Bob Blick Pontificated:

> 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.


I take back every mean thing I ever said about Pads.

>
> 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.

That's OK, AutoCad is $2000.  If you are like me, and need AutoCad
anyway, it's a bargain.  I wouldn't pop $2000 if all I was doing was
electronics.


>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!).

I'll be trying Eagle as soon as I get win 95 running on my antiquated
Model A Stone Age box  (hear that, boss?)


>
> 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...

Worth much more than 2 cents.  I'd agree.  Most of my designs are
simple single sided boards, and I spend labor dollars doing things
that are automatic in other software packages.  On the other hand, it
would be really neat if someone built an add-on that did schematic
capture in AutoCad.  It is possible.

I always get frustrated with dedicated CAD packages, becuase the
drawing interface, the ability to easily draw, move, copy, etc., is
never as smooth as in Acad.

Best Regards,

Lawrence Lile