Does anyone here use Solid Works on their Surface Pro?

[godson594]

Hello all,

As the title states, I'm wondering if anyone is using Solidworks on their Surface pro? I am looking for a device that can replace my 13" Macbook air, Wacom tablet and iPad... The Sp2 might just be that device.

I'm concerned going down to a small screen might not be very enjoyable. So if anyone on here uses it please let me know what you think, I saw a YouTube video but the guy didn't seem too thrilled.

Thanks a million

p.s. Looking at the 256GB / 8GB SP2 version

 

[sossqq]

Hello all,

As the title states, I'm wondering if anyone is using Solidworks on their Surface pro? I am looking for a device that can replace my 13" Macbook air, Wacom tablet and iPad... The Sp2 might just be that device.

I'm concerned going down to a small screen might not be very enjoyable. So if anyone on here uses it please let me know what you think, I saw a YouTube video but the guy didn't seem too thrilled.

Thanks a million

p.s. Looking at the 256GB / 8GB SP2 version

I used to think the same before i bought SP1; but, surprisingly I didn't noticed or had any problem with smaller screen.
it will replace all of your tablets.
Although, It wont be as comfortable as laptop especially ultra books.

 

[ARosch]

I used to think the same before i bought SP1; but, surprisingly I didn't noticed or had any problem with smaller screen.
it will replace all of your tablets.
Although, It wont be as comfortable as laptop especially ultra books.

Your reply did not seem very specific. Have you or have you not used Solidworks on your Surface Pro?

I am looking at making the jump from an RT and laptop to just a Pro, which would require me to do Solidworks on the Pro.

Have people successfully used any type of CAD software on their Pro? Solidworks and Inventor are the two that I would be interested in.

 

[SEANT]

If you needed to get a sense of how it would work on the smaller touch screen you could set up Remote Desktop (RDP) on the Surface RT.

I’ve done that with AutoCAD and have to admit the CAD experience was rather painful. I should point out that my typical workstation had two monitors so I’m conditioned to the comfort of vast screen real-estate. Small screen notwithstanding, I could still get useful work done.

Trying to use AutoCAD with the touch only interface brings up other issues. The hover functionality needed for Object Snaps is missing. Any touch friendly update from Autodesk would have to deal with that right quick.

As it currently stands - and if I had a Surface pro - I would definitely bring the Typepad and mouse with me into the field.

 

[godson594]

I'm going to give it a shot.. I plan to pickup mouse/type cover and I also use a 3d space navigator

Worst comes to worse ill return it if it doesn't work for me. I'm hoping I'll love it tho!

 

[Krooked]

I'm going to give it a shot.. I plan to pickup mouse/type cover and I also use a 3d space navigator

Worst comes to worse ill return it if it doesn't work for me. I'm hoping I'll love it tho!

I use Lightwave3D and the entire Adobe Creative suite on my SP. However, I needed to create a new user account with the scaling set to 100% (instead of using the preset default). This was needed to "move" properly in 3D space. Any amount of Desktop Scaling seems to cause problems with keyboard motion control, and I imagine it will cause issues with the navigator.

 

[TheSurfaceCad]

Hey there godson, I've installed Product design suite ultimate on mine. Inventor 2014 works pretty damn well - I haven't opened any massive assemblies yet but on the small ones it's a little slower than my desktop yet very usable. As I hate trackpads I've got my spacemouse & MS arc mouse hooked up, both work fine.

The screen is small, that's the downside, but I'm using the OneNote app (which is a joy to use) side by side to capture ideas and it's a really nice way of working.

The funkiest thing has been using Mudbox (digital sculpting). Unfortunately only Mudbox 2010 works as the newer ones need a graphics card.

Oh and when I'm Ray Tracing in Inventor the fans go crazy and it gobbles the battery. I reckon it'll last under an hour. Might go for the record!

 

[godson594]

Thanks guys - I'm anxious to get it more than ever

 

[SEANT]

. . . .
Trying to use AutoCAD with the touch only interface brings up other issues. The hover functionality needed for Object Snaps is missing. Any touch friendly update from Autodesk would have to deal with that right quick.

As it currently stands - and if I had a Surface pro - I would definitely bring the Typepad and mouse with me into the field.

I posted an article here describing touch features I'd like to see in future Window releases. The self quote above describes the gist of the post. How would that affect your workflow?

 

[ARosch]

If you needed to get a sense of how it would work on the smaller touch screen you could set up Remote Desktop (RDP) on the Surface RT.

I’ve done that with AutoCAD and have to admit the CAD experience was rather painful. I should point out that my typical workstation had two monitors so I’m conditioned to the comfort of vast screen real-estate. Small screen notwithstanding, I could still get useful work done.

Trying to use AutoCAD with the touch only interface brings up other issues. The hover functionality needed for Object Snaps is missing. Any touch friendly update from Autodesk would have to deal with that right quick.

As it currently stands - and if I had a Surface pro - I would definitely bring the Typepad and mouse with me into the field.

I was more interested in finding out how well the processor handled it and how much battery life you would get. I would love to be able to CAD on a touch screen, but as it stands, I won't even do it with a trackpad. I need a mouse and always carry one that I would use for CAD. I have tried the remote desktop option before, but that doesn't really answer any of my questions unfortunately.