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Where to get bspecific info reguarding Inventor?

12 REPLIES 12
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Message 1 of 13
chrisb
153 Views, 12 Replies

Where to get bspecific info reguarding Inventor?

Mainly, what does it cost? We're considering moving up to Inventor (from Autocad 2002) for solid modeling, but I 've just bounced back & forth between about 6 or 7 sites trying to find out just what does this product cost, but it seems that web vendors want the price to be some deep dark secret. It's not available at the Autodesk `Store', and the vendors I've called don't seem to answere their phone directly, only call back from their voice mail. I guess I could wait for some salesman to call back, and then when he says `So where should I ship it?' I can say `Don't, I really just wanted to know how much it costs, and THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO FIND OUT.' I don't want to go to a seminar, see a demo, take a course, or whatever, only to find out it's a few thousand more than what we would consider worth the investment. I'm beginning to suspect that vendors believe that if they make it enough of a hassel to get information, you'll be so weary by the time you finally find the info you're looking for, you'll be primed & ready to swallow anything that's fed to you; too weary to think in logical term$ anymore.
12 REPLIES 12
Message 2 of 13
cadsysmgr
in reply to: chrisb

Where are you located ? I am not sure how the regional distance requirements work any more, but you can try Cad Associates of Fort Wayne. Ask for Dennis Jeffrey....www.cadassociates.com...You can find their different offices phone numbers and other info....Dennis is by far and hands down one of the best vendor reps. you can deal with...
Message 3 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: chrisb

Unfortunately there are strict rules for VAR's
about giving out pricing information. That's why it's hard to find information
on the web.  Autodesk has a set a limit on how far away from their office
can the VAR sell.  This is so customers can be supported with their product
locally.  Also, VAR's do not necessarily sell the same software for the
same price. 

 

There are also other things to consider when doing
pricing.  How many seats are you upgrading, is the company you represent
considered a major account with Autodesk?  Does the company you represent a
vendor/supplier for a company that uses Inventor?  Do you want
subscription?

 


style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
Mainly,
what does it cost? We're considering moving up to Inventor (from Autocad 2002)
for solid modeling, but I 've just bounced back & forth between about 6 or
7 sites trying to find out just what does this product cost, but it seems that
web vendors want the price to be some deep dark secret. It's not available at
the Autodesk `Store', and the vendors I've called don't seem to answere their
phone directly, only call back from their voice mail. I guess I could wait for
some salesman to call back, and then when he says `So where should I ship it?'
I can say `Don't, I really just wanted to know how much it costs, and THIS IS
THE ONLY WAY TO FIND OUT.' I don't want to go to a seminar, see a demo, take a
course, or whatever, only to find out it's a few thousand more than what we
would consider worth the investment. I'm beginning to suspect that vendors
believe that if they make it enough of a hassel to get information, you'll be
so weary by the time you finally find the info you're looking for, you'll be
primed & ready to swallow anything that's fed to you; too weary to think
in logical term$ anymore.
Message 4 of 13
ArtC
in reply to: chrisb

If you are now working in 3D in acad or going to work in 3D,the question is how much will IV save you. If you are not in 3D or going to 3D, you do not need IV.
Message 5 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: chrisb

Right you are, Joe.  The actual rule for VAR's
and ASC's about pricing is it can't be advertised.  We could put a page on
our website that says, for example, there is a rebate on full AIS6 licenses,
etc., but we can't put on that page that after rebates the price is
$XXXX.

 

I think the geographic limitation for a reseller is
250 miles.  I just asked our office manager and she's not even sure. 
That's there to keep multiple resellers from stepping on each other's toes and
it's very difficult for us to support a customer that's 300 miles away from us
(especially when phone service isn't enough).

 

But to address chrisb's problem - I think he's just
not calling the right dealer.  We get calls all the time for a price on X
number of licenses of AIS6, and we are well within the rules to quote them a
price over the phone.  My advice, chrisb - CALL ANOTHER DEALER (preferably
us).

 


style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">

Unfortunately there are strict rules for VAR's
about giving out pricing information. That's why it's hard to find information
on the web.  Autodesk has a set a limit on how far away from their office
can the VAR sell.  This is so customers can be supported with their
product locally.  Also, VAR's do not necessarily sell the same software
for the same price. 
Message 6 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: chrisb

When considering any software purchase, you also have to consider the
incidental costs, which often exceed the software costs.

Some of these costs include:

1/ Hardware - IV challenges the computer it's on. If your company
figures a 400 MHz PII with 16MB RAM is suitable a CAD machine, you'd
better budget new hardware.

2/ Storage - IV files are way bigger than ACAD files. ACAD projects
that you could back up onto a couple of floppies will take up a good
chunk of a CD.

3/ Training - Look hard at the Return on Investment for training VS 'On
the Job Learning'. IV is a different beast than ACAD.

4/ Subscription - IV is advancing rapidly and you don't want to get left
behind.

I mention these just so that you can budget properly. After asking for
the initial software budget you don't want to go back 4 or 5 times
asking for more funds.

Do I think IV is worth the investment? Most emphatically yes. My
productivity is up and it allows me to tackle jobs that would have been
impossible with ACAD.

Richard

chrisb wrote:
> Mainly, what does it cost? We're considering moving up to Inventor (from
> Autocad 2002) for solid modeling, but I 've just bounced back & forth
> between about 6 or 7 sites trying to find out just what does this
> product cost, but it seems that web vendors want the price to be some
> deep dark secret. It's not available at the Autodesk `Store', and the
> vendors I've called don't seem to answere their phone directly, only
> call back from their voice mail. I guess I could wait for some salesman
> to call back, and then when he says `So where should I ship it?' I can
> say `Don't, I really just wanted to know how much it costs, and THIS IS
> THE ONLY WAY TO FIND OUT.' I don't want to go to a seminar, see a demo,
> take a course, or whatever, only to find out it's a few thousand more
> than what we would consider worth the investment. I'm beginning to
> suspect that vendors believe that if they make it enough of a hassel to
> get information, you'll be so weary by the time you finally find the
> info you're looking for, you'll be primed & ready to swallow anything
> that's fed to you; too weary to think in logical term$ anymore.
Message 7 of 13
chrisb
in reply to: chrisb

OK, my thanks go out to you, Richard, and to all wh0 responded. Hardware shouldn't be a problem: Dell Dimension 2.5 GHZ / 512Meg RAM (which, I guess in maybe 2 yrs will be considered slow & feeble, but for now is fairly decent). I'll try again, with my local vendors, to get pricing. Really, that's the main thing. The assemblies we design here are generally not complicated (industrial/municipal, and often fairly decorative lightning fixtures and cast poles), but the shapes (cast aluminum) can get really tricky, sometimes (we try to do a fair amount of `outside-the-box' thinking in our casting designs) so good solid modeling capabilities (i.e, beyond what Autocad is capable of) would be very helpful. However, we are not a large, big-budgeted company, and I've been able to work with Autocad's (2002) limitations to a large degree - but sometimes it can be really too time consuming. Our president seems to be inclined, however, to progressive methods of design -he's an engineer, himself - as long as it promises to be worth the investment. So I shall dig a little further. Tnaks, again.
-Chris
Message 8 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: chrisb

"Hardware shouldn't be a problem: Dell Dimension 2.5 GHZ / 512Meg RAM
(which, I guess in maybe 2 yrs will be considered slow & feeble, but for now
is fairly decent)."

 

What about video cards?  Inventor is very
picky about which ones will work and which ones give you headaches.


--
Sean Dotson, PE

href="http://www.sdotson.com">http://www.sdotson.com

Check the Inventor
FAQ for most common questions

href="http://www.sdotson.com/faq.html">http://www.sdotson.com/faq.html

-----------------------------------------


style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
OK,
my thanks go out to you, Richard, and to all wh0 responded. Hardware shouldn't
be a problem: Dell Dimension 2.5 GHZ / 512Meg RAM (which, I guess in maybe 2
yrs will be considered slow & feeble, but for now is fairly decent). I'll
try again, with my local vendors, to get pricing. Really, that's the main
thing. The assemblies we design here are generally not complicated
(industrial/municipal, and often fairly decorative lightning fixtures and cast
poles), but the shapes (cast aluminum) can get really tricky, sometimes (we
try to do a fair amount of `outside-the-box' thinking in our casting designs)
so good solid modeling capabilities (i.e, beyond what Autocad is capable of)
would be very helpful. However, we are not a large, big-budgeted company, and
I've been able to work with Autocad's (2002) limitations to a large degree -
but sometimes it can be really too time consuming. Our president seems to be
inclined, however, to progressive methods of design -he's an engineer, himself
- as long as it promises to be worth the investment. So I shall dig a little
further. Tnaks, again.
-Chris
Message 9 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: chrisb

Agreed. Whenever i ask about video and they say "i dunno but its top of the
line", its usually perfect for doom!

To chrisb, go find a var. If he doesnt ask about your hardware before he
asks for an order, go find one that does.

- drew

--
Drew Fulford B.A.Sc. Systems Engineer
Solid Caddgroup Inc. Burlington, Ontario
Tel: (905)331-9670, Fax: (905)331-7280
Corporate: http://www.solidcadcam.com/

Member of the Autodesk Discussion Forum Moderator Program
Visit my MCAD website @ http://www.mymcad.com/



"Sean Dotson" wrote in message
news:8A258F8176BD43A2776A34175C525220@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> "Hardware shouldn't be a problem: Dell Dimension 2.5 GHZ / 512Meg RAM
(which, I guess in maybe 2 yrs will be considered slow & feeble, but for now
is fairly decent)."
>
> What about video cards? Inventor is very picky about which ones will work
and which ones give you headaches.
>
> --
> Sean Dotson, PE
> http://www.sdotson.com
> Check the Inventor FAQ for most common questions
> http://www.sdotson.com/faq.html
> -----------------------------------------
> "chrisb" wrote in message
news:f12b187.5@WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> OK, my thanks go out to you, Richard, and to all wh0 responded. Hardware
shouldn't be a problem: Dell Dimension 2.5 GHZ / 512Meg RAM (which, I guess
in maybe 2 yrs will be considered slow & feeble, but for now is fairly
decent). I'll try again, with my local vendors, to get pricing. Really,
that's the main thing. The assemblies we design here are generally not
complicated (industrial/municipal, and often fairly decorative lightning
fixtures and cast poles), but the shapes (cast aluminum) can get really
tricky, sometimes (we try to do a fair amount of `outside-the-box' thinking
in our casting designs) so good solid modeling capabilities (i.e, beyond
what Autocad is capable of) would be very helpful. However, we are not a
large, big-budgeted company, and I've been able to work with Autocad's
(2002) limitations to a large degree - but sometimes it can be really too
time consuming. Our president seems to be inclined, however, to progressive
methods of design -he's an engineer, himself - as long as it promises to be
worth the investment. So I shall dig a little further. Tnaks, again.
> -Chris
>
Message 10 of 13
chrisb
in reply to: chrisb

Don't really know what video card is in this thing, but that's getting a little ahead at this point. But it's good to know that it might be an issue. If we have to upgrade the card, I'm sure that that will be a fiscally minor issue, compared to the cost of Inventor. Still a factor, though. I have research to do, now - I have many specific questions in my mind. Not the least of which is - how easy is it to modify a solid shape, once it's been made. This is one major pain when dealing with Autocad solids. I put a little decorative turn here & there, president comes by - doesn't like the look - says `so just change it'. OK, the faces won't move on this one, so UNDO back about 35 steps to before I put in the turns, and redo everything from that point on. Pretty ridiculous, really. Not long enough? Too bad - can't stretch it like a 2d. So its Splice & dice time - very time consuming. Working in solids is wonderful, I LOVE it, but with Autocad, it's hardly practical, unless you're dealing with very simple shapes, as all of you in this group are quite aware, I'm sure. PRACTICAL. COST EFFECTIVE. These are the mantra of tiny (though I should say well established and highly regarded) companies like ours.
Chris
Message 11 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: chrisb

The best thing to do would be to contact the VAR
and request a demo seat.  Play with it, get a feel for how it works. 
I can assure you it's a whole lot easier than AutoCAD solids.  Not even the
same ballpark..

 

As for the video card, true you don't need it right
this second but to give IV a fair shake if you get a demo you'll need to run it
on a capable machine.  And that means a capable video card.

 

As for it being a minor issue compared to the cost
of the software....depends on your definition of minor.  A good card can
easily cost you 1/10 of what the software costs.


--
Sean Dotson, PE

href="http://www.sdotson.com">http://www.sdotson.com

Check the Inventor
FAQ for most common questions

href="http://www.sdotson.com/faq.html">http://www.sdotson.com/faq.html

-----------------------------------------


style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
Don't
really know what video card is in this thing, but that's getting a little
ahead at this point. But it's good to know that it might be an issue. If we
have to upgrade the card, I'm sure that that will be a fiscally minor issue,
compared to the cost of Inventor. Still a factor, though. I have research to
do, now - I have many specific questions in my mind. Not the least of which is
- how easy is it to modify a solid shape, once it's been made. This is one
major pain when dealing with Autocad solids. I put a little decorative turn
here & there, president comes by - doesn't like the look - says `so just
change it'. OK, the faces won't move on this one, so UNDO back about 35 steps
to before I put in the turns, and redo everything from that point on. Pretty
ridiculous, really. Not long enough? Too bad - can't stretch it like a 2d. So
its Splice & dice time - very time consuming. Working in solids is
wonderful, I LOVE it, but with Autocad, it's hardly practical, unless you're
dealing with very simple shapes, as all of you in this group are quite aware,
I'm sure. PRACTICAL. COST EFFECTIVE. These are the mantra of tiny (though I
should say well established and highly regarded) companies like ours.

Chris
Message 12 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: chrisb

Chris:

Start looking fast. You'll love what IV can do for you.

Richard
Message 13 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: chrisb

Sean's point is well taken.  Based on my
experience at the company I am currently with and a previous employer that used
Inventor, I have convinced my present company to use the following budgetary
formula for per seat costs:

 

$T = $S + 2*$S + .5*$S

 

$S - Cost of the software

2*$S - Budget for the hardware (workstation
w/monitor) to run the software

.5$S - Budget for training (format
classes)

 

The budget for the workstation might seem a little
high, but when you price out a workstation of equal caliber to the software you
will be in the $6500 - $8000 (US) range.

 

I know, your boss isn't going to want to hear about
training.  That's your responsibility, or you can learn it on your
own.  Bull Feathers!!!  If the company bought a new, state-of-the-art
machine for the shop or the manufacturing floor they would certainly send the
operators for training.  Well design software is no different.

 

Hope this helps.

 


--
Hal Gwin
Mechanical
Designer
Xenogen

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