Sometimes when testing newer versions of Software you discover some “unreported” enhancements that really can be a time saver.  That type of enhancement is the source of this post, but first we’ll take an overall look at the enhancements to Tables in SolidWorks 2010.

As reported in my SolidWorks 2010 Enhancements Highlight article, all Tables in SolidWorks 2010 now behave VERY similarly to Microsoft Excel.  You can now use the Tab key and arrow keys to quickly switch between cells during data entry.  In previous versions, you had to double-click EACH CELL to make a modification.  This could make entering data in any type of table a painfully slow experience.  Below is a link to a video that highlights the Excel behavior in tables.

Last week I got a question from one of our users concerning tables.  He was working on a cable drawing that contained a couple of “custom” tables that were produced in Microsoft Excel.  The tables were pasted into SolidWorks which utilizes standard Windows OLE (Object Linking/Embedding) to display the Excel information inside the SolidWorks Window.  In previous versions, we stored the Microsoft Excel document inside the Design Binder of the Drawing document.  The user noted that when opening a Design Binder document in SolidWorks 2010, the default behavior was now set to open Microsoft Excel WITHIN the SolidWorks Window which is similar to the behavior you see when you create or edit a Design Table.

As we were discussing the table behavior, a thought popped into my head.  I wonder if I can import the Excel data into a SolidWorks General Table?  Having the Table in SolidWorks will allow for easier table editing and more precise font and cell sizing options since OLE isn’t in use.

This table was HUGE.  About 5 columns wide and 49 rows tall.  As a test, I created a General Table that matched the column and row count.  I then editing the Excel table to where I could access the data directly in Excel.  I copied all the cells to the clipboard.  After exiting the Excel interface, I tried pasting the data from the clipboard to the new General Table I just created.  It worked!  All the Font sizes and type were perfectly preserved.

So with this little trick…it won’t take very long for users to convert OLE type Excel tables to General Tables!  There are lots of documented features to export tables, but nothing is shown for importing table information from a spreadsheet.  Below is a link to a video that shows off the Excel Import trick.

The new table behavior is a welcome change and this little import trick really completes it.

Stay tuned….more to come!

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If you are active in the CAD world and haven’t heard of Al Dean and Develop3D, then you are seriously missing out.

Al does a great job of looking at the MCAD Industry as a whole and his latest article lays out what I think is a spot on prediction of the future of SolidWorks.  This is a must read for all SolidWorks users!

SolidWorks World 2010 – Next generation picture starts to clear

Stay tuned…more to come!

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One of the things that attendees look forward to the most when attending SolidWorks World is the sneak peek of the next version of SolidWorks. Attendees were treated to TWO previews this year since the SolidWorks Cloud technology was shown on Monday. Wednesday’s General Session has in recent tradition been the day where we get to see some new features in the software that we will have later this year.

Last year SolidWorks went away from doing their traditional “skit” but it made a triumphant return and was as funny (if not funnier) than ever. This year’s skit was the “Super CAD Smack Down”. It had a “Sportcenter” feel to it as Darren Henry & Neil Cook did play by play while Jeremy Regnerus and Ian Hogg tried to one up each other by showing off new features of SolidWorks 2011. Mark Schneider joined them as the “referee”.  Ok…on to the new features….

Reliability & Performance

According to SolidWorks, 50% of the overall effort going into SolidWorks 2011 is going to be focused on improving the reliability and performance of the software. This goes back to the common message of the conference in that their focus is on solving the everyday problems of the common user. Users will certainly appreciate this if some gains can be made without negative effects in other areas of the product. The performance improvements shown include better memory management. A graph was shown that indicates better overall memory utilization which result in as much as 460 Mb LESS memory used by SolidWorks. (I do not know what the overall memory utilization was when they measured the 460 difference but will try to find out.)

Up to Surface Revolve

This one is almost self explanatory. SolidWorks has added an “Up to Surface” end condition to the Revolve command. I would assume this command would be available with both extrude & cut options, but only the extrude option was shown.

Defeature

The Defeature tool allows users to take assemblies with large amounts of internal components and convert them to part files. This may not sound like a big deal but there are some nice options with this. You can set which components are removed by the setting a physical size filter in the PropertyManager. In the gearbox example shown, the assembly file was converted to a featureless part file with no internal components or cavity. Only the outer surfaces were preserved. This is a great tool for users who are trying to put assemblies like the example show up to 3D ContentCentral but don’t want to share the details of the internal components for various reasons. In fact there is an option in the Defature tool to upload the model to 3D ContentCentral. Also noteworthy with this feature was the fact that you could come back in and REDEFINE the Defeature and change it at any time. This feature appears to be similar to features in some other CAD packages that are often called “shrinkwrap”.

More Appearance Options & Better Integration with Photoview 360

With PhotoWorks being phased out in SolidWorks 2011, Appearances seem to have received some additional settings which appears to be similar to some previous settings in PhotoWorks. You have more fine tune control over the appearance and you can easily pull up a PhotoView 360 preview window within the SolidWorks software. This will allow users to quickly compare what the PV360 rendering will look like as they are applying and tweaking Appearances where in the past the PV360 program had to be launched separately just to see the preview window. Also announced was tighter integration between PV360 and SolidWorks along with the introduction of rendered motion into PV360.

Planar Simplification in Simulation

Using the simplification tools, you can chose a section of a model and run the FEA on the section itself. With the right scenario, this tool can be used and will save a tremendous about of time since the calculations are only performed on the section. You can then take the resultant plots of the section results and project them onto the 3D model.

Improved Model Item Dimension Insert in Drawings

The Insert Model Item tool in Drawings now places the dimensions in a much more intelligent fashion which should require the user to do less relocation of dimensions within a view and from one view to another. Nothing was shown on how this intelligence is set and if it is configurable.

Spacing Multiple Dimensions

You can select multiple dimensions and more intelligently set the spacing and placement of them using new tools included in the Dimension Palette.

Dual Dimension Display in Hole Tables

When creating a Hole Table in Drawings, the table can now display dimensions using both the primary and secondary units of measure.

Design Checker integrated within Enterprise PDM (EPDM)

The Design Checker tool is fully integrated and can now be run as part of the EPDM Workflow approval process. (Note: If you don’t use EPDM, I’m sure the standalone option will still be available.)

Assembly Features: Sweeps

A swept cut can now be performed at the Assembly level. As an assembly feature, it will not effect the individual component files. The feature only exists in the assembly.

Assembly Features: Fillets & Chamfers

You can now add fillets and chamfers at the Assembly level. As with the swept cut, the fillets and chamfers only reside inside the assembly and do not effect the component features.

Assembly Features: New “Lightweight” Weld Bead tool in Assemblies

If you have opened the weld bead command in the assembly environment in previous versions, it was one of the few features left sporting the old “separate” dialog box and no FeatureManager integration. Previously, the Weld Beads had to be saved off as separate files and couldn’t even be made virtual. (Yuck!) All of that will change in SolidWorks 2011. The Weld Bead feature is a lightweight feature that works much in the same fashion as the fillet weld tool in the multi-body part environment. The welds are completely virtual and are stored in a folder located at the top of the FeatureManager. I was unable to see if the tool would support multiple types of welds. I’m really hoping that it will. Also – I would like to see a similar if not the same interface in both this tool and the weld tool in the multi-body part environment. We will have to wait and see on that. The new Weld Bead feature supports full weld symbol annotation generation in Drawings as well.

Weld Table in Drawings

You can now insert a Table of all the welds contained in an assembly (or maybe multi-body part too?) in a Drawings.

Routing: Piping Weld Gaps

The Piping part of the Routing tool now supports the addition of Weld Gaps. They can be easily added while editing the route and of course will automatically adjust route lengths when used.

New Camera: Walk Through

A new type of camera is being introduced which allows the user to “Walk through” a model. It appears that you can even place an image in the screen to for user reference as you walk through the model. The image is just something to make it appear that you are following someone through the walk through. There was an interface shown at the bottom of the screen while the camera was active that included several types of control buttons which would appear to let you navigate the assembly while the camera is active.

Feature Lock!

Why is there an exclamation point beside this one? Well, this has been one of the higher ranking enhancement requests among users for the past few years. I can remember Charles Culp posting it to the SolidWorks World 2009 Brainstorm site. This feature will essentially allow you to “Freeze” the feature tree for every feature above the point you place the feature. The features that are “locked” will not rebuild until you unlock them. This tool will have its best usage for models with MANY features. Many folks who do complex surfacing will fall into this category.  Proper placement of this feature can REALLY cut down on rebuild times!

That is all for now…but stay tuned for MORE post SolidWorks World 2010 coverage!

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This is just the first post of many to come on this. I’m going to try and hit the highlights and then we will get into some of the details later. Today at the first General Session of SolidWorks World 2010, SolidWorks previewed some new technology that they have been working on now for the past three years. In involves the integration of several technologies into an application that runs “in the cloud”. Yes…you heard that correctly….on the internet. There are obvious concerns that many folks will have with this, but for the time being, let’s hold off on that discussion and save it for a bit later.

Before I get into what was shown too much…this is a preview only. No product announcements were made (just yet) but Jeff Ray said that they are “close” to having things where in place. Jeff was joined on the stage for this product demo by Joe Dunne, Mark Schneider, & Mark Biasotti.

The SolidWorks Cloud system runs on ANY operating system…yes ANYTHING. Windows, Mac, Linux, iPad, iPhone, Netbooks. It is operating system independent. OK..now that you have picked yourself up off the floor….lets continue.

The problems that they have set out to solve with this system include installation times, rebuild times, tedious sketching, overly complex models, & and long simulation calculations. Real-time communication and collaboration was also shown as a major problem to solve.

Communication of Design Data

Since you are in the cloud, you can work realtime with others from the design team. So collaboration can be taken to a whole new level since all of the input is coming to a central server (in the cloud) The shot below shows the Cloud application with collaborative flyouts in action.

Modeling

When it comes to modeling, Jeff Ray said the two biggest complaints heard from customers include the lack of data reuse & modeling speed/ease of use.

In demonstrating the product, you could see that the files were not opened…but instead called up by using searches. A sketch was shown where several “template features” were placed into an existing sketch by searching for existing template profiles in the online library. The shapes were brought in and trimmed on the fly in the sketch. There were no relations or dimensions added directly to the sketch…but things were able to be “dragged” using manipulators that came up on the screen which still allowed for precision control of the sketch profiles.

I could not tell if the sketch had any parametric properties or not. But directly after showing this sketch, Joe discussed the fact that Parametric design is powerful and will still be around for a long time. But…direct editng is ALSO integrated into the SolidWorks Cloud application which allows for users to use BOTH technologies.

The Cloud application will also break down the barriers between parts, assemblies, and multi-body environments by bringing all of them into a unified environment that will allow BOTH Parametric and Direct Editing capabilities.  (Wow…I’d love to know more about this!)

Another problem that often plagues SolidWorks and other CAD systems is the lack of “real-life” performance with certain types of components. These components include springs, gaskets, & orings. Basically applications where the components need to stretch. SolidWorks in the Cloud was able to insert a spring into an assembly and then PROPERLY stretch the spring to the correct length based on the posts that the spring were “snapped” to. They were then able to move the jaws of the assembly and the spring length dynamically updated real time!!

Performance

Many of the problems in the performance area include the ability to open and work in large assemblies. In the Cloud, you can “access” large assemblies almost instantly without having to “load” the assembly. So there is no waiting for the file to open! The assembly shown and “visually navigated” in the cloud application was said to be a 100,000 component assembly.

Also demonstrated was rendering in the cloud. A rendering was produced WHILE you work in the cloud application. The Cloud server just let’s you know when the rendering is complete!

Reliability

SolidWorks in the cloud is much less resistant to data loss when the client application crashes. They demonstrated a tool that purposely crashes the client application. The server application was unharmed and the data was not lost in the cloud! In theory…you can never lose your data when you crash.  (unless the cloud server crashes)

Wednesday General Session

On Wednesday SolidWorks will announce a new product that involves SolidWorks & Enovia V6 that works in the cloud.

There is a lot more to write about with this technology.  Here are a few questions off the cuff.

Is this just a “Cloud Technology”?  The fact that I could see “new features and methods” of modeling integrated within this approach leads be to believe that the answer might be no.  While we could still see features listed in the tree in some of the examples, the tools shown clearly demonstrate that building models and modifying models are quite different in the “Cloud App”.

Will everyone “truly” be able to use a web-based Cloud App?  I can answer this one easily.  NO.  Anyone working on projects that have anything to do with the US government understands this.  I’m sure SolidWorks knows that and will be prepared at some point to address that.  One scenario would be for a company to setup the “Cloud Server” on computers internally inside the corporate firewall.  Google Wave has recently allowed users to install their Wave software on servers…so I certainly could see it being possible.

Will this application interface with CATIA data?  YES.  I believe it will.  Bernard Charles (CEO of Dassault Systemes) made his first appearance at SolidWorks World today and gave a presentation on stage.  The 10 year plan for DS is to have “some” transparent access for SolidWorks users to other Dassault Products.  It was also mentioned that the Cloud app was a joint project between SolidWorks R&D and Dassault R&D.  The new SolidWorks “Mission statement” which aligns with the DS ten year plan is “3D for Professionals” which certainly opens up the possibilities of just where SolidWorks can go as a product.

Well..that is all I have time for now…will have much more on this later.

Stay tuned…much more to come!

LATE PM UPDATE: Deelip has written a couple of articles with some interesting comments and I have provided links to them below.  Deelip was able to talk to Jeff Ray about this a little and I personally heard Jeff address questions regarding this Technology at the SWUGN Summit this evening.  Many of Jeff’s comments were similar to his answers to Deelip’s question.

Deelip.com – SolidWorks World 2010 (Day 2) – Direct Modeling

Deelip.com – SolidWorks World 2010 (Day 2) – More Direct Modeling

Deelip.com – SolidWorks World 2010 (Day 2) – A Discussion with Jeff Ray

Deelip.com – SolidWorks World 2010 (Day 2) – Some Cool Stuff

We are looking at TWO “platforms” for SolidWorks software in the not too distant future.  The “Cloud” platform and the “Traditional” platform.  Jeff Ray mentioned tonight the “Traditional” platform will still have at least 10 more years of continuation and that users will not be “forced” to switch to the new platform anytime in the near future.

I think the goal is that SolidWorks is trying to solve many of the common problems users face on a daily basis with the “Cloud” platform.  These are the type of problems that can be addressed in the most efficient manner in the new platform such as the many “subject” I listed in the article above.  With that said, the “Traditional” platform will still be fully supported for quite some time and will continue to be enhanced.  We are set to see many of the new enhancements in SolidWorks 2011 in the General Session on Wednesday.

That’s all for today on this….much more to come! – Ricky

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Well, Sunday has now wrapped up and everyone is getting geared up for the first General Session tomorrow morning starting at 8:30am PST.

The rest of my day included a few more Roundtable Sessions followed by the opening of the Partner Pavilion.  To me, this looks like the BIGGEST Partner Pavilion ever!  As usual there are a lot of great products that were designed in SolidWorks  on display and MANY partner products that perform a variety of tasks which include machining, 3D printing, simulation, & reverse engineering.  There were also several hardware products on display which included Dell & HP.

I wrapped up the day by attending the User Group Leader Dinner (cudos to Randy Lennox for putting on a great event) & the SolidWorks Tweetup (thanks to Matthew West of SolidWorks for organizing this event) over at the House of Blues.  Here’s the shirt my wonderful wife found on the net that I wore to tonight.  You can’t see it, but it actually has my Twitter username on it!

Tomorrow I have several excellent technical sessions on my Calendar which should provide some GREAT information for some of my future work.  Tomorrow afternoon we will have the 10th annual SWUGN International User Summit which is put on by Richard Doyle who is the man behind the SolidWorks User Group Network.  Tomorrow night we have the CSWP event which will feature radio controlled cars from Team Associated.

Below is the Video Summary I put together for Sunday.  I tried to show a little bit of the facilities supporting this year’s conference which included the convention center and Hilton Hotel.  There is also some quick video showing the Partner Pavilion.

Stay tuned….much more to come from SolidWorks World 2010.

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Well…I’ve got a small amount of time between sessions here so I thought I would post a few pictures of the convention center areas.  Below is the Convention Center entrance.  Nice Sign!

Here’s a further out shot from the street showing just how big this convention center is!

According to Al Dean over at Develop3D, we are looking at over 5,000 attendees this year.  Simply put, THAT IS AMAZING.  I’ll have more to say about this later.

I have attended several Roundtable Discussions today focusing on CircuitWorks, Toolbox, and Business Challenges.  I am due to head out in a few minutes for a session on Electrical Routing.

Stay tuned….more to come!!

I’ve got some more video (of course) and will upload that later.

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Well after some flight delays, I finally made it to Anaheim about 4:30pm PST this afternoon.  While at the baggage terminal we ran into Alex Ruiz who was there to pick up Jeff Mirisola.  Alex gave Richard Hall and myself a ride over to the Hilton which saved us from having to hunt down a taxi.  Thanks Alex!

Nothing much going on today other than meeting up with so many of the folks that I only get to see once a year.

Tomorrow I have several Roundtable sessions scheduled to discuss different parts of SolidWorks with some of the product managers and developers.  These are GREAT sessions that allow us as customers to share the types of things we need in the software that will help improve our product development and design cycles.

I got some video showing the rooms here at the Hilton and a few of the SolidWorks Twitter crowd that was gathering in the lobby this evening.  Below is the arrival day video.  Enjoy!  (The best place still to post these videos like this is YouTube, so my apologies to those behind the corporate firewalls who can’t view this at work.)  The video take a few minutes to process…so you might not be able to see it just yet after this is posted.  If you open the video on the YouTube page…you can view the video in HD.

Stay tuned…..more to come!

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One of the interesting things on the press agenda for SolidWorks World 2010 is a press conference scheduled for Wednesday morning regarding a “New Product Announcement”. This is the only reference I have seen anywhere on this so I don’t really have anything else concrete on what this may be.

So what do you think the new product announcement could be?  If you want to take a shot a guessing …then leave a comment!

Stay tuned…more to come!

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With the start of SolidWorks World 2010 now officially 1 day away, I’m finalizing my schedule, planning my coverage, and pondering just what exactly we might see at the biggest MCAD event in the industry.  One curve ball has already been thrown my way as my 6:15am flight for tomorrow morning was canceled.   I am now booked on a little later flight which will put me getting to Anaheim between 4:00 and 5:00pm rather than 11:00am.  The weather here in Huntsville (Alabama) is questionable tomorrow morning with some freezing rain possible…so I’m hoping for the best and my re-booked flight will leave on time safely.

For the fourth year in a row, I’ll be covering SolidWorks World as a member of the “Blogging Press”.  I’ve got a few new devices at my disposal this year that will allow me to bring a little more of the conference experience to YOU!  Having my HP Mini 110 should help me shuttle around from place to place without having to look for a charging outlet and will allow me to take more “direct notes” during the sessions and events.  I’m also going to have a Flip Video Ultra HD camera ready to roll at all times!  While I can’t take videos during certain events, I plan to try and show more “behind the scenes” type stuff by talking to Users, SolidWorks employees, and Solutions Partners.

The event itself is shaping up to be as big or perhaps bigger than any other SolidWorks World.  James Cameron is one of the highest profile speakers to date (Richard Branson was pretty darned good as well).  As usual, the preview of the next version of SolidWorks is certainly going to be on most everyone’s mind as they arrive at the conference.

This subject gets me thinking about my trip to SolidWorks in August of 2009 for the Blogger Press Event.  I couldn’t help but notice just how “giddy” Jeff Ray was in our meeting with him every time he talked about the new things that the R&D group were working on.  That thought has stuck with me in the months since, so I’m especially anxious to see what the folks in Concord have in store for us in the coming years.

So, now I’ll open it up to you guys and gals that are going to be reading all the coverage of the event across the net.  What type of things are you most interested to see discussed or reported on from SolidWorks World 2010?  Leave your comments here and help shape the coverage!

Stay tuned….much more to come soon!!

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Last year while attending SolidWorks World 2009, I started thinking seriously about purchasing a “netbook” computer after lugging around an 8.5 pound Dell M6400 for 6 straight days.  Rather than purchasing one right away, I decided to wait and see what the rumored “Apple Tablet” looked like before taking the dive.  With SolidWorks World approaching, I decided to pull the trigger and buy one.  (Interestingly enough, it is rumored that Apple will announce their Tablet PC a few days before SolidWorks World 2010 begins.)

After doing quite a bit of research, I decided that the two netbook models I liked the most were from Toshiba and HP.  Both of these systems had a very nice keyboard, good overall ratings, and were priced around the ballpark $350-$400 that was my budget.

I went to Best Buy the day after Christmas and wasn’t too surprised to see that most of their stock was picked over.  They had a Gateway Netbook that looked OK, but the keyboard was VERY cramped.  Just as I had decided to wait until their stock was replenished, my DW (Dear Wife) spotted two HP mini 110 computers out in front of the computer area on one of the island displays.  I snagged one of the boxes quickly and looked at the specs.  They matched up with almost all of my requirements, so I went and ahead and put it in the cart.  Here are the specs:

• Intel Atom N270 1.6 GHz processor
• 1 GB DDR2 RAM
• 10.1″ LED backlit Widescreen
• 160GB Hard drive
• Webcam and microphone built in
• 5-in-1 Media Reader
• Windows 7 Starter
• 3 USB ports
• Built in wireless and ethernet connector
• 6 cell battery (8 hour battery life)

The only feature I wanted that I didn’t get was the 250 Gb Hard drive.  I figured if that became a big deal, I could replace it later since hard drive prices are still falling.  None of the “brick and mortar” netbooks seem to be coming with 2GB of RAM, so I knew that would need to be an upgrade as well.  This was the first computer I have actually walked in a store and bought.  I usually order my systems online and have them custom built.

There is definitely a size difference when you buy a netbook.  Just for comparision, here is the Mini 110 sitting next to my Dell M6400

The first thing I noticed about the system (after all the initial setup) was how FAST it boots up!  The keyboard is very comfortable and I have had no problems adapting to it.  (In fact, this entire article was created on my HP Mini 110). The battery life seems to be very close to the advertised 8 hours.  I haven’t timed it yet, but worked all day on this PC Saturday and never had to plug it up!

The jury is still out on Windows 7 starter.  So far, I haven’t experienced anything I can’t live without.  Microsoft took off the “open applications” limit that was initially going to be part of this OS.  If that had remained I would have had SERIOUS issues with it, so props to Microsoft for getting that part right.  I still think many netbook users are upset at the functionality lost in going from Windows XP Home to Windows 7 starter.  Here’s an article that discusses that a bit.  I am making a conscious effort to put Windows XP in the rear view mirror.  So far Windows 7 starter is working for me.  If that changes, I can use the “Anytime update” to upgrade Win7 starter for around $80.00. (Way to pricey if you ask me…)

I really wanted to keep my netbook “light” on programs.  The first thing I installed was Google Chrome followed by Firefox.  I have only used IE a few times on this machine and MAN WAS IT SLOW!!!  Firefox also seems to take a little long to get going but is better than IE.  Google Chrome blows both of them away in startup speed and browsing.  On a machine like this Google Chrome’s “lightweight” browser really shines!

To start with I am trying to go without installing Microsoft Office on this machine, instead opting for Open Office and Mozilla Thunderbird.  So far so good on that!  Open Office will open the xml based Office documents that come out of Office 2007, so I haven’t “needed” full up MS Office at all!  I have read that netbooks can run Office 2007, but they are more taxing on system resources as compared to Open Office.

I haven’t really had the system RAM above 750Mb so far, but I am seriously considering adding more RAM to make the system a little more “peppy” when running multiple programs.

So far, I have installed the above mentioned applications plus Tweetdeck, Paint.net, and Flipshare (for my HD Flip cam).  Tweetdeck/Adobe AIR runs like a champ on this machine.

The only thing I have found with this machine that is disappointing is the video performance.  When playing a full 1080p HD clip, the video gets a bit choppy.  There are rumored PCI Express cards that can be added to enhance the video playback functions, but I have found nothing that is actually out yet.  Since the video memory is shared, I’m hopeful that upgrading the RAM might help a little bit in this department.  That won’t help the intense CPU usage though that occurs when you play videos of that type.  Lesser quality HD videos and regular videos seem to play just fine.

I ended up getting a Logitech V450 Nano Cordless Laser Mouse from Best Buy when they were on sale for $29.99 (regular $49,99).  I absolutely LOVE this mouse!  The receiver once it is plugged in only sticks out about 3/8″ from the USB port face.  Since it has such a low profile, I can leave it in the laptop at all times without the fear or damaging the USB port if it gets hit.

Overall, I really like this netbook so far!  I boots up fast, is easy to use while sitting on the couch or in the recliner, and weighs in just under 3 pounds.  Web, e-mail, and word processing apps work VERY well but I think a RAM upgrade to 2 GB is a really good idea.  Cost for that seems to range from $55 – $75 depending on where you look.  As mentioned earlier, the video is a little choppy when you play full 1080p HD, so I’ll be looking for some things to improve performance in that area.  I’m really looking forward to using this machine at SolidWorks World 2010!  I hope to see you there!

Stay tuned….more to come!

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