Whats better SolidWorks 200x or Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 1.0

What's better SolidWorks 200x or Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 1.0?

What's Solidworks like for stability i.e. does it crash the same as
Wildfire 1.0? How does it handle error reporting, software updates,
does it do backward file compatability and autosaving. What about
large assemblies and PDM?

Any comments good or bad would be greatly appreciated.

 

What's better SolidWorks 200x or Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 1.0?
Depends on what you need a 3D Parametric Solid Modeler for. A conservative
estimate would be that SW does 80% of what Pro/E does, for less than 80% of
the costs. If you are doing really complicated surfaces, I'd sat Pro/E,
otherwise, I'd go with SW.

Wildfire 1.0?
I don't know how much Wildfire crashes, but SW2005 for me is mostly stable.
My gut feeling is it is the most stable first realease of a major upgrade
they have ever done.

file compatability and autosaving.
If you just buy SW (or Pro/e), I think you would be crazy to not get a
Subscription service. It gives you tech support and all the software
updates. Tech support is handled through the reseller you buy it from, so
research that. Ask other SW users in the area who they use and if they have
issues with them. SW will open older SW files (and a bunch of "neutral"
files as well) and convert them to the current version. With that said, you
can not go backwards. I do not think any 3D modeler can save an older
version.

SW handles large assemblies fairly well. Of course, a large computer would
be a very good idea. SW can handle 3gb of RAM if you do some tweaking. More
RAM, more video power, and more processor...seemingly in that order. As for
PDM, there are many options. SW has their own, and there are thrid parties
that do it too. If you are looking at SW, it might be wise to make sure that
whoever your looking at for PDM is a certified SW partner. Partners can be
Gold or Silver

Pro/E is a great product, and for that, you will pay for it. Not as much as
you used to, but it is still exspensive when compared to the middle-tier
products like SW that are out there. Of the middle-tier, I would say that SW
is still the leader for the best all around product. Others do something
better, others are a bit cheaper (beware of the "buy our 2D product, get the
3D one "free" folks). If you really do high-end complicated stuff, I'd lean
towards Pro/E. If you go simple to hard stuff, you couldn't go wrong with
SW.

Mr. Pickles

 

That's not true. If you need to do any manufacturing, e.g. CNC
programming, Solidworks does exactly 0% of what Pro/E does.

In other words, Solidworks has a long history (since it's initial
release, actually) of being unstable.

HTH

 

Black Dragon....

I think you have to look at the overall big picture. Pound for pound,
to get the same level of functionality in Pro/E that you get in SW, it
cost 3 times as much. If you are saying that SW doesnt do CNC and that
is your only break against it, then wouldnt that bring it to 99%. (I
jest, but I think you get the point)

To each his/her own.

 

I've seen certain VARS offer WF2.0 Foundation Advantage for less than
SW05. The only major thing SW has that is lacking in WF are the basic
mold tools, the new weldment tools, and sheet metal. Though Pro/E comes
with a free basic parts library and you have to upgrade to SW Office to
get Toolbox. You can add many more tools to WF at *significant* cost.
I'd say if you're doing simple molds or simple sheet metal SW would be
the definite choice.

I've seen the exact opposite. I would never choose SW to do a large
project. Certainly large is a relative term but in my experience as
long as you have less than say ~1500 parts including all your fasteners
and so on SW will *limp* by. Pro/E has many tools for dealing with
large assemblies (skeletons, zones, shrink wraps, simplified reps, etc.)
and SW has almost none.

A faster computer benefits Pro/E as well. On certain platforms Pro/E
can use a 64-bit memory space (typically limited to something lower than
64-bits by the memory controller/CPU and/or the amount of RAM physically
installed).

One thing I've noticed with SW is that it is a resource hog. A huge
resource hog. It is easily 10 times slower than Pro/E on the same
hardware. SW file sizes are huge, and for no apparent reason. A simple
part with a handful of basic feature is rarely smaller than 500K. The
same part modeled in Pro/E is on the order of 10K. SW is the Microsoft
Office of CAD programs, bloated.

Pro/E user's have been complaining of bloat for a long time and they
typically stop complaining after they've used SW. One thing I like with
Pro/E is that it's very easy to work off a network because of the very
small file size.

Pro/Es PDM is very good, very well integrated, it's just expensive.
It's a little easier to get by without PDM on Pro/E though because of
automatic file versioning/revision.

My impression is that SW and Pro/E have been at the same price for a
while. I've recently seen WF2.0 Foundation Advantage for $3200
including first year maintenance (maybe it's a holiday deal?). I've
seen SW05 for $3995 + $1200 maintenance.

Where you really start paying with Pro/E is to add mold tools, advanced
assembly, cable/pipe routing, behavioral modeling, advanced surfacing,
PDM, FEA, etc.

But many of these functions aren't even available in SW yet. Pro/E is
definitely more flexible but if your needs are not met by the basic
package things quickly get expensive.

I'd agree.

I've been using SW almost exclusively for the past two years and I've
come to like it very much. It would be my first choice for basic
projects. I've done a lot of injection molded part design and it's
generally a pleasure to use.

One of the worst things you have to deal with when you go with Pro/E is PTC.

That said Pro/E is still the choice if you have serious complicated work
to do (short of the real big boy stuff like designing a car or a plane).

Regards,

 

Can you explain why you think Wildfire 3.0 will make a difference to
any of the below items?

 

Wildfire 1.0 has a very bad reputation for being unstable, I don't
think PTC are recommending that their customers move to this release
of the software.

 

Can you explain what you mean by the below statement.

 

Ummm, it means PTC sucks.

Regards,

 

proeuser wrote in

I think what he means to say is that PTC sales people have a certain
reputation for being, well, unpleasant. Not that they have the corner on
that market.

matt

 

I would also suggest looking at other options as well such as Solid
Edge. Solid Edge is produced by UGS whom also owns UG NX, Parasolid,
and D-Cubed.

Ken

 

PTC tech support is a joke, unless you enjoy playing phone tag to India. My
local Solidworks VAR is usually able to resolve problems much quicker.

 

Just a few facts....

You dont have to buy office to get tool box, you can get seperately as
an add in. Bang for the buck, office gives you about $2500 worth of add
ins for an extra $1k.

SW does have quite a bit when it comes to customizing for large
assemblies. I have not tried Pro/E, but from what I have seen, 6500
piece assembly file, running with no problem in Solidworks. What you
have to look at is the type of geometry vs just the # of parts.

It really is 6 in one hand and half a donzen in the other when it comes
to these CAD programs. It is more about personal choice than anything
else.

 

I almost hate to admit it, but the PTC sales people are getting better. (Not
that they could have gotten any worse.) We've been looking at Pro/E, NX3 and
Catia. The Pro/E people haven't been overly aggressive and haven't been
pushing our manager or her boss. On the other hand, they also haven't shown
how Pro/E can work well compared to SolidWorks on our sample parts, whereas
the NX3 and Catia people have.

Jerry Steiger
Tripod Data Systems
"take the garbage out, dear"

 

Now that they have WF 2.0, it would be pretty hard to imagine them telling
people to stick with 1.0. I'm quite sure that they pushed very hard to get
people to convert to 1.0 when that was all they had. I'll bet they never
said a word about instability.

I was amused when they announced proudly that over half of their customer
base had switched to WF after one year. I thought that was a less than
ringing endorsement from their customers. Of course, we never did switch to
SW03, jumping to SW04, so I guess I can't give SW a particularly good
endorsement either.

Jerry Steiger
Tripod Data Systems
"take the garbage out, dear"

 

A fairer comparison might be between WF and the combined cost of SW and, say,
CamWorks. I don't know if this is still true but back when I was using ProE, the
manufacturing module was not part of the basic package. It was a very pricy
module. In addition, in those days it was not worth a dime on surfacing.
I've been using CamWorks for about 2-3 months and I have to say, it's hot. IME,
if you are staring from a SW model, CamWorks beats MasterCam hands down based on
time to completed program.
-plh

 

You probably need to consider what's fully 5 axes capable (and
how capable).
Many systems have more features & capabilities than others.
If you only need pictures of bricks you need few.
If the system as more capabilities it's more complex as you
must select not to use them but instead select something else.