I recently received a copy of Alibre Design Expert 2011 (it's an early Christmas gift from my mom). It's the Educational version, so instead of $1400 it was $200. That's not bad for a CAD package with a license I can use on 3 PCs without needing it to renew it every few years.

So, trying to find a use for this, I decided to make an iPhone/iPod/iPad stand using the sheet metal designing tool (only available in the Expert version, I think).

Since I haven't found a way to export my design as a DXF, I have been unable to make this out of metal (or wood—I'll probably prototype it in wood or on my Makerbot). So, lacking this functionality, I exported it as an STL, scaled it up, and posted it on Ponoko for $1.99 (I think it's a fair price for a few hours work and a nicely-designed stand). You can buy it and then print it on a MakerBot or other 3D-printer. However, it's around 12cm tall, so this will push your machine. If you're outrageously wealthy, you can have Ponoko make it for you, but I dont think it's worth it.

At some point I'll get Alibre to output to DXF so I can allow people to make this out of sheet metal, wood, sheet plastic, and other flat-but-bendable materials. That would be better worth the $1.99.

Don't give me grief on the license—it's more than likely I'll change it to something more open. Right now, I'm just playing it safe.