Autocad, which one?

[marcosgue]

Hello All,
I'm a contans reader to this wonderful forum that help me in my career and improve my electrical knowledge.

I was using Autocad long time ago and now I find the best option to buy and install in my computer. I'm looking some suggestion or advices where and how can I get Autocad electrical software and which version is better 2018, 19, 20, 21. I hope someone can help me to decide which one is better. Any suggestion is very appreciated.
Thanks all

 

[zbang]

The latest. Lots of people are using Revit, OTOH I use DraftSight which is much cheaper than ACad.

 

[marcosgue]

Thanks for your response

 

[don_resqcapt19]

As far as I know, you can no longer purchase AutoCad. You can only buy a monthly, yearly, or a multiyear license to use it.

 

[marcosgue]

Well, in the case that I want to buy to use for long term, which electrical Acad version is better and most complete to install?

 

[gadfly56]

You may as well get the latest version. Earlier versions, if available, won't be cheaper.

Are you doing actual electrical design, where you need automated circuiting and panel schedule creation? If not, I'd suggest AutoCAD LT, it's a lot cheaper. Or, use an alternative like ViaCAD or such like.

 

[marcosgue]

I'm not doing electrical design at this time, but I'm taking training for the near future. I got all your opinions and I'll take it to achieve my goal.
Thanks

 

[petersonra]

I think you will find that AutoCAD electrical while it has a lot of neat features for certain kinds of things is only really well suited for people who do the same kind of thing over and over again and have a lot of stuff that's repeatable. It takes a lot of time to set it up and get it working initially but it does save time on every job if you do the same thing over and over again. We have it at work and we've never actually used much of it. Until you set it up right it's just a lot faster to do it in AutoCAD by itself. If I were you I would get AutoCAD light. You have to pay for it by the month or by the year now anyway so you might as well start out with the cheap version. It will do everything you need as far as making electrical drawings goes as long as you're doing all the intelligence. If you want the software to do the work for you it's not the way to go.

 

[marcosgue]

I think in my primary stage to update my Autocad knowledge would be great light version like you say. One more questions, every Acad version (2018,19,..)have electrical interfase with symbols library, etc or I've to get it separated?
I'm sorry I was using Acad 2014 full time like ten years ago and I don't know nowadays.

 

[petersonra]

I think in my primary stage to update my Autocad knowledge would be great light version like you say. One more questions, every Acad version (2018,19,..)have electrical interfase with symbols library, etc or I've to get it separated?
I'm sorry I was using Acad 2014 full time like ten years ago and I don't know nowadays.

I would just make the blocks up as a\I needed them and stored them for future use. You will get 95% of what you use pretty quick that way.

You can buy symbol packages but it is not hard to do it yourself.

 

[zbang]

You can even find free symbol packages out there. The add-on parts seem to be database elements, which don't matter if you're not going to use them.

 

[marcosgue]

I'm very appreciated your suggestions and I'll follow up your advices.
Thanks you so much

 

[tortuga]

I have been using qcad for years now. Its just basic 2D CAD.
I am not excited about the idea of cloud based subscription stuff, like when my internet was down for a week...

I can share files with architects / engineers / cabinet shops etc
it does dwg and dxf
https://qcad.org/en/
Cost about $40, runs on mac / windows and Linux.
Nothing fancy
Gets the job done.
Has a great forum like this one with lots of support.
I save $1960 a year LOL in Autocad subscription fees and can run it on my Linux box.

(I also have to subscribe to sketchup for a few builders I work with.)