Avanquest TurboCAD 15 Deluxe

NOTE: Pricing for this product is in US$.

TurboCAD in its various iterations is easily one of the longest running CAD software programs ever created with a product lifespan in excess of twenty one years — and resulting in claimed sales of 2 million copies. Its not difficult to see why it's been so successful as this latest, version, TurboCAD 15 Deluxe, costs just US$129.95.

TurboCAD 15 Deluxe is a versatile piece of computer-aided design (CAD) software as it can not only do standard 2-D/3-D technical drawings in AutoCAD's .DWG format and .DXF drawing exchange format files (amongst many others) but is also handy in many other areas of design. It can turn its hand to product design, furniture design, kitchen and micro engineering detail design in 3D. It features good quality rendering with colour shading and lighting effects.

Included in the TurboCAD 15 Deluxe package is an useful roster of library samples, consisting of building construction, electrical, circuit boards and furniture. There are also many examples of component templates which are really useful for quick visualisations and as comparative tools against which to assess new designs.

The creation of colour transparencies with either 2-D or 3-D designs aids its functionality and gives professional results when crafting graphic design, logos and even brochures for all these newly designed products.

However, all this versatility and generous-for-the-price specification may be somewhat lost on the beginner as TurboCAD 15 Deluxe's user interface is not the slickest. It cannot compare to AutoCAD or even Photoshop, for instance — TurboCAD is a bit messy and non-intuitive as a result.

A further limitation for the novice is the printed user guide, which at 470 pages long and about the thickness of a paperback novel isn't the easiest read. It has a dry-looking layout that even some intermediate users could find convoluted. Much better would have been split up volumes of user manuals, with quick reference guides printed in larger format paper with colour screenshots.

TurboCAD 15 Deluxe is a versatile tool for mechanical design, architecture and much more.