Guest lennixx24 Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Hey there. Long story short: we have 2 old computers running autocad 2002, because we have an old plotter, Synergix 8825, and it was/is going to cost us a ton of money to revamp our CAD department. Lo and behold! One of the dinosaurs died and now we are in a predicament. I am basically looking for the best/cheapest middle ground for an entirely new set up. Preferably keeping autocad 2002 because we have had no problems with that. My main focus is what system requirements i should have in the (2) new computers and what plotters/scanners have been found to be the most convenient/cheap/useful. We were holding off on purchasing new equipment and now we are in a bind. Thanx. Kip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 What is your budget? What size plotter? I use a $500 US Lenovo ThinkCentre (I added A Quadro Card =$200 US) to run 2011, should fly with 2002. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lennixx24 Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Budget is variable, but I'm thinking within $5,000-$8,000. The plotter we have now is a synergix 8825. I prints up to 45in i think, but we primarily use it for 24X36. A scanner is a must as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Do you want a plotter/scanner combo or seperate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I prefer HP plotters, we use a Savin scanner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lennixx24 Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 a combo would be nice, but not necessary. As far as HP, I've heard he ink is ridiculously expensive. How true is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I'm pretty sure all prices on supplies would be comparable when doing a orange to orange comparison. InkJet plotters are cheaper to purchase and more costly for supplies and LED Toner plotters are more expensive to purchase and cheaper on supplies. Most comparisons between the two claim about $0.15 per sq. ft. for InkJet and $0.10 per sq. ft. for LED Toner (for monochrome) (LED is monochrome only and much faster). So you would need to determine the amount of plotting to see if initial investment would overcome the supplies price advantage. You can purchase generic supplies, HP brand not required. You might call or contact LARGE DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS, they should steer you straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lennixx24 Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Hey there. As the title says, we got new computers and are now looking for new autocad software because i have heard the 2002 conflicts with Windows 7 and will cause constant shutting down. Can anyone confirm or deny this? If it's true, what would be the oldest version of autocad i can find that will work with Windows 7? I'm looking to do this fairly inexpensively seeing as how i use a limited amount of autocad's tools for my particular job. any news or advice would be appreciated. I'm basically trying not to spend $4,000 on autocad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 You could try running AutoCAD 2002 under Windows 7 but if you are going to opt for a 64-bit system then you'll have to add another program called LongBow which should allow you to do it. The one drawback will be Express Tools. Since the code for Express Tools in 2002 was written in 16-bit it will NOT run, at all, on a 64-bit system. If you can live without that then you should be fine. Is that $5000-$8000 for two computers and a printer as well? BTW...to update yourselves you do NOT have to buy AutoCAD 2013 or even AutoCAD LT 2013. Instead, take a look at an AutoCAD-clone called DraftSight (by dassault systemes) which is free. It reads and writes the DWG file format up to 2010. Other clones worth looking at would be progeCAD, Bricscad and ZWcad. None of these are free however but they are substantially less than full AutoCAD would cost (about 1/5th of price). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eldon Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 I have just had to buy a new computer and here is some of the spec: Chillblast Fusion Flash Fractal Design Define R3 Low Noise Case - Black Pearl - USB 3.0 Edition Intel Core i5 3570K Processor Overclocked to up to 4.7GHz Akasa Nero 3 Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste Asus P8Z68-V LE Motherboard 16GB PC3-10666 1333MHz DDR3 Memory (4 x 4GB sticks) Chillblast AMD Radeon HD 6970 2048MB Graphics Card 240GB Corsair Force 3 Solid State Drive 1000GB 7200RPM Hard Disk - 6Gbps Samsung Blu-Ray ROM / DVD-RW Combi Drive BeQuiet 680W Straight Power Cable Managed PSU Onboard High Definition Audio 56k Data/Fax Modem Standard Chillblast Cable Management 23" Iiyama Prolite X2377HDS IPS Widescreen TFT Monitor 2 No Logitech Corded Keyboard and Mouse Windows 7 Professional 64 bit I have VMware running a Windows XP virtual machine. I just got an Autorization code for my copy of AutoCAD 2002, and it goes fast. Downside is that none of my printers work, so I am off shopping for a new one now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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