Looking for older CAD software for home construction use

[reggie 00]

Thanks for all the inputs. I definitely would not have had any idea on whats what, and if they would have been any good.

When i get back in the office i will show him what everyone has said.
Really appreciate all the inputs. It so much nicer to get peoples opinions about stuff like this than to gamble on written reviews from the sellers website and what not.

[Erich_870]

There's a few out there for him to use and as a GC he certainly doesn't need a $2-3K piece of software because there's alot more out there now than there ever was. If he's only using them to create general plans (not doing any seriously complex 3D rendering or anything like that) then here's a few I'd recommend.

TurboCAD Pro V12 - ($500) You can get the Deluxe version but for a GC it's too watered down IMHO, here's a comparison of the two side by side http://www.turbocad.com/whatsnew_v12.asp?mcid=370 ). The full version is quite sophisticated and can do alot of things including 3D rendering if needed.

The rest are from Autodesk

AutoCAD 2007 full or Architectural Desktop 2007 - (very expensive) This is probably what the GC was talking about when he mentioned software being $2-3K per seat, it's very expensive but has excellent 2D and 3D capability. For a GC they are probably overkill though.

AutoCAD LT 2007 - ($800) This is really a standard in the drafting field and has been around for a long time. If you're looking for a really professional drafting tool, this would be the better choice (has more features to save you time when drafting like auto dims or perspective view).

AutoSketch 9 - ($100) This is strictly a 2D program and it's quite limited but if you need something really cheap and will never need to transfer drawing files or do any 3D work, then this program might be ok.

Either TurboCAD Pro or AutoCAD LT would be my choices for the GC, but be careful buying student versions because they often have features cut out. You're better off paying more for the non-academic version (at least with AutoCAD) because when you print stuff out it will put "Student" all over your drawings and often tech support goes seriously lacking when you call and give them the S/N and it shows student version. Neither is good in a professional setting.

Well said MTL_4Runner!

We just upgraded our AutoCAD to 2008 and it was over $2200 per seat. If we were to buy a stand alone copy it was over $3000.

The network license set up adds an ADDITIONAL $1100 per seat to the cost.

The most economic way to keep your full blown AutoCAD is with a subscription. You pay a yearly fee of a little over $500 and they send you the latest version.

We ended up paying over $500 more for the jump from 2002 to 2008 when compared to paying the yearly subscription. Also, like Bamachem said, starting with 2005 you have to get network licenses directly from AutoDesk, so they can prevent people from running multiple copies of the same licence.

Erich