Any published benchmark tests out there?
 
 I have not seen one since around 2000 and am wondering what the heck the
CAD software folks are doing to improve their products... 
 
Any major improvements lately or on the horizon for the software you are
using?
 
I'm trying to put together a 5 and 10 year plan for our board design,
schematic, simulation, etc. needs... 
 
One thing that concerns me is determining just how to keep the best CAD
capability in house to meet the future needs of the company's engineering
department.
There will be future products designed over the next ten years and we want
to make sure we have the best tools available to perform those tasks
efficiently and cost effectively as well. 
 
I know locally there are a number of PADS and Altium design houses in our
area... Cadence seems to be used in a few places around and Mentor Board
station and Expedition in a few others... 
I wonder how the small shops survive with some of the maintenance costs
estimates I have heard from other designers... I hear it can be pretty cost
prohibitive to go with certain platforms... 
 
No mention of RF capabilities from anyone I talked to for some time... some
folks are still laying out RF circuits with AutoCAD. 
Are there any new vendors out there making PCB design software that we
should know about?
 
 
Bill
 
 
 

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