MakerGear Forum

I wanted to pass this on to you so no one else falls prey to this scam. A few months ago I got fed up with 3DCrafters inability to produce manifold stl files after bullion usage, so I looked into some higher end software. After pricing Autocad at $5000 I did a search for a cheaper open source alternative. During the search I found a link in a forum for a website that would sell a student copy for only $150. The "too good to be true" bells went off, but I thought what the heck, it's only $150. So I purchased a copy. I was relieved when I received the download link and serial number by email and installed and used it without a second thought. It turns out, it was a pirated serial number, which Autodesk has the ability to track. I would not have known, but I put it on my work computer and now my employer is potentially facing a $250,000 lawsuit. The company I purchased it from was operating under the name WarezCo. (Yeah, that should have been a red flag, but it was one of those "I don't want to know the truth" situations.) anyway if you see someone selling AutoCad 2016 student additions for $150 stay away.

student version are free on the Autodesk site so if you are a student and u want to use a student version you don't need to pay or look any further then the autodesk site

if you are a company and try to use a student version i don't think the problem is the 150$ but the fact that company shouldn't use student version in first place i guess but i just saying i don't know the facts at all.

Pekish79 wrote:student version are free on the Autodesk site so if you are a student and u want to use a student version you don't need to pay or look any further then the autodesk site

if you are a company and try to use a student version i don't think the problem is the 150$ but the fact that company shouldn't use student version in first place i guess but i just saying i don't know the facts at all.

Yes, I have since learned that. The fraud sites allow you to purchase the student version without proof that you are a student. They allow you to just check a box claiming that you are taking online courses.

honestly Autodesk official site doesn't require any prof that u are student either... if i remember correctly they only wanted an official university email or something like that

it may have changed since I used it but i am quite sure if you use it at home just to train yourself (and not in the office) u can probably figure out a way to get the student version from autodesk official site without problem.

Pekish79 wrote:honestly Autodesk official site doesn't require any prof that u are student either... if i remember correctly they only wanted an official university email or something like that

it may have changed since I used it but i am quite sure if you use it at home just to train yourself (and not in the office) u can probably figure out a way to get the student version from autodesk official site without problem.

You are very good at making someone who did something stupid feel even more stupid

Oh well, hind sight is 20 20.

sorry didn't mean it that way must be my lame english

Same deal with SolidWorks - you can get a two year student/non-commercial license for $150ish through various educational resources, but you need to send them a class schedule from a .edu email address if I recall. Fully functional but all your drawings, etc. will be watermarked with with something like "Student Edition" or "Educational Use Only" or something like that.

FYI, for anyone that would like to use AutoCad but not pay for it. Dassault makes a program called DraftSight which is a perfect AutoCad clone and it's free. In fact, I think it's better than the current AutoCad which has become absurdly large and bloated over the years. Even the keyboard shortcuts are identical, no need to pirate the real thing. You can download it here:

https://www.3ds.com/products-services/d ... -download/

HTH.

cheers,
c

Ouch! Hope it works out okay for you and your employer.

Vandal968 wrote:FYI, for anyone that would like to use AutoCad but not pay for it. Dassault makes a program called DraftSight which is a perfect AutoCad clone and it's free. In fact, I think it's better than the current AutoCad which has become absurdly large and bloated over the years. Even the keyboard shortcuts are identical, no need to pirate the real thing. You can download it here:

https://www.3ds.com/products-services/d ... -download/

HTH.

cheers,
c

This is good to know. Is there any chance that it can open AutoCad's dwg files?