Replies

1. 
   DonaldCBrown | Jun 29, 2005 03:12pm | #1

   I'm saving my money for Sketchup, a 3D design (not CAD) program. Check out their demos and tutorials at

   http://www.sketchup.com

   There don't seem to be many choices for inexpensive CAD programs for the Mac. A couple that look interesting are QCad

   http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad/html

   and Design Intuition by Gizmolab

   http://gizmolab.com/software/

   I have no experience with either.

1. 
   cbsn | Aug 31, 2005 06:21am | #8

   Donald,Just wanted to let you know I checked out the Design Intuition program
   you mentioned http://gizmolab.com/software/and I think it's great ! Reasonable learning curve, lets you draw in 3D with real time dimensioning and, unlike most of the Cad programs I've tried, is very intuitive. The creator, Jonathan Sand, is very open to suggestions for improvements from users. It's really designed for woodworkers and how we think. It's written for the Mac, but I understand a PC version is in the worksAnyway, if you use a Mac I recommend giving it a look-

2. 
   mikegagne | Jun 30, 2005 10:44am | #2

   PowerCadd is great! Aloha, Mike

1. 
   cbsn | Jul 04, 2005 03:25am | #3

   Thanks Mike and Donald- I'll check out those links-it's lonely in the Macworld sometimes!

1. 
   mikegagne | Jul 04, 2005 04:12am | #4

   it's lonely in the Macworld sometimes!Dont look now but Steve Jobs is preparing to take on Microsoft with the OSX operating system to run on Intel based machines. Part of that lonliness is not having the viruses that plague the Windows world. Take heart! Rejoice in the elegance of your natively running design program. The rest of the world is going to know about it soon enough.... Aloha, mike

1. 
   cbsn | Jul 04, 2005 07:26am | #5

   That's true- no problems with viruses and a much more intuitive interface. I started with OS 6 and have stayed with Macs ever since. I still feel lost when I have to use a Wintel machine!

3. 
   giametti | Jul 04, 2005 05:00pm | #6

   The current favorites in the low-cost category are HighDesign <http://www.ilexsoft.com/highdesign> and TurboCad.
   I used TurboCad many years ago and liked it a lot. They eventually dropped Mac support and development, and after OSX came out I got an education version of VectorWorks off eBay. (I'd still be using Vectorworks if I hadn't lost the &%!@! dongle.) A new version of TurboCAD is back from IMSIsoft in a 2D version, with a 3D version to follow. I'll probably buy it.
   High Design also looks very good, and I'd go with it if TurboCAD wasn't an option.

1. 
   Ricks503 | Jul 05, 2005 09:31pm | #7

   DesignCad also seems to have a fair following and is not too expensive.  I just got a copy but have not had time to mess with it much1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go        4 - get a new board and go back to step 1