On Fri, 26 Jun 1998, Lawrence Lile wrote:
>
> Pads is, IMHO, a klunky piece of software at best.  My version (an
> old DOS version) crashes all the time, so I can't use it.  Newer
> versions are ported into windows with the DOS interface, making them
> even klunkier.  I would at least use a piece of software that was
> written for windows to begin with.

I use PADS, and am current with my maintenance contract on it, so I can
safely comment about the new versions. I have never had a crash. The
windows 95 interface is pretty complete, though I have not tested OLE to a
great extent. It does all the testing and engineering changes to and from
schematic and pcb, warns me if I have clearance or other errors, does not
route shorts into the board, every board I design comes out of the PCB
house looking and working like I designed it.

The downside is cost. PADS has raised their prices incredibly in the years
I've been using it. My yearly maintenance bill this year will be around
$1400.  Every year I promise myself I will change to something else, and I
think this is the year. I think Eagle looks pretty good, for a "semi-pro"
package. I've tried the demo, but I'd like to test the real thing for a
while, too bad it doesn't come with a trial period. I should have tried
out the cracked version when it was floating around(hey, a legitimate use
for cracked software!).

Autocad is fine if you know it well and do very simple boards. Otherwise
use a dedicated schematic-pcb-autorouter package. It automates things
nicely and you don't need to stay quite so alert to errors. I like to
sleep soundly.

Just my two cents...

Cheers,
Bob