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yog

07-18-2002, 10:12 PM

Someone else on another forum said they had heard that although the upgade price for MAX 5 is going to stay the same (I'm not too chuffed at this), the base package will ship WITHOUT printed manuals, but that they can be purchased seperately for an additional cost :thumbsdow

I was going to dismiss this out of hand as a wild unconfirmed rumour, but the last release of Archtectural Desktop (another Autodesk product) shipped without printed manuals. At the time I thought it was because we were running multiple copies on a network licence, but now I'm not so sure :shrug:

I was in two minds whether to upgrade, I really want the new radiosity renderer, but if I have to buy locally (UK) which seems likely, then I will nearly be paying as much for the upgrade as some of MAX's competitors (Lightwave, Maya) cost for a complete licence.

Oh well, I guess we will find out in a week or two :shrug:

LFShade

07-18-2002, 10:24 PM

Many software companies are going this direction with their documentation, so it wouldn't be unusual for Discreet to do so as well. The docs are still there, they're just not not in print. It makes referencing them bit more difficult while working, but I can understand the motivation for the change.

yog

07-18-2002, 11:44 PM

Just got it confirmed over at www.discreet.com :thumbsdow

Unfortunately I'm one of those people who don't find it very easy reading from the online docs (concentration too easily wanders) so printed manuals are a must for me.
Besides this is extra amunition to MAX's two closest competitors I have already mentioned, both of which come with complete sets of printed manuals as well as online manuals.
Can you imagine what an advertising coup this is going to be for them, "At a time when "we" are expanding our feature set whilst at the same time cutting the cost to our customers, Discreet has kept the same high price whilst giving their customers less for their money (i.e. no printed manuals)".

I've also just confirmed the prices, the upgrade to MAX 5 is going to cost me MORE than a complete licence of Lightwave 7.5.
(upgrade £595 + manuals £65) x 17.5% Tax + £15 shipping = £790 = $1,146
Because I own a competitive product a full copy of Lightwave 7.5 (complete with manuals = $995.

It could be a long while before I upgrade to MAX 5 (if at all), as I want to be damn sure that it will be worth it, and not just mainly MAX 4.2 with a load of free scripts added as some people seem to think.

Chris

07-18-2002, 11:50 PM

I think this is one of those cases of 'you cant please all the people...'. Discreet did canvas opinion from a few sources (one was the webboard) over who preferred printed documentation over online docs, the majority unfortunately liked online documentation only. In their defence, if you buy the books, they seem to be quite resonably priced (I think I'll get them, gives me something to read late @ night :D )

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