Lost dongle - urgent questions

P

Peter Reynolds

Well-known member
Hi there.

I have an older version of Avid Express DV (ver. 3.5)

We just moved, and the dongle has been misplaced. I called AVID and they said the replacement dongle costs 60 percent of the original software costs. That's about $1,000

Highway robbery.

I'm shocked and feeling quite sick that AVID rips people off in this way. The dongle is nothing more than a serial number. My software is registered, I'm in their system, yet they're putting a gun to my head if I want to keep my editing.

Two questions:

1. Has anyone else experienced this. If so, what did you do. Can I complain to management? Write a letter? What are my options?

2. I have a friend who has later version of Avid Express Pro that they're willing to sell me. Will the dongle for that version work on my version of Avid? Are they interchangable?

Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Peter Reynolds
 
1. Not personally, but I know people who have. That's just the way Avid operates. That dongle is gold. You can freely download the software off their website, but it doesn't do any good without the dongle. When you first purchased Avid you paid $1600 for a tiny USB device that allows you to use their software. Personally I can't stand that little thing and would much rather they use some sort of internet authentication or some such.

2. I don't believe that any Xpress Pro dongle can run Xpress DV. I'm pretty sure there was a break in the product line at that point. But, if you're buying a version of Xpress Pro, why not use Xpress Pro? It's everything Xpress DV was and more.
 
Academic version

Academic version

Thanks for your thoughts.

My concern with running Avid Express Pro is that my system won't handle it. It works fine with Avid Express DV 3.5, but I have a feeling it work work on the latest version.

By the way, the version that I can by is the Academic version of Avid Express Pro. Any downside to that? Can I register it?

Thanks.

Peter
 
Are they interchangable?
Click to expand...

Not a chance. The whole purpose of the thing is to authorize a very specific seat of software. It's not the little piece of hardware they are charging you for, they are charging you for the code inside that unlocks your software. So even if the hardware were the same, and they could reprogram the new dongle to work with your sw, I'd guess the charge would be nearly the same (maybe $1000 -$25 ).

I know when autodesk used dongles for 3ds Max, they warned that replacing a lost dongle would be costly and recommended having it insured. And in general, most companies are pretty good about replacing broken dongles (you send them the pieces), but AVID's stance about a lost one is not unusual.... doesn't make it any better however.
 
Me Myself & I said:
By the way, the version that I can by is the Academic version of Avid Express Pro. Any downside to that? Can I register it?
Click to expand...

It won't come with third party software and according to the licensing agreement the Academic versions of Avid software can not be used for commercial purposes. Meaning if you make money on the product that you edit with Avid, you need to pay for the commercial version of Avid ... or pay the dongle replacement fee.

Sorry.
 
Great advice

Great advice

Thanks everyone.

Well, I've discovered the answer (in a round-about way).

Turns out the upgrade to the latest version comes with a new dongle. For $495.00 my problem is solved.

Avid wasn't any help with this - I had to ask my local reseller, who assured me my older system would work (not with HD mind you, but I had expected that).

Take care,

Peter
 
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