Designer 3.0 costs what?

[lynnfrwd]

Well, I'm afraid, I can't answer that...

[DocWheeler]

After my post on page #5 yesterday I soon modified it because it was too harsh and it did not express exactly what I intended. I'm sorry that I came across the way that I did, and hope to do better from now on.

For me, and a lot of others, this forum has been a pleasant place to share with friends. This is being threatened, and that bothers me. Those who have not "paid the price" for the most recent Designer software are left out of the conversations because we/they cannot open the mpcs. As the price goes up there are more and more of us that will be left out of the discussions and the forum (that has been so helpful to new owners) will wither.

For a lot of us, the CW is either the most expensive tools in the shop or among the most expensive to buy. It is perhaps the most expensive to maintain even though we do it willingly in order to be able to create the things it allows us to build.

The apparent attitude that there is value in the product that the company wants to extract causes anxiety because it creates a feeling of recklessness and greed that threatens our wellbeing. We lose the “family” of friends, LHR loses one of its major assets, and the machines themselves become seen as less of an asset and more of a liability.

I would propose that the software people create a viewer for any mpc to be opened to view by anyone regardless if Designer version (or add-on) to solve at least one of the problems created by the company’s software policies. This could also help sales as people see what can be created with the expensive new software and add-ons.

[Durtdawber]

Just trying to remind Joe where it came from a representative of LHR. Sorry but that is why I was waiting and not upgrading to latest and greatest. I'm sure others have waited also.

Jeff

Joe said "Designer 2 will not become the free basic version. That was not promised by LHR. It was discussed by other members of the forum, but not confirmed or guaranteed by LHR."

Jeff,

You are correct on the statement about previous version becoming the basic free and about the source of this statement. I spent 2 hours searching the forum for the thread last night but it has been removed.

[Dale]

That "viewer" program sounds like a good idea. I have no idea how hard or expensive it would be to create but it seems like it would certainly increase their sales.

[Durtdawber]

At the risk of taking this thread in a slightly different direction, but still address pricing and LHR's ability to generate operating income and profit, why not add an "output to gcode" feature?

Since Carvewright machine owners do not need this feature, a pricing structure that is favorable to machine owners could be established while selling the software product to non-machine owners at a more "profitable" level.

I would argue with anyone that the Designer software is among the most sophisticated, feature laden and easy to use CNC design software on the market to day. Imagine the profit potential that could be tapped by allowing it to be used by non-machine users. LHR could even build in features that can only be accessed by machine owners as an incentive for customers to purchase the machine/software combo instead of just the gcode version of the software.

Just a thought and I'm sure it is not an original one.

[brdad]

A "viewer" is a good idea and would be easy to make. In fact, there already is one - it's called a trial version. I've mentioned this before without reply but IMO there is no need for the time constraints on the trial versions. The trial versions are already coded so you can't save or carve projects, so it's not like they are of any use other than to view the newer projects or to try out the software. It seems to me that disabling the time limit for trial versions would benefit both LHR and the end user. When 2.0 came out, I tried it out, it had a lot of bugs, things got busy and my time ran out. Had I been able to play with it more and see it's features when the mood struck me, I would have been more likely to buy it. I can't imagine I am the only person this happened to.

In LHR's defense, we were told we could have the trial reset so we could test it again, but once again it'd only be good for a month. So I held off not knowing when I'd have time to play with it, and then some Friday night at 10 PM I'm bored and would like to try it and don't have it available. And the next thing you know, now V3 is out.

So now I don't even want to start the V3 trial because things are hectic right now and I would like it available when the mood hits me. V4 will likely be here before I know it.

If it's a matter of having outdated trial versions working forever, then set the trial to one or two years, so there would likely be a new trial version out to replace it.

[aokweld101]

That "viewer" program sounds like a good idea. I have no idea how hard or expensive it would be to create but it seems like it would certainly increase their sales.

I have a little something to say about the capabilities about the 1.87, the 2.007 and the 3.0 when I found out when they upgraded 2.0 it wasn't a big deal for me until I found out that I couldn't see the patterns on the forum, that made me feel like I was in a debtors prison for not being able to afford the 2.0, I finally was able to buy the 2.0. that was four months ago, now the 3.0 is out... so now the ones that still have the 1.87 can't see the patterns done on the forum with the 2.007 or 3.00 so its almost being forced to buy the upgrades just to keep up whether you need it or not. If you could see the work being done in the newer software, I to would think it would progress the sales also instead of feeling its a have to situation. I also feel that if this is the way it goes on the software I'll wait for the 4.00 comes out and save a $100.00 at that time....

[TerryT]

I have a little something to say about the capabilities about the 1.87, the 2.007 and the 3.0 when I found out when they upgraded 2.0 it wasn't a big deal for me until I found out that I couldn't see the patterns on the forum

Actually, the patterns work regardless of your PD Version. The Mpc's, on the other hand, do not. But that isn't anything new. That is the way it has been since the beginning. I think my first version was 1.13 and it has been that way since 2007. However, with free upgrades, everyone had the latest version. I think the idea someone had of adding a screen shot to their post so even those of us who are still on version 1.86 can see it was a good one. Although the suggestion of a "viewer" sounds great I think it would be too time intensive and costly to make something that would work with all versions. In fact it may not even be possible.

I guess I got confused along the way. It seems this thread has become a general dumping ground and lost the focus of the original questions. Is this about paying for the upgrades? Or paying too much for the upgrades? Or is it more that some folks don't feel they were treated fairly when it came to purchasing V2 just before the release of V3? Or are we concerned about what appears to be an abandonment of support for previous versions?

Maybe we should close this threat and start fresh with specific questions in separate threads.

[henry1]

I have a little something to say about the capabilities about the 1.87, the 2.007 and the 3.0 when I found out when they upgraded 2.0 it wasn't a big deal for me until I found out that I couldn't see the patterns on the forum, that made me feel like I was in a debtors prison for not being able to afford the 2.0, I finally was able to buy the 2.0. that was four months ago, now the 3.0 is out... so now the ones that still have the 1.87 can't see the patterns done on the forum with the 2.007 or 3.00 so its almost being forced to buy the upgrades just to keep up whether you need it or not. If you could see the work being done in the newer software, I to would think it would progress the sales also instead of feeling its a have to situation. I also feel that if this is the way it goes on the software I'll wait for the 4.00 comes out and save a $100.00 at that time....

Well said I will wait now

[lynnfrwd]

Screen shots also help those of us on Tapatalk.