean that free or low cost
> software has to be used. From having participated in this list for many
> years what I see is that when many people start out they want to put
> together a machine for as close to zero $$ as they can. They frequently
> use free software and can not see themselves spending the price of even
> the low cost packages. But as they start using the items they start
> looking for more feature rich solutions and frequently will buy a
> package like Vector or Dolphin or even Visual Mill. I think you would be
> surprised at the number of hobby users that have spent $500 or more to
> get good CAD CAM software.
>
> This is an expensive hobby and good tools (both software and hardware)
> are not cheap. But they make the user more productive and give a greatly
> expanded ability. My suggestion from having use the free/low cost
> solutions and using much more expensive solutions is to buy a good
> CAD/CAM package right from the beginning. You will be using it a lot and
> it will determine much of your capabilities.
>
> Tim
> [Denver, CO]
> Sherline products at Deep Discount
> Mach1 & DeskCNC with credit card ordering
> www.KTMarketing.com/Sherline
> Now selling Visual Mill
>

Well I am sure there are hobbyists that can afford these prices, but there
are a LOT who cannot.
It just annoys that when somebody say they are looking for cheap/free
software people barge in with
software that costs 300-500 dollars. I just wish they would state for the
serious hobbyist
rather than assume we all have money to burn.

There is a large gap between 0 and 300 dollars, its a shame nobody sees fit
to fill the gap.
Software like Eagle for PCB's is much better priced, its free with a lot of
restrictions, Hobby use means reasonably
priced for some restrictions and has an expensive option for those who need
it.

IMHO CAM software providers could learn a lot from their experience.