Heather,
So far the best answer I have read to you has been to download the free
trial versions (maybe get some vendor demos) and try them out for yourself.
A pcb designer for 20+ years, (Telesis, Cadnetix, PCAD, Tango, Mentor Board
Station, Orcad) - I now use OrCad (schematic and layout) because it is low
cost and easy to use - and we've had it for 7 years, now. It comes with
significant libraries. We are in a low cost (disk drive) driven industry.
Had I unlimited funds, I would use Mentor Expedition (formerly Veribest).
Call some vendors and give them [Pads (now part of Mentor), Orcad (now part
of Cadence), Protel...] a try - you should get some free lunches, as well.
Sincerely,
-----------------------------------
Cheryl Johnson, C.I.D.+
Manager
ExcelStor US Office, Engineering Services
Email: [log in to unmask]
Tel: (303) 684-7291
Fax: (303) 684-7268
Mobile: (303) 809-5815
-----------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: DesignerCouncil [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Brooks,Bill
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 2:24 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [DC] EDA Software-- Any opinions?
Heather,
There are a few things I would look for in selecting an EDA tool and they
break down into the following categories...
1) Cost to purchase - initial hardware, software, and cost of personnel to
operate it.
2) Annual cost to use - maintenance cost, down time, bugs, service
response...
3) Training Cost and the time required to set up and get productive... which
can be hard to estimate...
4) Functionality - software performance fit to your needs - does it do what
you want? What does it not do? Does it do things you don't need? Do you need
additional software to make it productive...like AutoCAD for drafting or
some other program?
5) Ease of Use - subjective depends on the operator and their experience -
try it.
I can relate my stories of evaluating systems but they would be just
that...my stories... not an unbiased evaluation of a direction that fits
your needs. You need to kick the tires yourself.
I use Protel in my job here. It works for our needs. It's fairly cost
effective and the user interface is fairly easy too, in fact that ease of
use drew me to the program back in 98 and I still use it. Sometimes I am at
odds with the development of the program and it's changes, the most recent
changes were very good. I have used Pads, and was very frustrated with it
early on because I needed to be productive with it quickly and the learning
curve was long and fraught with work-arounds that required my constant
telephoning to the support people for answers to things that didn't do what
I wanted them to do... simple stuff like printing, or making a board outline
accurately or creating a part in the library just would not cooperate... I
later found out ways to make parts and work around the issues but it was not
a fast process. Protel was faster to set up and run for me. I came to Protel
from Tango PCB and the commands and structure were similar. Mentor can only
be described as a very powerful complex program that given time and money
can be a good fit for a large company that can afford the cost of
maintenance and training and library creation, etc... it's not a low budget
software solution. But it is used successfully in some big corporations.
Cost per system and cost per year in maintenance is significant, and
training is needed. Some very rigid requirements need to be met in order for
it to function correctly... but when it does function as required it does a
great job. You get what you pay for... sometimes.
Evaluate your needs, look at the costs, and the time to set up, and demo the
software... Some user interfaces can be very non-intuitive... Press the keys
yourself, don't just watch a pro use the software... it can look very easy
in the canned demo and be very difficult when you have a project that needs
to get done right away.
Good luck with your search.
Let us know how it works out for you.
Bill Brooks - KG6VVP
PCB Design Engineer, C.I.D.+, C.I.I.
Tel: (760)597-1500 Ext 3772 Fax: (760)597-1510
Datron World Communications, Inc.
_______________________________________
San Diego Chapter of the IPC Designers Council
Communications Officer, Web Manager
http://dcchapters.ipc.org/SanDiego/
http://pcbwizards.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Heather Gregg [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 7:28 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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