Best board design software?

How fast can you afford to go - there are packages ranging from free to

120K+ out there, with associated toolsets. Is this for home, small shop, big shop? I've worked with many toolkits, from $500 to Cadence and Mentor tools - my preference is to Cadence. The Mentor people will argue that theirs is the best, and I think they make good tools too - great integration, but I'm more familiar with Cadence. I've had good success with most of the toolsets available, but this is too broad a question.

Andrew

Jack wrote:

Have a look at Pulsonix:

I've used it since before it was released (I helped beta test it) and am very happy with it. I use it for schematic entry, SPICE simulation and PCB layout. The autorouter is quite good (Bartels), but I don't use it much. It can use other autorouters like Specctra.

It's very easy to use. Also, Pulsonix fixes bugs very quickly when they are reported. I think this is quite unique.

Leon

--
Leon Heller, G1HSM
leon_heller@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller

Thanks for the response We can afford any price, perhaps up to $50k. We've been looking at protel and orcad. but, is there anything else out there that's better?

Thanks!

I think your email address is more truthful than your response. Dream on

Phil

I am sorry, but really, you asked how much we can afford, then I gave you the number. We can truthfully afford any tools right now as long as it is what we need. I wonder why you responsed negatively.