Re: Recommended CAM software? - BobCad

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, R Rogers <rogersmach@y...> wrote:

> /// The training CD's explain everything in detail. Got it working =

Learned

Right. You bought the program and then bought the instructions for
it. If they threw them in for free as I think you indicated in one of
your posts, it was only because they were charging you an inflated
price for the software itself. Some folks, myself included, have a
problem with people who sell poorly documented software for the
express purpose of generating additional revenue by selling the
instructions separately.

> /// I use it and I strongly recommend it.

Hmmm. I coulda sworn you said you were using V18. It might be
worthwhile to note that I was talking about V19.

> /// If I was as dissatisfied as you claim to be I certainly wouldnt

be using it.

I use V17 because it does work reliably if you know all its quirks.
It's widely acknowledged among long term BC users that V17 was the
last relatively reliable version of BC.

> ///Could you please outline some of those "bugs"? I asked someone

else to do that and never got a response. They said they had a list of
them.

Seems like you mentioned something about yours crashing if you try to
do something wrong. You can rest assured that when this happens and
you've got a complex drawing in progress, you won't care about "how
many" bugs it has, because that one bug will be all you'll need. I
found V19 was likely to crash for any reason, or for no reason
whatsoever. I made no attempt to document the bugs, but soon found
myself playing around with it in my spare time to see just how bad it
was. You might be interested to know V19 is now in its 6th release of
its short life, and all releases have supposedly addressed known
problems. They've put patches on their own site that have made the
problems they were supposed to cure actually get worse, and were
subsequently removed from their site. While refusing to acknowledge
they've failed to repair the current version, the head Bob-Mouth was
recently touting all the new features that will be available in V20.

> ////Yeah with all the negative postings from people who just expect

it to work without learning it. Thats really unfair.

All CAD-CAM programs have a learing curve. It would seem unusual that
the overwhelming majority of people who purchase BC are unwilling to
learn how to use it. What I've always found is that a person has to
become familiar enough with any software package such that they are
fairly proficient and can begin to push the limits of what it can
supposedly do before they're really in a position to judge whether the
software is good or not. Perhaps you're still wowed by it in
comparison to hand coding, and haven't reached that level yet. I used
V17 several years ago to design and build a 3800#, $45,000 forming
die, and several hundred other parts since then, so I doubt my
experience with BobCad puts me in the ranks of uninitiated newbie.

>If you didn't buy it from them they will charge you a "change of
>ownership" fee that exceeds the value of the software.
>
> /// That is not true. Bobcad themselves sell packages on Ebay and

the user license is included. One of the main reasons I purchased
Bobcad is because they are a U.S. based company. Isn't Vector Cam from
overseas? I know Dolphin Cam is from the UK. Our present government
doesnt need any assistance in channelling even more US money overseas.
I always buy American made goods when possible.

Sorry to bust your bubble on that one, but BobCad originated in
Australia I think. I doubt many of the Aussies that participate here
will lay claim to it though :) The company may be operating
independently in the US now, but I have no idea. I'd suggest you also
re-read the sentence from my post which I included above for your
convenience, and tell us exactly what is not true about it.

FWIW, I do agree with your statement that Sheetcam isn't in the same
league as Bobcad. Sheetcam is a CAM only program which has quickly
evolved into a very easy to use 2.5D program devoid of useless and
confusing frills. It's highly intuitive in its operation and
generates good code as simply as any CAM program I've ever seen.
These traits definitely, and thankfully, put it in a different league
than BobCad.