I've been looking hard. I need a decent schematic and PCB package under $1000. Don't need autorouter or a zillion layers. Do want back annotation and ease of use. I've downloaded a dozen demo packages. The software all seems to be written by people with exceptional eyesight, no fingers, a poor grasp of the English language, little understanding of Windows conventions, and have never actually designed a PC board. They mostly have 300 little tiny unreadable icons and no clue that clicking the left mouse button should select something and the right button should offer a list of things to do with it. A good few do not use the mouse buttons at all. Pretty much without exception the software is expensive and very poorly written. I can draw schematics and boards faster and easier in Autocad, which is what I do now.
Is there ANYTHING out there that: actually correctly uses the mouse, has working popup help on the buttons, is written in American English (no "colours" please), is readable by somebody without super-human eyesight and does 95% of everything with only the mouse buttons like it should. Double-click to change properties, right-click to rotate, mirror, swap, delete, add, cut, etc. I don't want something I have to fight with. Under $1,000.
I use an old version of Eagle, as it meets most of these requirements. I have purchased and installed the Linux and newer Windows versions, but have found them too slow, hard to read and require too many movements to get anything done.
See if you can f>I've been looking hard. I need a decent schematic and PCB package under
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Steven D. Swift, novatech@eskimo.com, http://www.novatech-instr.com
NOVATECH INSTRUMENTS, INC. P.O. Box 55997
206.301.8986, fax 206.363.4367 Seattle, Washington 98155 USA
Robert, Don't know if you already know of it but a gent by the name of Terry Pinnel has a page devoted to CAD software. It contains a lot of cheaper packages and in some cases a small review or commentary of the package. In some cases he also has pricing and most have links to the vendors home page. And no, he is not selling any of it, he is not a pirate, just a guy who compiled probably the most complete list of CAD software yet.
SuperSpice essentially does this, unfortunately its not PCB, only simulation. However, you would be out of luck even in SS for "colour".
It nice to actually have someone note that programs should follow windows standards. Its something I personally find indispensable. Where SS adds to Windows conventions is the obvious recognition that you don't need to type letters on a schematic page, therefore mirror rotate and flip are simple m, r, f without the ctrl, in addition to right mouse access for these features.
Kevin Aylward snipped-for-privacy@anasoft.co.uk
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SuperSpice, a very affordable Mixed-Mode Windows Simulator with Schematic Capture, Waveform Display, FFT's and Filter Design.
Nothing actually WRONG with Engilsh English. Its a symptom however. The USA is probably the world's largest market for CAD at the moment. If a software vendor can't be troubled to understand and accomodate the local idiom, it bothers me. Eagle, for example. Badly translated prompts from German and a very different expectation about the user interface. "User is please to click the button right of the mouse mechanism at this time." CAdInt has a wierd non-conforming user interface translated from Swedish. In Microsoft Word, I can generate a document faster than I could with pencil and paper. I expect that I can render a schemetic or a PC board faster with CAD than I can by hand. Not so. I can draw with a template faster and layout with tape and dots faster than most PCB CAD programs I've tried. I need something that increases my productivity. Something I have to fight, or needs extensive training for me to accomodate its quirks is not acceptable. It has to fit me. not vice-versa.
No. I'm a user. I like it. If you think it's a piece of shit, don't use it.
AsYouType works for all programs, not just your news reader or word processor. Since it's automatic you don't have to remember to run it after you slam out your message. So you don't look like an idiot who can't spell or type. It's adaptable to your common mistakes.
You can add correction databases, even modify the dictionaries. For example, a common mistake I see on the usenet is mistyping loose for lose. Kill loose in the dictionary and AsUType will flag it as an unknown, calling the mistake to your attention.
But, hell Clarence, go ahead and loose the attitude.
It will take me a while, but I can probably come up with a review chart. I'm sure I have not looked at every possible CAD package, but I have looked at many. I'm not an amateur at this; I've been laying out boards for a good 30 years, starting with tape and dots and rubylith. I use AutoCad now. My expectations are different for software intended for hobby, student, single-user and enterprise. I basically ignored the hobby and student versions. I have no need or budget for the enterprise packages. Altium and the other packages that cost several thousand dollars per seat are outside my envelope. The free packages which are tied to specific PC board houses are not useful to me. I need the option of placing my order with whichever company I choose. I do more precision analog than digital so the autorouter is not as important to me. I don't do too many buried vias or boards over 8 layers. I think it is perfectly reasonable that packages for my requirements should be under $1000.
Software should be intuitive. Several companies try to sell packages with DOS heritage. They simply stitch together a bunch of obsolete junk with a top-level menu and no integration. Or, their user interface is so complicated that it takes several minutes of clicking around to find how to insert a part.
Several companies think that colored lines on a black background are acceptable. Very hard to read. I prefer a white background. Many like to use a vast number of very small icons. Even on a 21 inch monitor they are almost unreadable.
Several companies (like Eagle) make very poor use of the mouse. Windows software needs to conform to the Windows standard. Left-click to select, right-click for properties and actions. Virtually all actions in a CAD program should be available from only the mouse buttons. You should never have to go up to a button bar for delete, move, mirror, etc.
Some have poor licensing options. Boardmaker wants you to pay a yearly license fee. Their option for a permanent license is expensive. Some have serial numbers that are keyed to a specific computer. I don't mind a hardware "dongle", but I don't want to pay another fee just to move the package to another computer. I need to be able to upgrade and reconfigure my hardware as necessary. The company needs to be stable so I can get support if necessary. I'd be reluctant to buy from someone operating from their garage.
The only one so far that seems pretty reasonable is Easy-PC. It has better functionality and features than even some of the really expensive packages. There are a few quirks but it seems like a good value and I'm going to buy a copy. I don't have time to survey every package on the market. It runs close to $2,000 if you buy all the pieces, but you can get get a pin-limited version for just schematics and boards for under $200. Their integrated SPICE is nice. They have an interesting filter design module. Expanded libraries, a more sophisticated autotouter and a Gerber import module are also extra cost. The full-up schematic and PCB part without the extras is about $800. I'm going to get everything except the fancier autorouter. They don't seem to advertise very well. When I do internet searches a lot of really cruddy packages show up. They would do well to pay the fee and get themselves listed as a sponsored link on Google. They also have no on-line ordering. I expect they could sell a lot more copies if they addressed those two issues.
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