A Dental CAD Workstation Purchasing Checklist

Purchase for a role, not a marketing label

Define the computer’s job before requesting a quote: CAD design, scanner acquisition, order/database hosting or an approved combination. List the actual software, release, modules and simultaneous tasks. A machine sold as a gaming workstation or professional workstation still needs this role-specific review.

This checklist complements the existing exocad and Dental System requirements guides. It is not another list of recommended parts. exocad publishes hardware, operating-system, display and peripheral requirements; 3Shape publishes separate requirements by Dental System release. Attach the applicable source to the quote rather than copying specifications into a permanent purchasing rule.

Require an exact bill of materials

Ask the supplier to identify components precisely and state any substitutions. A family name such as Core i7 or RTX does not identify a complete configuration. Treat changes between quotation and delivery as changes requiring review.

Agree what acceptance will demonstrate

Before delivery, define an authorized training exercise that opens representative records, reaches the intended design stage, saves correctly and produces the receiver’s required output. For a scanner station, include its supplier-approved acquisition step. For a host, have IT define the appropriate data and multi-user checks.

Record the environment during the exercise: connected displays, power conditions, concurrent applications, exact release and output destination. A successful small case demonstrates only that exercise. It does not establish backup restoration, sustained multi-user capacity or a guaranteed turnaround.

Keep compatibility acceptance separate from the user’s experience. If an operation feels slow, identify the stage and ask the supplier to investigate. Do not infer that an advertised upgrade will resolve a record, network or software configuration problem.

Keep the quote and support decision together

Store the dated quote, applicable requirements, supplier confirmation, acceptance result and unresolved exceptions in one purchasing record. Ask who owns installation, license migration, scanner setup, updates and escalation. If those services are excluded, assign them before approving the purchase.

A hypothetical replacement workstation may have acceptable CAD hardware but lack a confirmed scanner connection. Mark design acceptance and acquisition acceptance separately. Do not report the whole workstation ready because one application opens.

Reopen the record when a substitution, operating-system release or workstation role changes. This page provides no buying links, prices or universal model recommendation; those require a concrete, current purchasing comparison.

Louie validation and limits

Technical review pending — unverified locally. Louie and the software reseller must confirm the exact installed product/release, workstation role, complete bill of materials, support boundaries and acceptance exercise. No retailer, price or speed improvement has been independently evaluated.

The CSV is a blank operational worksheet with no patient data, executable code, configuration pack or clinical/manufacturing values. It does not perform an installation or authorize a production change. Examples in this guide are hypothetical, not measured results or approved Pristine case evidence.