Chief Delphi - SolidWorks vs. Inventor

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Re: SolidWorks vs. Inventor

I used Inventor for 5 years, and have been using SolidWorks for 3 years now. I find that there is no comparison between the two. SolidWorks is superior in every respect in my opinion.

I was proficient with Inventor and didn't really want to change, but in under a week of doing the tutorials in SolidWorks and just fooling around, I was pretty easily using the program on a daily basis.

I find myself to be much more productive in Solidworks in every facet of modeling, from sketching to extruding/patterning/etc to creating assemblies and drawings.

In particular the mates in SolidWorks are much more intuitive than Inventor.

Anyone who dislikes SolidWorks or finds it harder to use than Inventor probably hasn't taken the time to set up the UI to match your work style. Once you customize the toolbars and hot keys, you can do anything you want with minimal mouse clicks.

In addition, SolidWorks is much more of an industry standard than Inventor, which makes it worth using solely for that purpose. While most CAD programs are enough alike to make the switch fairly easily, I think it's better for students to learn on what they are likely to be using in college/industry.

Re: SolidWorks vs. Inventor

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cory (Post 766673)

In addition, SolidWorks is much more of an industry standard than Inventor, which makes it worth using solely for that purpose. While most CAD programs are enough alike to make the switch fairly easily, I think it's better for students to learn on what they are likely to be using in college/industry.

This is the best part. ;)

Re: SolidWorks vs. Inventor

My disclosure: I am not a MechE. I am an EE. I do not use either professionally. However, I have used both quite a bit (for an EE).

Solidworks was a delight to learn and blew inventor away in terms of ease of use. For a MCAD simpleton like me, Solidworks is the obvious choice.

Re: SolidWorks vs. Inventor

Cory, I share the same views. I am in the process of getting the school to switch over to Solidworks. The one thing that autodesk does better than solidworks and the only thing is that it has a way better rendering engine. Make sure you you learn Solidworks, it is the industry standard and it is really the best CAD software out there. If anyone wants tutorials, please email me or if you guys want I could upload them to chiefdelphi or to another site. I have all the tutorials from basic to advanced.