The best CAD for simulation, design and PCB?

From the style of your question I would surmise that you do not have a great experience in using such CAD packages. In which case, especially as you are in a start-up, I would avoid *all* those you quote above, plus perhaps PADS as it comes to mind, since they all have a very steep learning curves and you need to get on with your business at this time and earn money rather than spend forever trying to work out how to do the simplest of tasks with such packages. Don't get me wrong, they are all competent CAD packages, (I bite my tongue a bit about Cadstar) but they are not for you at this time.

Split up the circuit design and the pcb design - and get a free/cheap spice prog and a simple pcb layout prog. LTspice/Anasoft spice and something along the lines of EasyPC will do a tremendous amount for you quite cheaply. Later you can invest the time and money in more fanciful packages.

Good luck.

I've used, or at least tried, all these packages. I would recommend you try my system - Pulsonix. This is the up and coming product for layout and simulation. It leaves these systems behind for ease of use... and the A/D simulator is first rate - better than P-SPICE in my opinion for a fraction of the price. The overall price is a lot less than PROTEL, ORCAD, CADSTAR

You can get a demo on

Prescott

Same here. I've been using Pulsonix since it first came out. I've tried all the other packages but don't like any of them. Protel, for instance, has lots more features, but I doubt if many people actually use them, and it is consequently rather slow and cumbersome, as well as having lots of bugs.

Leon

Just curious, but do you know how EasyPC and pulsonix compare? They seem to be from the same outfit AFAICT, but there's a huge price difference.

What can you do with pulsonix that you can't do with EasyPC?

Thanks

-- Adrian Hey

and

They are out of the same stable, but aimed at different markets, and there are a lot of differences. Have a look at the web sites and compare the specifications, and try the two demos.

Leon

The fact that you know eight companies using Protel doesn't make it a particularly good product by today's standards. Most sizeable organisations have a considerable investment in the database built up over years using a given product. Plus they have systems structured around the toolset and staffed trained in its use. Because of that it takes a lot to make them shift.

The other factor you must consider is "times change". As I said previously, Protel had their heyday in the mid to late 90's. They carved a niche as a cheap CAD system that on the face of it did a similar job to PADs and P-CAD. They now have their market being eroded by even lower cost, and better products, like Easy-PC, Pulsonix..

Yes, they will survive for some time yet, but they are unlikely to recover their stock value to anything like its previous levels. Before them in the mid 80s we had Cadnetix, and before that in the late 70's and early 80's Calma, Computervision and Applicon. All these companies have been swallowed-up and have disappeared...

Prescott

I expressed my opinion and you had your say. Why keep beating a dead horse?

Nothing we say will change the market.

BYE