The following is the account of my personal experience with DraftSight software. I am an extremely unhappy customer.
I recently evaluated DraftSight 2018 SP0. It downloaded and installed properly for me, although many users have problems getting this far. I tested it for a couple hours, loaded many of my AutoCad files without mishap, selected the User Interface most like vintage AutoCad, and life was good.
I proceeded to purchase the Professional/Perpetual version for $300, and that's when my problems started.
1. When I would enable/disable some layers, the screen would be blank when I got back to it. But if I swiped the cursor around the screen the drawing would re-appear where I swiped.
2. Eventually, after loading a file, the cursor would dis-appear entirely when within the drawing area. Move the cursor outside of the DraftSight workspace and the cursor would re-appear.
3. Sometimes when closing the software, I would get a message to the effect "something is wrong and DraftSight needs to close". Well, I was closing anyway so....
4. Sometimes when I launch the software it crashes, sometimes multiple times before it will work. But then all the above issues exist so what's the point?
I double checked that my computer meets or exceeds all the minimum requirements and it does. It works fine for all my other CAD software including my old version of AutoCad. In fact, it worked fine for the first couple hours of DraftSight, so I know the computer is compatible.
Bottom line is I gave them $300 of my money, and I have something that is entirely worthless. Further, I have never purchased software that is so buggy and so worthless.
I am not an un-sophisticated user, I've been using AutoCad and various electronic Cad software my entire career. But have never seen such misbehaved software. I might expect such performance from some $10.95 Cad software from the cut-out bin at Best Buy.
I have posted messages to forums, where I learned that this release is apparently a Beta version and the issues are not uncommon. Wish they had stated that before I bought it.
I have sent emails to customer support at Dassault with no response. I refuse to give them yet more money for phone tech support, at least until such time that they get my software working.
And I have never seen a commercial website so devoid of contact phone numbers. There are none! Even the company that issues the invoice and charges your credit card (CleverBridge) has no phone numbers that I could find! Talk about a fly-by-night operation!
So, be advised, don't buy DraftSight. Use the free if you must, and even then, don't expect much from it. But don't buy it
I am currently awaiting a call back from my credit card company to cancel the purchase of DraftSight.
I recently evaluated DraftSight 2018 SP0. It downloaded and installed properly for me, although many users have problems getting this far. I tested it for a couple hours, loaded many of my AutoCad files without mishap, selected the User Interface most like vintage AutoCad, and life was good.
I proceeded to purchase the Professional/Perpetual version for $300, and that's when my problems started.
1. When I would enable/disable some layers, the screen would be blank when I got back to it. But if I swiped the cursor around the screen the drawing would re-appear where I swiped.
2. Eventually, after loading a file, the cursor would dis-appear entirely when within the drawing area. Move the cursor outside of the DraftSight workspace and the cursor would re-appear.
3. Sometimes when closing the software, I would get a message to the effect "something is wrong and DraftSight needs to close". Well, I was closing anyway so....
4. Sometimes when I launch the software it crashes, sometimes multiple times before it will work. But then all the above issues exist so what's the point?
I double checked that my computer meets or exceeds all the minimum requirements and it does. It works fine for all my other CAD software including my old version of AutoCad. In fact, it worked fine for the first couple hours of DraftSight, so I know the computer is compatible.
Bottom line is I gave them $300 of my money, and I have something that is entirely worthless. Further, I have never purchased software that is so buggy and so worthless.
I am not an un-sophisticated user, I've been using AutoCad and various electronic Cad software my entire career. But have never seen such misbehaved software. I might expect such performance from some $10.95 Cad software from the cut-out bin at Best Buy.
I have posted messages to forums, where I learned that this release is apparently a Beta version and the issues are not uncommon. Wish they had stated that before I bought it.
I have sent emails to customer support at Dassault with no response. I refuse to give them yet more money for phone tech support, at least until such time that they get my software working.
And I have never seen a commercial website so devoid of contact phone numbers. There are none! Even the company that issues the invoice and charges your credit card (CleverBridge) has no phone numbers that I could find! Talk about a fly-by-night operation!
So, be advised, don't buy DraftSight. Use the free if you must, and even then, don't expect much from it. But don't buy it
I am currently awaiting a call back from my credit card company to cancel the purchase of DraftSight.
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