What software should a beginner buy to get started?

 

If you are needing equipment get the biggest monitor you can afford. 22" LCDs are cheap and would be my bottom choice in monitor size. Get a good dual core PC, even though LT and SU don't use multi cores it will help with multi-tasking. Get a PC with a dedicated nVidia video card. DO NOT use one with a built-in card with shared memory! If in doubt ask us. Ram is cheap so go for at least 4 gigs. Also to use 4 gigs of ram you will need a 64-bit OS.

 

Lots of info there but dig in and ask us here if you need help.

i wish someone could convince my director about this! Seriously I do have a dinosaur of a machine, 19" monitor (4:3 ratio as well), 2GB memory and only an early dual core but I can just about run 2010LT with the odd pause here and there and we work on some quite large projects with many X-refs so a top notch machine is nice but not a complete necissity. Although saying that each year the power requirements do jump and I can't run 2011LT.

I did try ProgeCAD once, very similar to LT 2006 was free for personal users or $200ish for commercial use.

Also pirated software is bad! Much better to convince work to install your license on your home machine as you can't work at home and at work simultaneously

If you are only looking at 2D then a vector drawing package such as CorelDraw may be a cheaper option. CorelDraw comes with a huge supply of clipart which includes a lot of architectural items.

You could try draftsight it is free cad from dassault very similar to autocad lt. http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/draftsight-overview/

Or go for sketchup which is also free http://sketchup.google.com/ but mostly focussed on 3D

You could try draftsight it is free cad from dassault very similar to autocad lt. http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/draftsight-overview/

Or go for sketchup which is also free http://sketchup.google.com/ but mostly focussed on 3D

I think someone mentioned these :wink:

I think someone mentioned these :wink:

Then add my vote to draftsight and sketchup!

Oh and I recommend a trackball if you are going to go into this full time, after ten years of CAD monkey work most of my right arm aches most of the time! No Jokes please

Some may recomend a tablet but that is a bit of an outlay for a tester.

Thanks for sharing website but my budget is not supporting me to go it , so is there any alternate of it?

Thanks for sharing website but my budget is not supporting me to go it , so is there any alternate of it?

Alternate for what?

There were many recommendations and links posted in this thread. Which one are you referring to?

Thanks for sharing website but my budget is not supporting me to go it , so is there any alternate of it?

I flunked Mind Reading 101. How about a hint there big guy?