TurboCAD has been around a long time, as measured in CAD years, being part of the second wave of desktop CAD that followed the AutoCADs and CADKEYs of the early 1980s. I recall seeing TurboCAD at Comdex '86 or '87. It was called "Turbo"CAD becuase it was written using TurboPascal; its original developers were located in South Africa.
There's a whole story of how IMSI (short for "International Microcomputer Software, Inc.") over-marketed the software, selling it for US$29 through glossy mail compaigns and even giving away one million copies free. That the company nearly went out of business confirms my postulate that CAD software cannot be cheap.
The switch from DOS to Windows was rough, as it was for many other CAD vendors. But TurboCAD survived, and provides remarkable value for its less-than-AutoCAD-LT pricing. Programming has shifted to Russia, and IMSI still (unfortunately) resorts to exclamation marketing -- "TurboCAD Professional Version 10 is offered at an amazingly low upgrade price of ONLY $99.95 (regularly $795)! That's a savings of $695! -- you'll also get $100 in BONUS GIFTS—FREE! (Offer not valid in Australia/New Zealand and parts of Europe.)"
Can your copy of AutoCAD (never mind LT) do this?
* 3D dimensioning.
* Convert existing lines, polylines, circles and curves into walls; intelligent roofs.
* Creation of solids from surfaces, and surfaces from solids.
* Deformable modeling using NURBS; axis scaling of all ACIS objects.
* STEP and IGES import/export filters.
* Facet editing of ACIS 3D objects and surfaces.
Not that TurboCAD is for everyone. Some don't like its user interface; others have had problems with its quality. Still, here is CAD package that does a heck of lot.
About your statement that IMSI almost went out of business: it had nothing to do with TurboCAD. In fact, it was pretty much TurboCAD that kept them afloat! Their business woes were based entirely upon a lawsuit on one of IMSI's other business divisions (now sold off: arttoday.com).
Joe Tilman
(I don't work for them, but I am a fan of TurboCAD)
Posted by: Joe | Mar 17, 2004 at 06:08 PM
I work for Avanquest and represent TurboCAD for the UK market. Two weeks ago I gave a demo to a chap that AutoDesk had quoted £15,000 as a solution to his requirements. After a demo he bought TurboCAD professional Platinum for £800 and he told me that it did everything he needed.
Paul Tracey
Posted by: Paul Tracey | Oct 30, 2008 at 10:07 AM