In stock Professional grade drafting on a budget
If you need any 3D drafting functionality whatsoever, be sure to upgrade to full AutoCAD.
I'm able to use AutoCAD LT to clearly articulate complex designs in the form of plan layouts, room elevations, and block diagrams. I'm also able to download CAD drawings from the architects I work with and make the necessary mark-ups and revisions.
Since I'm working in the realm of design, I'm able to model an entire system design in the AutoCAD environment before even specifying any equipment. I can model a design and discover system shortcomings or incompatibilities in AutoCAD before I've settled on which components are going to be specified. This saves time and money.
Pros
AutoCAD LT is the paired down version of AutoCAD, however, it offers a surprisingly rich feature set. With the exception of 3D drafting, you have a full featured drafting system with AutoCAD LT that allows you to collaborate and work with full version AutoCAD users. At less than half the price of it's bigger brother, it's a bargain.
Cons
I really wish that AutoCAD LT came with AutoCAD Express Tools. This would be very helpful for the purpose of creating dynamic blocks. I was also surprised by the limited amount of parameters that can be edited in the Properties Inspector. For example, if you draw a line that is 10" long and then you decide that you would rather it be 12" long, you can't just simply type in 12" next to the "Length" parameter in the Properties Inspector. It's actually greyed out. So then I'm limited to either extending the existing line by 2" or deleting the 10" line and drawing it all over again at the desired length. I understand Autodesk wants to encourage people to upgrade, but on a fundamentally basic feature such as typing parameters into the property inspector, this hindrance seems slightly excessive.
