SOLIDWORKS EAA discount?

[daleliff]

I am an EAA member and would like to take advantage of the EAA discount for SOLIDWORKS, but I could not find a link or any info on the EAA SOLIDWORKS page, or in my EAA membership confirmation email showing how to purchase and install the discounted subscription? Where can I find the right info? I did watch the video webinar on the subject and it said I should have received a link in my confirmation email.

Thank you,
Dale

[rwanttaja]

Solidworks ended the EAA deal a couple of years ago. They now have a deal for a web-based package; forget what it's called.

Edit:"Solid Edge". Look in the forum just above this one.

Solidworks still sells the educational version (what the EAA deal was for) to veterans for twenty bucks or so a year.

Ron Wanttaja

[daleliff]

Thank you. Seems that the EAA should remove or edit the info here then?
https://www.eaa.org/eaa/eaa-membership/eaa-member-benefits/solidworks-resource-center

[Hal Bryan]

We still have a member discount for SOLIDWORKS, just the terms and package offered changed a couple of years ago. Go here and follow the steps - specifically, step 2:

3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS for Makers | EAA (https://www.eaa.org/eaa/eaa-membership/eaa-member-benefits/solidworks-resource-center/eaa-solidworks-standard)

[vondeliusc]

There is a huge difference between SolidWorks Desktop and SolidWorks 3DExperience. You SHOULD say 'you have a member discount for 3DExperience'.
I know the link says 3DEXPERIENCE, but saying just SOLIDWORKS implies Desktop, or at least you need to differentiate, because the 'cloud' version has a significantly lamer
interface for proper engineering. Removing the educational SolidWorks Desktop benefit for a completely different product was a HUGE downgrade and if you ask me, was
going along with Dassault's thrust to market their 'cloud' product.
IMHO.
-Christian

[rwanttaja]

There is a huge difference between SolidWorks Desktop and SolidWorks 3DExperience. You SHOULD say 'you have a member discount for 3DExperience'.
I know the link says 3DEXPERIENCE, but saying just SOLIDWORKS implies Desktop, or at least you need to differentiate, because the 'cloud' version has a significantly lamer
interface for proper engineering. Removing the educational SolidWorks Desktop benefit for a completely different product was a HUGE downgrade and if you ask me, was
going along with Dassault's thrust to market their 'cloud' product.
IMHO.

You're probably right, but I'm betting it wasn't EAA's decision. They were probably told to take 3DExperience or leave it.

My main issue is that I don't believe the Solidworks files I built with the original education package are compatible with 3DExperience....

Ron Wanttaja

[Jeffrey Meyer]

It seems to me (quite clearly) that SolidWorks is moving towards cloud based subscription products.
I don't like this because if you for any reason want to stop your subscription, you will end up in a situation where you don't have access to the software, and much more importantly you don't have access to your data - read "your intellectual property".
Completely unacceptable for me.

Jeffrey Meyer

[rwanttaja]

It seems to me (quite clearly) that SolidWorks is moving towards cloud based subscription products.
I don't like this because if you for any reason want to stop your subscription, you will end up in a situation where you don't have access to the software, and much more importantly you don't have access to your data - read "your intellectual property".
Completely unacceptable for me.


I picked up Alibre's Atom3D, seems like a reasonable alternative. Will load Solidworks files, though they're not editable.

Ron Wanttaja

[FLW]

Try FreeCAD. Download able 3d CAD program. It a pretty good program, plus, it's free. The only downside for me is not great documentation.

[vondeliusc]

My main issue is that I don't believe the Solidworks files I built with the original education package are compatible with 3DExperience....

Ron Wanttaja
FWIW,
Titans of CNC offer a complete educational desktop SW through Dassault, not for commercial, for students for $50/yr.
ToCNC is an educational organization, 'like' EAA.
-Christian

[greentips]

Try FreeCAD. Download able 3d CAD program. It a pretty good program, plus, it's free. The only downside for me is not great documentation.
I have been using FreeCad for quite a few years. When the EAA announced/I found out about Solidworks, I thought I'd give it a go for a panel upgrade design. After just barely getting off the ground with it, Solidworks jerked the rug out from under us and the EAA.

This is a fool me once deal. I just received a new EAA solicitation for Solidworks for Makers subscription so I thought I'd take a look. There is one clause in Dessault's agreements: You use their product, build a design and you are hooked to their rates and their terms for life. Their models are exclusive to their software and have embedded logic to make them available only to Solidworks.

FreeCAD v.012 through 1.0 runs on everything. OSX/MAC, FreeBSDUnix, Linux, MSWin, and probably others I've never heard of. I have run it seamlessly on various hardware/os combos without a trouble. I cannot say the same for solidworks. As for the documentation on FreeCAD it has improved markedly over the years and many users have produced very high quality how to do it instructional videos all over youtube.

I was fooled once and will not be fooled again by them at any price or incentive. Fortunately I didn't have much time into it but I have friends doing the full EAB route who do and this was a major loss.

The EAA would serve us better if it were to list the alternatives and then if anyone wants to use Solidworks, fine. Competition is a wonderful thing, but that also entails full disclosures of the products and any alternatives the members are using.

So sorry for resurrecting an old moldering thread. EAAs most recent email pitch for Solidworks after what was done to it and us just rubs me the wrong way.