Hi Heather,
All the vendors want you to believe that their software is the best,
but not one is really "the best". They all have strengths and weaknesses.
I would love the opportunity to pick and choose certain attributes from all
the vendors and combine them into one software that does it all !
From personal experience, Pads gives a lot of flexibility, and is relatively
easy to use (and cheap!), when compared to Board Station or Expedition.
You should try using the software to see if it is really what
you are looking for. Most vendors offer free 30 day trials.
Of course, if your budget is really restricted, you could shop for
a 15 year old version of SmartWorks .....
Good Luck !
Andre Demers, C.I.D.
Senior PCB Designer, Coordinator
cmrsummit Technologies
329 March Road, Suite 203
Kanata ON K2K 2E1
Canada
Telephone: 613.599.3881
Toll Free: 877.428.1229
Pager: 613.368.0506
Fax: 613.599.7889
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
www.cmrsummit.com <http://www.cmrsummit.com/>
-----Original Message-----
From: DesignerCouncil [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Heather Gregg
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 10:28 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [DC] EDA Software-- Any opinions?
Hello,
I'm relatively new to PCB design (at it for <6 mos. now) but I have
worked in electronic manufacturing and engineering positions for 12
years. The company I work for recently choose to use the Electronics
Workbench MultiSIM/UltiBoard/UltiRoute software and I am the main guinea
pig working with it. Several other engineers do schematic work, but I am
the sole PCB designer. As I am learning and growing into a (hopefully)
competent designer, I have found myself less and less impressed with the
EWB software. It is a good intuitive suite to start with, especially for
learning the ropes, but I feel it's lacking features essential to
professional design work. For instance, the parts database and reporting
is lame or non-existent. Project and documentation management is also
missing.
I have been looking at forums and websites to get a feel for what is out
there and I would like your opinions too. So far, I am leaning towards
choosing OrCAD or Altium Designer. Which would you choose? Any other you
would recommend instead?
Of course, the next battle is getting my manager to agree to spend $$$
on new software so soon after spending so much on EWB. ;)
Thanks for your time,
Heather Gregg
PCB Design Engineer
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