Topic Title

Does anyone know where I can download DataCAD 10 Test Drive from. It's no longer on datacad.com

I don't think Datacad 10 is for sale anymore,thus the test drive is removed. I think you would have to buy it from someone who wants to sell a old copy. Just curious, what version are you using now, and what features are you looking to get out of the upgrade? There are several other questions to ask about your useage, but we can get to those in a bit.

I am using 10 now and need the demo to help train other staff that normally use ArchiCAD. I am not looking for additional features or upgrades. We have been told that the office will not be going to 11 but instead to ArchiCAD. However, we have 10 years of work on DataCAD and still need to use it for current and past jobs.

Why leave DataCAD... especially for ArchiCAD?

Never heard of anyone intentionally downgrading... oh wait, where i work now they went from AutoCAD to SoftPlan, back to AutoCAD...





I'll never stray from DataCAD for my Companies work.

Not wanting to start a DataCAD vs ArchiCAD war here. Both have their merits. I have been using DataCAD for 11 years fulltime and ArchiCAD on and off for 5 years. In my opinion, ArchiCAD is a far easier (better?) program to use for 3D. Say what you want, but DataCAD is a cumbersome 3D program and not user friendly. 2D is a totally different story. It runs rings around anything and for that reason I will continue to use it. When you need to pump out a quick sketch plan and elevation or section you can. If you don't know exactly what a building is doing you can fudge it. In ArchiCAD you can't lie. The model has to be correct or the elevations.section will be all wrong. 2D in ArchiCAD is even more cumbersome than 3D in DataCAD. Plotting in ArchiCAD has knobs on it too, but it's just a case of accepting that things are done differently. Hope I havn't upset the fraternity

Just read your reply with some curiosity. We're over in Darwin, NT and have also just had the Archicad rep hit town and entice offices to jump ship. I've been using DataCAD for about 14 years, and several other packages on and off. Have you/your office looked at Spirit 12 (current version of DataCAD Plus) as it has hybrid parametrics so you can design using 'smart' walls etc. (like Archicad), but being hybrid instead of BIM, you're not limited to having to model/build everything. It works virtually the same as DataCAD given it uses similar code and therefore would be able to use all previous projects (opens DC3, DC5, DC+, DC6, S12 files and DXF/DWG etc.). Like Archicad, it too also includes Lightworks for rendering, sun studies, animation etc. and has about 15x the object library of Archicad, is a fraction of the price, includes o2c, xrefs, terrain modeller etc. etc.
Having gone through the tutorials/demo of Archicad, yes it can achieve the outcome, as all the other packages can, it does have some quirks but also some good points, but in our opinion is SLOW to use. Has your office serious evaluated other options or just gone with the hype we had from the Archicad rep?

Hi Mark,

Are you with Peddles? I've heard your name before. We didn't get sold ArchiCAD in one visit. We've actually had it in parallel to Dcad since version 5. We upgraded to 8.1 and did a version 9 training course. The main reason for changing is one of support and staff availability. Cairns used to be flooded with Dcad users but they are now very thin on the ground. No architectural office I know off uses it and it seems only self employed building designers or one man architectural companies are still using it. We've tried for the last 3 years to get staff, but to no avail. When we advertised australia wide, we got only AutoCAD and ArchiCAD people applying. We've now employed and Archicad user, however I am considered the cad and technical guru in the office and consequently I get asked all the questions on how to use Archicad. I was sweet talked into moving over to Archicad with the offer of a new PC of my choice! I suspect for the rest of the year, it will be 50/50 between the two.

So to answer your question, no I did not consider Spirit. Nor did I consider Microstation, BOA, Revit or any other package. Perhaps I'm not getting "THE BEST SOLUTION", but it works for us.

Hello again,

Yes - I use to be one of the directors of Peddle Thorp Darwin and resigned and set up my own practice last year...and doing very well!!
I also use to contribute to MultiCAD etc. so maybe that's where you heard my name? It appears Archicad has , over the past 5-8 years gained a good foothold in Australia, probably replacing DataCAD in many offices. The rep certainly 'pushes' the product, though having trialed it since v5, I think Archicad is one you either like or don't.
There's still quite a few DataCAD user's over here, but AutoCAD still predominates, which we like as we know we have the advantage using DataCAD/Spirit. I personally think that if the US-German link had been successful, there would be more users as DataCAD (Spirit) would have the 'smart' parametrics that most want (or think they need). There's a few offices up here using Acad (2D) and Archicad (3D) which sees to defeat the purpose as they still have to operate 2 systems!

We've also been approached by AEC systems flogging Revit offering all sorts of incentives. I used to be the Regional Architect at Project Service which is AutoCAD based, however, there was also a change there over to ArchiCAD pushed by the townville office. I have never once been approached by a DataCAD rep offering upgrades or information on new packages. It's up to me to keep to be pro active about new developments. That's not support to me.

I agree, the lack of major advertizing/promotions is perhaps DataCAD's weakest point, though in contrast the purchase price is much less compared to other major CAD systems were a percentage of your purchase dollar goes to promoting the package to other potential customers.