Subscription lapse and cost of second seat?

It looks like I may have landed my first drafting gig A couple of issues though: This elderly business owner has let his AutoCAD subscription lapse, he bought 2010? a couple years ago, he also has some ancient form of AC, I don't thought think he realized that he had to pay a fee every year now.

The questions are then, about how much would it cost to get him caught up AND to buy a second seat for me to use at home? I am willing/able to buy the LT package myself if necessary.

Edit: I forgot to mention that he has AC Mechanical which I just checked and see is quite pricey, more then I am willing or able to pay. One of the main tasks involved with this job will be taking fairly complex part drawings and upscaling or downscaling them for different applications, it looks to me like I could do these in LT though. Really the drawings only purpose is to print off paper copies to send to machine shops etc, normally the AC drawings themselves will stay in house.

If the owner wants to upgrade 2010 to the most recent version then let him bear the cost.

As for you, if you think you can do the drawings in LT then stop. Do NOT buy a copy of AutoCAD 2013 LT. I would recommend first trying out one of two FREE versions of an AutoCAD clone like nanoCAD or DraftSight. Both are 2D. They are so similar to AutoCAD in many ways you would hardly know the difference.

I started two threads recently that you should take a look at. One is about low cost CAD programs and the other is about no cost (Free) CAD programs. Read both and discuss with the owner then make an informed decision.

@ ReMark I am in my second semester of school in drafting and engineering. I have a student version of AC, Mechanical & Inventor. This employer I could eventually turn into a customer which fits nicely into my long term plans. At some point I need to buy my own anyway so I thought maybe I should buy the LT as a starting point since it appears to be just a couple hundred dollars more then 2D alone? $1600 last I checked. At this time I will only be doing 2D stuff, I am a long ways from saying I can use Inventor.

I told the guy I would try to find what it might cost him to get caught up and buy another seat, just looking for some sort of ballpark figure what it might cost. I have another meeting with him in 3 hours, trying to figure this out.

I don't see how to find those threads you are talking about, I am interested in seeing other options.

The last I checked LT was selling for $1000. Full AutoCAD sells for almost $4000.

Low cost CAD programs thread can be found here...http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?77642-Low-cost-CAD-programs.

Free CAD programs for the non-student thread can be found here...http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?77635-Free-CAD-programs-for-the-non-student.

After another meeting today it becomes clear that this is a bit of a mess. This semi retired mechanical engineer I'm going to work for likes his old 1990's DOS computer and his old AutoCAD 14 , also doesn't like email or cell phones but I digress. I have never used DOS or AutoCAD 14 HOWEVER, he does have AutoCAD 2010 for others to use AND an in between version of AutoCAD so he can get translate AC 2010 down to AC 14 which he likes to use. For reasons not completely clear to me he wants me to draft in modern AutoCAD and wants me to learn my way around DOS and AC 14.

So what I am going to try is using my student AC and save it down to AC 14, see how that works, maybe it won't even have a student imprint. Worst case is I have to buy LT.

The use of an educational version of AutoCAD in a commercial enterprise is prohibited by the EULA. I'd be very careful if I were you.

DOS and AutoCAD 14? Have fun.

I am going to go ahead and buy 2D AutoCAD, anyone have a best price source? Also what might be the best/easiest/cheapest way to make floppy disks for his old DOS system? He currently uses an old Windows 95? computer to accomplish this but I would like to have something for myself at home as I can do much of the work from home. @ReMark, yeah I sat down with the DOS and AutoCAD 14 weird mouse and pad and thought this should be all kinds of fun.

Just found 2013 LT for $920 http://www.checkoutsoftware.com/autodesk/autodesk-autocad-lt-2013_p6068 Seems strange though that 2012 would be $1,400, this $920 price legit? And this http://mokcbggvsnfi.apps-field.com/browse/search/?q=autodesk_autocad_20 $400??? What do you suppose is the catch?

I'd contact my local authorized AutoDesk reseller or buy through Amazon. At least you are dealing with a reputable company.

As for floppy disks can we assume this client of yours at least upgraded his computer to use 3 1/2" floppies and not the old 5 1/4" floppies?

Yes he's all moderned up with the fancy 3 1/2" floppies. And thanks for mentioning Amazon, they have 2013 for $870, nice.

And do you have a 3 1/2" floppy drive as well?

One thing comes to mind however. You better hope that you do not have a drawing that exceeds the capacity of the floppy disk which is 1.44MB.

Does your client have a USB port on his computer?

I do not have a floppy drive, I assume I can find one and plug it into mine by USB cable? I don't think any of these files will be too large, he designs one particular thing in different sizes.

Bought and paid for, and I got 1 year subscription at that price!

Yes, you can attach an external floppy drive via USB to your computer.

James, why pay for LT when there are free alternatives that work just as well? If you are bound and determined to get LT then this is the one time it pays to look else where as opposed to buying from an authorized re-seller. Amazon.com can sell LT and they do at a good discounted price.

Here is one for $876 including a 1 year subscription. AutoDesk is selling LT with subscription for $1,000.

I agree with Remark, do not use your educational copy for work. There are other ways to get work done if $$ is tight.

Good luck

Sean

James, why pay for LT when there are free alternatives that work just as well? If you are bound and determined to get LT then this is the one time it pays to look else where as opposed to buying from an authorized re-seller. Amazon.com can sell LT and they do at a good discounted price.

Here is one for $876 including a 1 year subscription. AutoDesk is selling LT with subscription for $1,000.

I agree with Remark, do not use your educational copy for work. There are other ways to get work done if $$ is tight.

Good luck

 

Sean

And that is exactly what I just bought Here in Tulsa OK there is a lot of drafting work, perhaps a bit of snobbery biased towards AutoCAD so why fight em when you can join em. My copy of LT is on its way.

Good deal, I see no problem with seasoned users buying LT from places like Amazon.

Now all I have to figure out is how to make some beer and food money with it:unsure:

When you do, can CADTutor members get a copy of the book at a discount?

What? I thought this was the easy way to get rich.