Chris,
    PCDesign magazine recently had the PCB Benchmark results... I think
it was the March issue ?
Mentor didn't participate.

Karl

Chris Otis wrote:

> PCB Tool Users:
>
> The subject has come up (again) about the PCB tools we are
> using and if they are the best-in-class performance wise.
> We've been using Mentor's Board Station (plus their schematic
> capture and simulation tools) for about 8 years now.
>
> Some of our top brass is questioning our choice of Mentor.
>
> My questions are these:  Has anybody done a recent and fair
> comparison of all the PCB layout tools available?  What is
> best for speed?  One person here claims that some outside
> CAD houses can translate from Mentor's schematic to another
> tool, layout the board, and translate back to Mentor saving
> two weeks of layout time in the process.  Can this be true?
> Our critical buzzword these days is "TIME TO MARKET",
> tool cost being secondary.  Should we switch to PADS Power PCB
> or some similar NT based tool?  Assuming everyone is past any
> learning curves, are there honest comparisons available for
> speed of both schematic capture and PCB layout?  Is there
> a "Consumer Reports" publication for engineering tools?
>
> Any comments would be appreciated.
>
> Chris
>
> --
> ========================================================
>    Chris Otis MS-217          Phone 630-378-6467
>    Tellabs Operations, Inc.   Fax   630-378-6923
>    1000 Remington, Blvd.      email [log in to unmask]
>    Bolingbrook, IL 60440      http://www.tellabs.com
> ========================================================