Where to Buy???

[finniganjones]

Hi there everyone!
I have just registered on the forum after stumbling across it whilst searching for a value for money Autodesk approved reseller.
I have reasonable familiarity with Mechanical Desktop 2002 & Autocad 2005LT at a previous employer and I'm currently earning a living creating Structural Steel detailing drawing using Strucad SBE on a self employed basis.
I would be happy to use an older version rather than purchase Autocad 2012 or 2012LT if this proved an economically viable route.
I would also be looking to recieve some training on drawing borders & general drawing presentation as I would primarily be producing drawings for clients to manufacture from.
Any suggestions as to where to purchase software & training from would be greatfully recieved!!

Cheers, FJ

[finniganjones]

What I forgot to include is to say that I live in the Derbyshire Peak District about 18 miles from Manchester City Centre!!!

[voipbuzz]

There are many places to get good deals from and also tutorials you can try installing autodesk 30 day trial or alternatively you can get a cheaper LT sudent license , i have some tutorials to share email me on sendchapaa*gmail [dot] com


replace * with @

[ReMark]

You cannot legally buy older versions of AutoDesk products unless it is right around the time the newest version is released. Then you have the option of buying the "old" version or upgrading to the new version.

[Jack_O'neill]

The legality of buying older and/or used Autodesk software is a source of great debate. I am no lawyer and don't pretend to know whether it is or not. There are several sources of alternative software if you are on a budget and wish to avoid any legal entanglements, I suggest you take a look at Draftsight, which is free, or Bricscad, which can be had for less than $700. Draftsight is an LT clone, but it has no lisp or vba capability. It will make use of ruby scripting, however. Bricscad on the other hand looks and feels very similar to Autocad 2008, uses all the lisp and vba routines you already have without modification, and will open and save 2012 dwg files. Some of the terminology is different, but the majority of the commands work exactly like you expect them to if you are an Autocad user. It lacks some of the functionality of the newer versions of Autocad, but if you are accustomed to 2005, you'll see it as an upgrade. It has a few tools that AutoCAD does not even. If you go this route, you'll never have to worry about your legality software wise.

[JD Mather]

If you do decide to purchase AutoCAD, I strongly recommend you purchase ONLY from an Authorized Autodesk Reseller.
You might be able to purchase "legally?" from anyone - but just try activating the license.....
If a deal sounds to good to be true....
Deal directly with a reseller.

[Jack_O'neill]

If you do decide to purchase AutoCAD, I strongly recommend you purchase ONLY from an Authorized Autodesk Reseller.
You might be able to purchase "legally?" from anyone - but just try activating the license.....
If a deal sounds to good to be true....
Deal directly with a reseller.

Yeah...what he said!

If you find a "deal" at an internet outlet, even if they have the "authorized reseller" logo on thier page, check with Autodesk to make sure they actually are authorized. These days its really easy to cut and paste an image.

[ShaLou]

This brings up a good question. Are you saying a site such as this is not selling/leasing legitimate licenses? I am going into business for myself and I would like a copy of 2010 or later. I understand buying 2013 is a good investment, but 2010 is fine for what I will be doing. I prefer to save the money if I can do so with a legitimate product.

[Dadgad]

Welcome to the forum.

If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck ........
............. these are not legitimate.

[ReMark]

ShaLou: You cannot legally buy a copy of 2010. But let's say you choose to ignore that advice. OK, what's the worst that can happen? Well, you could find the software doesn't load, or it loads but you can't get the program to work without crashing your computer. Maybe it does work but when you go online to obtain an "activation code", which is required if you want to use the software for more than 30 days, you find AutoDesk will not give you one because they consider your software to be illegal. How do you think you'll feel? You'll be out your hard earned cash and you'll have a useless program on your hands. That, my friend, does not make good business sense now does it?