software purchase...

Carlson Autocad built in , cant go wrong . I have thousands of jobs on it . Sooo easey to use.

Do not go Intellicad .

I been using Calson since 2003 and have been very happy with it . I did try a month on Traverse PC and it has it benefits but the more I got into it the more it was not for me .

Go with the Carlson iCAD... You will not be disappointed. It is stable, works great, I have done 10,000 point topos with ease. Try it out, they will give you 30 days to try it and 30 with the built in engine to compare.

Carlson iCAD is good stuff... You will regret no switching years ago

I switched from ACAD LDD to Carlson/ICAD about 2 years ago. So far am very happy. Don't know why people keep whining about it being unstable. I haven't found that to be the case.

That CAD girl...

She recently did a complete comparison between ACAD and Intellicad for one of the survey mags...cant remember which one, but I would look it up if I were you, it answered most of these questions.

CAD LEVEL?

What is your CAD level?

Carlson Standalone is to Carlson w/ CAD or ICAD what Survey Complete is to LDD. Gets the job done, but the functionality is limited. If you are a menu guy, go with Carlson standalone. If you are an above average CAD jockey, you will loathe the standalone.

I switched our company over from the same set up you are using to Carlson Survey 2010 with embedded AutoCad. Best move we ever made. You can get 3 or 4 seats of Carlson with embedded AutoCAD for the price of a single seat of C3D.
The Intellicad version out now is VERY close to where it needs to be, but it is not quite there yet. Give them 2 or 3 more upgrades and that package will be hard to beat.
I have had friends buy the Intellicad version and then switch over later. Right now I am doing a 40,000 point topo (yes, fourty thousand points) and I am having no problems with the package.
The MOST IMPORTANT decision you have to make is NOT so much which software, but how do you plan on using it. The transition from your current set up to Carlson with embedded AutoCAD is fairly easy. BUT, learning all of the power things will require someone showing you how to use it properly. Getting it installed and fully configured is the key. Training by a Carlson College member is the key to success. If you cannot budget for that, then find someone in your area that is willing to help you out. The good ole days of whipping out the manual and teaching yourself are LONG GONE.
If you were in Mississippi, I would save a weekend to help you set up your system and show you all the little tricks I have figured out. There has to be someone in your area that would do the same for you. For a case of cold Corona, you can learn most anything you want!! B-)

ICAD is missing grips editing. That is, ICAD has a version of grips editing, but it just isn't nearly the same. If your fingers, like mine, have been grips editing for years without input from your brain then you are going to dislike ICAD for that one reason alone.

Carlson is pretty cool about its upgrade path. Try the ICAD if price is a big deal. You've got a 30 day demo free anyway. Even after that you can upgrade for the price difference.

If you were delivering alignments and surfaces to clients I'd suggest sticking with the LDT/C3d path. But you are not. So go with Carlson. That is, unless you are using Leica equipment, in which case you may want to look at Microsurvey.

If you really are just doing boundary maps you may want to look into Traverse PC. I've never used it, but I've known some guys who have and think it's great. Pretty dang cheap.

> So go with Carlson. That is, unless you are using Leica equipment, in which case you may want to look at Microsurvey.

Pretty sure I have seen Andy in photos with orange equipment, BUT, yes if you have Leica gear and are not married to something else, MicroSurvey is probably going to be a good choice.

I have heard from a pretty reliable source that MicroSurvey will now read a DBX file directly from Leica field gear, meaning you can collect away using SmartWorx and go directly to MicroSurvey. If they get that implemented to work 100% correct, wow! This is brand new, like in the last few weeks.

The same source reports that the pathway from MicroSurvey to Leica North America is very short. For Leica users this is good for interactive development and I would expect the two product lines to become tightly integrated. Leica has needed a product like MicroSurvey for about 20 years, let's hope the ball doesn't get dropped like I hear Trimble did with TerraModel.

For the record I don't use Carlson or MicroSurvey and have in the last few months posed the same questions as Andy.

SHG

Andy,

I used to do tech support for LDD/ACAD way back when, so I have always been an AutoCAD guy BUT, when I went out on my own I needed a cost-effective way to get the job done. I went w/ Carlson on Icad and figured if I really needed to I'd pony up for the ACAD version. I don't think I've missed anything going with Icad. There's little differences that worked themselves out. For plats and layout calcs, I don't really think that you'd be missing a whole lot. Still using Carlson 2012 and liking it a lot. I have 2013 loaded, but feel too comfortable w/ 2012. Once you get the styles/templates/etc. set up, then you should be able to rock & roll. It took me a couple of months, but most everything CAD has become routine.

Go with Carlson. There will be a bit of a learning curve if you upgrade AutoSAD. It's changed significantly.

If you are big into cad go with Autocad, either the stand alone or embedded. With that said Carlson 2013 with Icad 7.2 has come along ways and will do most if not all you need it to do and at a much reduced cost than acad. Also, if you go with Carlson you will get the option to select between Acad or Intellicad as your cad engine.

I too work at a small company running LDD3 on ACAD2000. I have had the opportunity to use both C3D 2012 and Carlson 2012 w the ACAD imbed while taking some classes. Not a fan of C3D at all, Carlson was different but very easy to get a handle on, if I was wondering how to do something I would just look in the logical menu and there it was. Not so w C3D. I am now pushing to get Carlson in here at work.

What are the differences between the standalone and embedded versions? I run LDD 2007 and not fimilar with carlson. Is carlson anything like C&G?

I think Carlson bought out C & G, so yes, they are C&G. You can load the c-n-g menus if you are used to that interface.
The embedded version is stand alone with a watered down cad engine that don't have all the functionality of a full blown cad package, but is "stand alone".
The other one runs in Icad or Acad. Icad is free with the package.

I purchased Bentley Power Survey v8i it does everything I need. A single seat stand alone license is $1500
( with no yearly fees. and it works in dwg mode.

I have used Carlson in the field and office as well ( and i liked it ) but for me the Microstation was more affordable.

"Stand Alone" basically means that it is not the "server" version. It is fully loaded on each work station.Thus you can have a "stand alone" that loads on top of autoCad, or runs Intellicad, or has the embedded AutoCad.
The only "water down" of AutoCad in the embedded version is that it will not run LISP routines. AutoCad will not license that ability. Otherwise, the embedded version is pretty much the same as regular AutoCAD. ALL of the lisp routines that I used before in LDD seem to be already built into Carlson, so I have lost nothing in the switch.
IF you are a C&G fan, that comes with the Carlson Survey with embedded AutoCAD, at least ut did with my 2010 version.
If you are a Softdesk fan, Carlson will be a fairly easy transition.
With real training the transition is not a problem at all. As I have stated before, training is critical to any new software. Any money that you spend in that area will be recouped in no time at all.
Once you get the software configured and your Field To Finish set up, you will see a dramatic drop in your costs and overhead due to the increased productivity. When it is working as it should, an increase in productivity by a factor of 3X to 4X is not unreasonable to expect. At least that is what my company has experienced.