>
> On 10/5/06, genome <EraseMEjtroxasspam_OUTTakeThisOuTgmail.com> wrote:
> > Whats the the best PCB design software around, Library. of components,
> ease
> > of use, output capability, autorouting etc.. considered...
> >
>
> It all depends on your budget.
>
> If price is not an issue, go for Mentor Graphics (Board
> Station/Exepition/PADS)
> or Cadence.

>
> On 10/5/06, Shawn Wilton <KILLspamblack9KILLspamgmail.com> wrote:
> > I would completely disagree.  We have Cadence, we have Mentor, and most
> of
> > our engineers hate Mentor.  Few people like Cadence, everyone loves
> Altium.
> >
>
> You may be right that Altium Designer and even Altium PCAD are easier to
> use.
> But I believe they are not in the same league as Mentor tools. So it all
> depends
> on the design. It is also said that Altium tools tend to be very buggy. At
> least
> Protel 99 and 99SE gave me this impression. It is said that DXP
> is even worse. PCAD is better in terms of stability but it is less
> powerful. The
> analog simulation tools integrated with Altium is also said to be very
> lousy...
>
> initial play with Expedition tells me it is not that easy to be used
> but at least it
> is much more stable and I think I can get used to it later.

>
> > It all depends on your budget.
> > If price is not an issue, go for Mentor Graphics (Board
> > Station/Exepition/PADS) or Cadence.
>
> I don't agree with this approach. You need to decide what it is that you
> want
> to do and choose the appropriate tool. High end tools are capable of
> excellent results if you become expert in their use.
> If you are going to be cranking out dense, high speed boards, then tools
> like
> Board Station, Specctra, etc make good sense. If your mainstay is going to
> be 2 layer boards and you write the firmware, do the accounts and make the
> tea, then perhaps Eagle is indeed "the best" for your needs.
> For those high end boards, get the business card of a PCB designer with
> high-end tools.
>
> Steve.
>
>
> ==========================================
> Steve Baldwin                          Electronic Product Design
> TLA Microsystems Ltd             Microcontroller Specialists
> PO Box 15-680, New Lynn                http://www.tla.co.nz
> Auckland, New Zealand                     ph  +64 9 820-2221
> email: EraseMEstevespamspamBeGonetla.co.nz                      fax +64 9 820-1929
> =========================================
>
>

>
> On Oct 6, 2006, at 12:50 PM, Steve Baldwin wrote:
>
> >> If price is not an issue, go for Mentor Graphics (Board
> >> Station/Exepition/PADS) or Cadence.
> >
> > I don't agree with this approach. You need to decide what it is
> > that you want to do and choose the appropriate tool.
>
> That might work if you're already quite knowledgeable about PCB
> design/etc.  If you have less experience, you might want to work
> backward: "this PRO package has this feature emphasized, Now why
> would I want to use it?"  My experience with SW in general is that
> high-end tools tend to include a lot of "features" that enable it
> to work better in  large, professional environments (version control,
> file locking, licensing niceties, direct interfaces to business tools,
> simulation, support of particular vendor requirements, support of
> documentation requirements, SW administration hooks, etc.)  In
> general, a lot of these features do little to make the average engineer
> any happier about using the package (and sometimes quite the opposite),
> but they are nevertheless "important" to some degree in a professional
> environment.