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Aotocad LT 2013 vs. Auto cad 2013 - architecture

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Message 1 of 21
barbjsweeney
3214 Views, 20 Replies

Aotocad LT 2013 vs. Auto cad 2013 - architecture

Need advice - my architecture firm currently uses auto cad 2005! We only do 2d work at the time. To save $$$$ are considering "updating" to 2013 auto cad LT. Can anyone summarize pros/ cons between LT and full blown auto cad 2013? Anything we will be losing from full blown 2005 by going to 2013 LT?
20 REPLIES 20
Message 2 of 21

You need to tell us how you use AutoCAD 2005.

If it is heavily automated thru Lisp and other programming you will lose that.

Express Tools for the most part will be gone.

 

A place to start:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/compare/item?siteID=123112&id=13706379

 

Download the Trail and see for yourself.

Message 3 of 21
pendean
in reply to: barbjsweeney

Download the trial and test it in-house for 30-days: best way to find out if it works for you is, well, to try it yourself.

Otherwise what do you want everyone here using LT to tell you exactly: like AutoCAD, LT is not industry specific and other that "2D" you really did not share exactly how you use AutoCAD 2005 (lisps, ARX apps, Express Tools, VBA add-ons etc., all of which are not in LT).

Message 4 of 21

Thank you for the reply, yes, I had seen that auto desk matrix. We are very primitive, very unsavvy, and use autocad in a very basic sense. We really have no IT person so i know we are underutilizing 2005. It looks like view cube is a 3d thing so that would be no problem to not have that. We do use express tools. It seems like in canvas controls - we don't have that with 2005, true? so no prob. If we don't have that. I'm not sure what add ons we use! And don't even know what arx apps are!!
Message 5 of 21
pendean
in reply to: barbjsweeney

Grab the trial version and test it in-house for 30-days, you'll discover real fast whether it works for you or not.

Message 6 of 21

Time to download the Trail and give it a go.

Message 7 of 21

Ok, I suppose I will need to get the trial & try it out. We would need about 8 seats total. Any idea approx. how much cost savings of buying LT vs. Full blown? And will there be issues with bringing in drwgs. currently in 2005 to 2013 LT? Could we keep 2005 at some stations and go back and forth? Thanks for all of your help!
Message 8 of 21

If you use a reseller thya will be able to tell you the cost.

Download the Trial and find out the answer to your other questions.

We will not know what issues you may have going from Full to Lt since we do not know what your drawing content is.

You may find that you have been using all kinds of content that LT does not play well with.

Flatten emulation in LT may become a friend as well.

MLEADERS in newer Versions are one example of something that does not tranlate well to older Versions.

PROXYGRAPHICS, PROXYNOTICE, PROXYSHOW  will be three Variable that you will need to become familiar with.

All of your drawings would need to Save to 2004 format by default if you wish to use them regulalry with the older software.

Message 9 of 21
pendean
in reply to: barbjsweeney

Amazon.com sells LT2013 in 5 and 10 packs where the individual cost of a license drops significantly and more you buy.

Message 10 of 21
drjohn
in reply to: barbjsweeney

IMHO I wouldn't load AutoCAD 2013 either full or LT version even if I lost a bet.

 

Check out the issues and the un-expected results in the full ACAD forum.

 

And for <$DIETY> sake don't uninstall your working version and don't let acad 2013 touch any files you wanna use in pre-2013 files. Even blocks.

 

There are many issues that you may not be able to resolve. If you are in the middle of a project and downgrade  upgrade to 2013 add a few months to your clients lead time.

 

But then, that's just my take on it.  Smiley Indifferent

 

Regards,

DJ

 

Message 11 of 21
pendean
in reply to: drjohn

Not sure that's the 'prevailing' sentiment with most LT2013 users (remwember, this is a forum for problems and troubleshooting, not a chearleading forum): it is very different from R2005, but it's not that scary if you take the time to learn new features.

Message 12 of 21
Charles_Shade
in reply to: pendean

Was there not the same warning with the release of 2012, 2011, 2010,...?

Message 13 of 21
pendean
in reply to: Charles_Shade

Probably, but since LT2013 still retains the CLASSIC workspace interface I can't imagine, other than catching up, what a 2005 user would be crippled with that a whole project must be delayed so bad it affects the client's schedule.

Message 14 of 21
Bob_Zurunkle
in reply to: pendean

OP I go back and forth from AutoCAD Mechanical and Revit Structural at work, to AutoCAD 2011 when I do work at my old boss' office, to AutoCAD LT 2013 and Inventor LT 2013 at home. Between the AutoCADs my biggest tripping point is the use of Mline in full AutoCAD vs Dline in LT. LT might not have everything the full version has, but it's still plenty powerful, and for the 2D production it's aces. I don't know what all your office does with your existing program, but the biggest adjustments will be in going to use of the ribbon. It has been pointed out that you can set your workspace to maintain the "classic" features (so your staff can keep on working with some familiarity), but it would behoove all of you to learn how to use the ribbon a little at a time, and wean yourselves off of the classic workspace. Thankfully, through the CUI you can still customize things to suit your work methods. I found that the way I set mine up works similarly to the old flyouts.

 

Perhaps the worst aspect of 2013 (and 2012) -- LT and full -- is the new version of array, but there exists a way of bringing back the classic version somewhat.

 

As for general improvements, back in 2008 autodesk introduced a wealth of improvements for 2D production. It is now possible to create linework, text, dimensions, blocks and hatches that adjust themselves automatically in regards to different viewport scales -- as opposed to having to create separate ones (on separate layers) for each scale. You can also override layer color and linetype on a per-viewport basis, meaning no more bringing an XREF in twice (under two different names) to have one full color and one background gray, for example.

 

There are tools for adding leaders with keynotes automatically, and adding joglines in dimensions while maintaining their associative properties, and for equally spacing dimension strings. You can create dynamic blocks now (one block has many functions, and/or replaces several blocks). You can now use a Sheet Set Manager. Again, given that your office does mostly 2D production using 2005, I am not sure anyone is using any of these func tions anyway, although I think the SSE at least was available in 2005. Regardless, the potential is there for very noticeably increases in productivity!

 

A few last ideas would be to a) get your office on a subscription, and b) purchase one copy of full AutoCAD in case 3D projects come up. LT can be used to set up production sets based on 3D content, but can only draw a "pseudo" 3D itself. Oh, and if you start down this road, turn off SAVEFIDELITY! Good luck 🙂

If by some odd chance my nattering was useful -- that's great, glad to help. But if it actually solved your issue, then please mark my solution as accepted 🙂
Message 15 of 21

Get used to Array like you did with the Ribbon.

You'll be happy you did.

Message 16 of 21
barbjsweeney
in reply to: pendean

dear Bob:

 

thanks you for your thorough reply, prob. the best yet in regards to answering my question. Here is a new post i posted in a different topic option, last night:

 

at the root of my prior post, my arch. office recently bought some, not all, new hardware with windows 7. this can switch to "XP" mode to run our old autocad 2005, which windows 7 doesn't support. after many glitches, the office is now considering buying autocad 2013LT which evidently is supported by windows 7. any thoughts on this? will we be in for more trouble? how about the "old" hardware that only has XP and will now be running AutocadLT on this? how about our old 2005 drwg. files that we still use...can we translate them to 2013LT and continue to work on them? or must they stay using the autocad 2005? I am NOT an IT or computer person, only an end user, and so assuming I will only understand the most basic answers about issues/pros/cons. Am really looking for comments advising that we are or are not headed for more trouble! thanks for any and all replies!

 

so, this is really our dilemma...the bottom line is, are we in for more glitches the more we try and "solve" our problem of old/new software (2013 LT) and old/new hardware (XP vs. windows 7)? evidently 2005 drwgs. being worked on in "xp" mode have frozen, crashed, etc. We are sorely in need of an IT person to advise, but cannot afford one!

Message 17 of 21

Best thing you can do is download the LT 2013 Trail and see what's what.

You can dowload 50 Trails if you want. All you would need to do is ask each users to create an account individually.

 

I am using LT 2012 on an XP machine and have been happy with the setup. My belief is that not having Win 7 on the older computer architecture is the key. Not so many bells and whistles clogging up the RAM pipe. This machine also has a dedicated graphics card that makes a world of difference.

 

All newer version of AutoCAD will open older versions of Drawing files. Your biggest issue would be if there is 3D or third party content that LT does not usually support. But - you may start to use 2013 program content that has trouble going back to 2005 if you keep those. -EXPORTTOAUTOCAD is a function that Dean will advise you to use to solve that issue. Again, download and try.

 

Any time you use Volkswagen parts on BMW vehicles you are likely to have glitches to work thru.

While using different OS's may not be the most ideal I suspect that most all of your worries and glitches can be solved readily.

 

Download the Trail (ninth or tenth time someone here has said that?) and give it a go.

Go back thru this thread and write down all you questions and try each one by one.

If your company is having this much heartache over what to do it would seem reasonable to me to task someone with a Win 7 machine loaded with LT 2013 and a XP machine loaded with AutoCAD 2005 to sit side by side for a couple hours a day and try it out. Find out what the issue you have may be.

 

 

Message 18 of 21
jhjirak
in reply to: barbjsweeney

I would go with the full blown autocad.  I like the express tools and you can also save time by using action recorder, I use A.R. a TON on 2D drafting to save clicks and repitiion.  Also, there are several Add-Ons I have that can draw doors/windows/grids/stairs in 2 clicks (and also trims the walls).  This normally would take 10 clicks to add a door and trim the wall etc.  It saves time which saves money in the end.

 

Message 19 of 21
jhjirak
in reply to: Charles_Shade

Charles, im curious why you dont like windows 7?  Do you have a 32 bit machine that runs windows XP?  What kind of graphics card are you using for LT? I didnt think that LT needed a graphics card because its only "wireframe" and there is no rendering etc.

 

Thanks

 

-Joe

Message 20 of 21
Charles_Shade
in reply to: jhjirak

Just using the same machine that I have had for over 6 years now.

I'm in the process of replacing the machine but as with those who still use R14 it does what I need and ain't broke.

Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT 1 Gig onboard RAM. Over the top for my need but works well.

 

On the subject of Full: HUGE pricetag up front and if you are doing only 2D drawing then LT is very capable of filling those needs.

Not sure about "10" clicks to place a window. I can choose it, place it, rotate it, size it, and trim it in four clicks I do believe.

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