Part 3 of this series of posts will cover creating an Electrical Cable/Harness using a From/To list.  There is a little more setup involved, but the automation is GREAT, which results in faster route creation.

Stay tuned…more to come!

I originally wanted to continue on and show how to manually insert electrical wires in this harness, but the length of the video would be almost doubled.  We will save that for Part 2!  In later posts I’ll go into some of the important details of the Routing package which include more information on the sub-assembly structure, Connection Points, Route Points, and special in-context capabilites that are only present in the routing package.  To watch Part 1 simple click on the image below to load the video.

The videos on this site should be much improved now in the way the flash video loads thanks to a recent upgrade to Camtasia Studio 6.  Let me know if you have any problems viewing it.  I still have a few new things in store for the videos in the future as I get time to explore some new tools at my disposal.

Stay tuned….more to come!

The viewing tool I’m talking about is the Roll View option.  It is available in the Right Mouse button menu in the graphics area.  It allows you to roll the model about an axis pointing normal to the viewing plane.  (The axis is coming out of your screen.)  Here’s a short video showing it off.

Alright folks, fess up!  If you have never noticed this viewing tool before, leave me a comment.  I’ll bet I’m not the only one!

I’ve got some other stuff in the works and will be picking up a USB microphone this week so I can start posting videos with voice again to the site.  My next “series” of posts will be about SolidWorks Routing.  This is something I have wanted to do for the site for quite some time and I’m looking forward to sharing some tips with you that will hopefully simplify the mystique that seems to surround that product at times.

SolidWorks 2010 Beta testing is going well.  As soon as the NDA is lifted I’ll have some videos ready to roll out that show off the new functionality.

Stay tuned…more to come!

Hardware reviews is not something I have done much on this site, but when I mentioned sharing my thoughts once my new Dell M6400 came in, I got some comments and even some e-mails asking me to post my thoughts.  So…here goes!

First, a little background.  I was running a Dell M90 that was a little over two years old.  In mid April, my system suddenly refused to boot up.  After some diagnostics run by our hard working IT department, it was determined that the video card was bad.  Dell had no replacement video cards in stock at the time, so they offered to replace my M90 with a brand new M6400.  I jumped at the chance and after about 10 days, my new system arrived!

Since it was a replacement system, I didn’t have much control over the specifications.  They were picked out by Dell to be “equivalent or better” to my M90 system.  Here are the specs:

Intel® Core^TM 2 Duo P8700 (2.53GHz 3M L2 Cache, 1066MHz) Dual Core
Windows XP Professional 32bit
17″ UltraSharp^TM WUXGA (1920×1200) LCD Display
NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M, 512MB Discrete
4.0GB, DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS
160GB Hard Drive, 7200RPM with Free Fall Sensor
8X DVD with Cyberlink Power DVD^TM
9 Cell Battery
Intel® WiFi Link 5100 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card
Internal English Backlit Keyboard

Now if I was setting the specs, I would have gone for a faster processor, 8GB of RAM, the FX3700 video card, and a larger hard drive.  I wasn’t going to complain though.  :-)  I was getting a pretty good deal here.  One upgrade that I had IT do was swap out the 160GB hard drive for a 320 GB drive.  Having lots of space is nice!

When we received the system our IT group put our “standard enterprise” software package on it which included MS Office 2007, Norton Endpoint virus protection, and a few other odds and ends.  I picked up the system and of course immediately installed SolidWorks.  I had to hit the ground running ASAP.

There were three major features that I immediately fell in love with on this system.  The first is the Numeral Pad on the keyboard.  Yeah, it’s a BIG laptop…but that is what you are going to have to live with if you truly want a mobile workstation.  Having a FULL keyboard is nice when I’m on the go.  The second feature is the backlit keyboard.  I never thought about how handy of a feature that would be, but I absolutely love it!  If you are in a dark room it is a must.  Dell did a very nice job in that it immediately comes on when it senses any action around the keyboard.  The third thing is probably the most surprising - the display.  I had the same WUXGA 1900×1200 on my M90, but I swear to you this one seems brighter and more crisp that what I had before.  (Yes..I knew where the brightness and contrast settings were on the previous system.)

We left Windows XP 32 bit on the system and I was off to the races.  Performance was good.  Everything seemed faster than my M90 as it should be.  Since I didn’t get a chance to run any benchmarks with the old system I don’t really have anything to compare to.  The graphics performance was good.  Not what I would call the best, but good.  I experienced a few glitches here and there, even with the latest SolidWorks certified drivers.  Before I really had much time to tune or troubleshoot the graphics issues, I ran into a slightly larger problem.  This problem really didn’t have anything to do with the system.  The current project I am working on is a large and complex assembly that had been pushing our machines to the limits of 32 bit operating system.  We turned on the 3GB switch and I had some SERIOUS stability issues.  Graphics performance was slow and unpredictable.  There were other “weird” issues that started popping up.  I almost immediately disabled it and everything returned to its previous state.  Looking back, I’m not quite sure why I started out with 32 bit, but after a few weeks, it was apparent that I was going to need a 64 bit OS very soon.

So, after running the system for a few weeks with Windows XP 32 bit.  The M6400 “headed back to the shop” (IT) for a re-format to Vista 64bit.  Why Vista 64 over XP 64?  Well, I relied on some of the best resources around.  My fellow users of the SolidWorks Community.  After polling many of my fellow SolidWorks users across the land, all were consistently saying I should go to Vista 64 bit.  Not only has it proved to run FASTER than XP 64 bit in several benchmarks, it seems to have less bugs, which if you think about it really makes sense.  Do you think Microsoft will be tripping over itself to fix bugs in Win XP 64 bit?  I didn’t think so either.  (A big thanks to Anna Wood, Devon Sowell, and Lou Gallo for their valued advice!)

Since I am in the middle of a “BIG” project (that is probably an understatement), we decided to purchase another 320 GB hard drive and put Vista 64 bit on it.  (They are only about $130.00 right now).  This way, if I had some show stopper issues with Vista 64, I could swap out the drives and be back up and running in Win XP 32bit almost immediately.  Also as part of this “upgrade” we added an additional 4 GB of RAM to the system.  Total cost for the RAM was not far off the price of the new hard drive.

This was my first full-time experience with Windows Vista.  I must say overall, I really like the new user interface.  Yeah, it is overkill in some areas and Vista  is a resource hog, but when you have 8 GB or RAM and no 2GB limit, suddenly that really isn’t all that big of a deal.  One thing I learned quickly is that the Certified video driver from SolidWorks requires that the Windows Aero interface be enabled.  During setup, our IT group had disabled it and I didn’t notice right away.  Props to Anna Wood and Ron Bates on the SolidWorks Forum for reminding me of this.

Outside of having to go out and find some new printer drivers and a few issues with Adobe CS3, the transition to 64 bit has been smooth.  You can run 32bit or 64bit browsers which comes in handy since Adobe Flash is not yet supported for 64 bit browsers.  (Come on, seriously, what is up with that Adobe!!)  Not having to worry about running out of virtual memory has been REALLY nice!  A few months back I was hoping to hold off on going to 64bit until Windows 7.  But since my work required it, I have become quite comfortable with Vista.  One of the things I REALLY like is the fact that you can setup your own shortcuts in the left side bar of your “My Computer” windows.  Another nice feature in Vista is that you can open multiple windows using Windows Photo Gallery.  This has come in handy for some Technical Editing I am doing for an upcoming book on SolidWorks by Alex Ruiz.

There were some posts on the SolidWorks Forum where users were having issues with the system when it goes into hibernate mode.  This was supposed to be addressed with a new BIOS from Dell.  I always turn hibernate mode off and shut down my system at night, so I can’t say for sure that all has been fixed there.  It appears that many folks that were having the issue before are no longer experiencing the same problems.  I’ve also heard of a few issues with the FX3700M video card.  Since I don’t have one in my system, I can’t really comment on that.  If you are considering getting one with that card, I would check out the SolidWorks Forums.  All of the recent comments seem to indicate there are less problems with that now with the BIOS revisions and some new Certified SolidWorks Video Drivers.

I hope some of this information is helpful to those interested in purchasing an M6400.  So far I am REALLY happy with the system and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good mobile workstation.  If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments and I’ll answer them if I can.

Stay tuned…more to come!

The time is almost upon us for SolidWorks 2010 Beta testing.  A few months back I received some information regarding target dates for some of the Beta releases and it turns out that they were pretty close.  I am hearing that SolidWorks 2010 Beta 1 is about a week away from posting to the Beta website at the Customer Portal.  Make sure you check out this post on my site or the recent post on Mike Puckett’s site for details on how to sign up.

I sent out some e-mails and a few Tweets via Twitter a few days ago asking if maybe the What’s New in SolidWorks 2010 Document could be uploaded at least a few days prior to the Beta 1 download.  I haven’t heard anything back from SolidWorks yet but did get quite a few enthusiastic “seconds” to that idea from some in the user community.  This would be a great way for Beta Testers to “study up” a bit prior to the download.

I have seen a few of the SolidWorks 2010 features a few months back but of course there is an NDA that is still in place until late in the Beta program.  All I can say is I REALLY liked what I saw.  Don’t forget that some of the new features of SolidWorks 2010 were revealed at SolidWorks World 2009.  Check out this post for a list of what has been revealed to the public.

I’ll post updates here as more details on the release time are revealed.

Stay tuned…much more to come!

UPDATE - 6-9-09: I’ve gotten a response back from Matt West on Twitter and a few e-mails as well.  SolidWorks is looking into the possibility of releasing the What’s New early and will get back to me.  I’ll post more as I get updates.

I’ve got some REALLY exciting stuff in the works for the site.  We are rapidly approaching SolidWorks 2010 Beta 1 release.  I’ll have some specific updates on that hopefully later this week.  You can bet as soon as the NDA is lifted you’ll be able to catch highlights of LOTS of new features here!

I’ve gotten some really nice comments and e-mails about the posted What’s New Guides.  I’m glad that many folks are finding the information useful.  I really didn’t know what the reaction would.  I’m pleasantly surprised to see that many folks think that having them ALL available for download from one site is as good of an idea as I thought it would be.

The work I am doing nowdays has taken me FAR away from the complex curvy parts I’ve grown accustomed to doing but has really opened my eyes to some areas of SolidWorks that I haven’t utilized lately.  With this I’ve got some new posts in mind to share some of my latest experiences with the software.

I’ve gotten my new Dell M6400 and am really pleased so far.  It came loaded with Windows XP pro 32 bit but NOW has Windows Vista 64 bit loaded!  I’ll share more about that saga later on.  I’ll just say this…I LOVE not having to worry about running out of memory anymore!! 

Stay tuned….more to come!

Have you ever wished that you could turn back time and look at what previous versions of SolidWorks looked like?  Perhaps you have a customer who is a few versions back and you can’t quite remember if they have access to one of the newer features.  Perhaps you are just plain curious and would like to see how far the software has come.  Nevertheless, until today, I have been unable to find a single website where you can download legacy documentation for ALL versions of SolidWorks.  I’m happy to announce that I’ve added a new page to the site which allows you to take as step back in time.  The What’s New Guides page contains ALL of the available SolidWorks What’s New Guides!   This is something that I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time and thanks to some help from SolidWorks Corp. and my good buddy Rich Hall, this idea is now a reality.  I turns out that the What’s New Guides only date back to SolidWorks 98Plus (in electronic form).  To cover the first couple of versions of SolidWorks, I have provided the User Guides.  (Some of which were not available in electronic form, so the data was taken directly from the Help files.)

Now, is this page going to increase your productivity at work?  No..probably not.  That is unless you are on a REALLY old version of SolidWorks and you catch a whiff of some of the new features in some of the latest What’s New Guides.  The main intention of this is to provide a little history for ALL SolidWorks users (new and old).  If you are a CAD History Buff…you are really gonna love this.  Check it out and let me know what you think!

Stay tuned….more to come!

There has been quite a bit going on lately which has resulted in a lack of posts here on the site.  I’m still here…just working on some “new” things.

The biggest news for me personally is that I am in the process of moving to a new home.  I don’t have to tell many of you how big of a job that can be.  This weekend will be filled with packing and sorting.  I’m moving to a house that has almost twice the square footage of our current home, so this will be a BIG move for my family.  With the move, I will finally have the Home Office I have dreamed of for quite some time!

Another “change” of sorts started late last week when my Dell M90 laptop ceased to function due to a failed video card.  It has been a good laptop overall in the 2+ years that I have had it.  The unusual thing about this hardware failure is that due to a shortage of replacement cards, Dell is replacing the ENTIRE system.  Not having my laptop which is my primary machine has no doubt thrown quite a kink into my work schedule and resulted in a few missed deadlines.  Thanks to our IT department, I have been able to keep working by getting a workstation on loan from another department.

I should receive a brand new M6400 system next week to replace my M90.  I didn’t lose any hard drive data (which is VERY GOOD).  So overall I should come out just fine aside from the missed deadlines.  I’ll be sure to post some reviews on the M6400 once I receive it and get some time with it. (Probably after I finish moving!)

If you read the SolidWorks Forums, there have been a few users who have had some issues with M6400 laptops.  Most of these laptops have had the Quadro M3700 video card which has a whopping 1 GB of on-board memory.  The common failures so far have been centered around overheating of the video card which has resulted in failed boards & motherboards.  My M6400, since it is an “equivalent” replacement, will have the Quadro M2700 video card which contains 512 Mb of on-board memory.  I must admit that I feel a little more at ease with this card at this point.  Time will tell.  One of the things I’m looking forward to the most with the M6400 is that the keyboard has dedicated number pad!

I’m also working on a new page for the site which hopefully will be ready next week.  It will offer some content that I think SolidWorks users (both new and old) will REALLY enjoy.  I can safely say that I haven’t seen any other site on the web that has offered this content.

That’s all for now… I’ve got some packing to do.  Stay tuned…MORE to come!

There are three Beta releases of SolidWorks 2010 currently scheduled.  The tentative schedule is as follows:
SolidWorks 2010 Beta 1:  06/08/09 - 07/03/09
SolidWorks 2010 Beta 2:  07/06/09 - 07/24/09
SolidWorks 2010 Beta 3:  07/27/09 - 08/14/09

As with previous Beta programs, SolidWorks is looking for customers that span many industry sectors which include:

• Machine Design
• Consumer Product Design
• Sheet Metal Design
• Routed Systems

Remember that you DO NOT need to be an “expert” user to participate!  Feedback is always welcome from ALL users.  If you want to read about some of the enhancements to SolidWorks 2010 that have already been made public, click HERE.

The priorities of the SolidWorks 2010 Beta Program are:

• To Find/Fix customer critical stability/performance/UI bugs not found internally or incorrectly prioritized
• Increase bandwith of testing permutations that cannot practically be covered internally

If you want a sneak peek of the new features coming in SolidWorks 2010 this is a GREAT opportunity to test drive the software and provide feedback which can at times be implemented prior to the release of SolidWorks 2010.  Many discussions during last year’s Beta Program directly led to changes in some of the new features of SolidWorks 2009.

No details of the contest prizes or point system have been released yet.  As soon as that information is made available, I’ll post it.

I can’t confirm for certain, but I believe the SolidWorks 2010 Beta Program will be managed through the Customer Portal just as it was last year.  To be eligible for the Beta program last year, you had to be on an active subscription contract.  I have not heard whether or not that will be a requirement for this year’s program, but I suspect it will.  To sign up for the Beta Program log into your Customer Portal Account and look for the “My Profile” icon as shown below.

On your Profile Page set the option for “Notify me for Beta Programs”.

I’m sure more details will be released as we inch closer to the first Beta period.  As with past programs, a special forum will be available for users to discuss the new features while still under the NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement).

Stay tuned….more to come!