I haven't been this way in a while, but I thought I should let you guys know that Alibre are offering their $999 standard 3D CAD package for just $99. I'm in the middle of installing it right now. I believe it also has CAM capabilities, in so far as I also downloaded the CAM module, but I don't know if it needs additional licensing. There's also a Photorealistic Rendering module, but again, I'm unsure as to the licensing.

Forgive me if it's already been mentioned on here, but I thought I should give you guys a heads up, as I don't know how long this offer will last. It's the latest standard full version and will probably be dropped with their next release.

I haven't had chance to test it out yet, but since I needed to update my dodgy copy of SolidWorks I thought I'd give this a try. It's supposed to be fully parametric which is what I've been looking for. I'll report back when I've had chance to play about with it.

http://www.alibre.com/99/defaultx.asp

It looks like no CAM function.

I forgive you
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It can definitely have a CAM package installed, but I was under the impression only the highest level of the program had CAM included. Let us know what you find would ya?

If you're thinking about getting the CAM module but can't find very much info it may help to know that it is basically "VisualMill" (which is also what is used for "RhinoCAM") integrated with Alibre.

Caveat emptor (this applies to all CAM programs).

My apologies. But I also noted that the expiry date has been quoted in several places as 8/31. This is incorrect, I was able to download it 9/7. It seems as if there isn't an actual stated expiration other than 'When V12 comes out.' And that's supposed to be sometime this month. I did download the CAM package, and will install it tonight to see if it's included in my $99 licence. It was available for download on my specific download page based on my purchase, but that doesn't really mean much.

Yeah, it's strange, I even got a short e-mail from Alibre that said 8/31...

Who knows, maybe the e-mail was a "spear phishing" attempt. The phone number on the e-mail is different than the ones listed on the Alibre site.

From what I can gather it was, (and still is), a genuine offer. They had initially reported an 8/31 expiry but decided to leave it open ended. There's one quote from a marketing guy on their forums that said something to the effect of don't expect it to last much longer.

Oh, and that $900 off the standard level didn't require purchase of maintenance or anything else. I didn't know they had applied the discount to the higher level packages.

Off to install the CAM module right now.

It comes with Alibre CAM Express, which is a functional but stripped down product. I was trying to run it on a virtual machine on my Mac and managed to crash it. As such I don't have a report, but from the literature it should do G-Code. I think it will be enough for what I need, if not I'll wait until they offer their $1000 CAM software for $100.

OK, AlibreCAM Express seems to be pretty much a bust. Too limited in its functionality from what I can tell. And the $99 offer now has an end date on the web site in two weeks time.

The 3D CAD program seems pretty good though.

Well it seems MecSoft who make VisualMill for Alibre, also offer FreeMill which is supposedly fully functional and accepts STL files, which Alibre Design can export. So tomorrow I'll be trying it out.

Edit: Scratch that. It's just the same as Alibre CAM Express. And their pricing is the same as Alibre of course. Off to find something else.