Although I have never sued them (sic) I have used Advanced Circuits a lot. ;-) A couple of years back I went around getting quotes from about a dozen prototype companies. Advanced www.4pcb.com and AP Circuits http://www.apcircuits.com/ were the two best combinations of price/value in my opinion. I have used Advanced ever since, and been pleased. I got quotes on the same board from a number of proto houses that were *10 times* the amount that these two places charge, with two week leadtimes common. I generally use their 3 day turns, can't wait any longer and don't want to spend any more. I found AP to be the absolute cheapest stateside (didn't try Olimex) however their cheapest prototype has a lot of conditions - square board, limitiations on hole numbers and sizes, and so on. Advanced will build basically exactly what I want for a little more money. If I was willing to wait for the extra shipping time, or needed the absolute lowest prototype cost, I would be trying Olimex. Advanced will be very picky about your gerbers. If there are any problems, even so much as a question, they will put you on hold and call you up. I would rather they do that, then make them wrong. THey also have an automated gerber quality checker that bears looking into before submitting a PCB. -- Lawrence Lile Cameron Bourdon Sent by: pic microcontroller discussion list 07/24/2003 10:21 AM Please respond to pic microcontroller discussion list To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU cc: Subject: [EE]: PCB prototypes I've recently decided to take the plunge into fab'd PCBs (and surface mount tech). I downloaded the free version of Eagle PCB CAD, read the tutorials and various FAQs, experimented, and now I'm almost able to be productive... I read through many of the Pic-List posts for tips and ideas (and a sincere Thank You to all related posters). I was planning on using Olimex (www.olimex.com) for my first couple of boards, as their prices appear to be much less than anyone else (they also accept Eagle board files, which saves me the added trouble & opportunity for error dealing with gerber files - at least until I gain a bit of experience with everything else). But Olimex will be shutting down for the entire month of August, and I'm afraid that if I send them my files now, and they don't arrive when expected, I'll be left hanging with no one to call until September... Neil recently mentioned e-Protos at www.eprotos.com - has anyone else tried them? Where you happy with the results? Some houses appear to have good prices, but the minimum quantity of boards neutralizes this (I'm amazed by the price differences). *** Because I'm a PCB-Newbie, I'm going to make mistakes. In fact the best way for me to learn is to get some experience by making some boards... I want to do this for the minimum ammount per iteration; it does me no good if I'm paying less than $20 per board if it cost me $100-$500 to find out I missed a major item/should have done something differently! I know the PCB house has costs (doing prototypes is wasteful for them compared to larger runs), and they have to pass these costs on to us - the customer... but notice the difference between Olimex and everyone else. Are there any other companies with Olimex like prices? If so, are they open for business during August? Olimex: Double sided, FR-4 0.062" PCB, 1-oz copper (is this copper thickness? this figure seems standard with most manufacturers), plated through holes, solder mask on both sides, component side silkscreen, Panel up to 6.3" x 3.9" (can have multiple circuits, free depanilization...), turn around time is 3-5 working days if traces/spaces >+ 0.010" $26.00 (plus shipping) and no minimum quantity!. [Note: Wouter recommends that, in order to prevent extra charges from Olimex (maybe others too?), you should double check the silkscreen widths (or specify no silkscreens) and the drill sizes (They prefer metric, standard drill tools are: 0,7 mm (0,028"), 0,9 mm (0,035"), 1.0 mm (0,039"), 1.1 mm (0,043"), 1.3 mm (0,051"), 1.5 mm (0,059"), 2.1 mm (0,083"), 3.3 mm (0,13") ] PCB Express (www.pcbexpress.com): For a similar board from PCB Express it'll run $215.00 (plus shipping) <- you get two boards but you don't have a choice, that's their minimum qty. Positive: Done in 3 days. This is for boards up to 19 square inches, olimexs' is about 24.5 square inches. You can cut $11 from PCB Express' price by dropping to a 9-square inch board max... ...PCB Express offers a reduced cost version, but you lose the solder mask from both sides, the silkscreen, and no board review/checking - it's run as sent. 0-9 SqIn bd. Price is $80.00 (plus shipping) for two bds (min qty). Add $10 for a board size similar to the board from Olimex. Advanced Circuits (www.4pcb.com): Similar specs but much larger (up to 85 sq-in, but no de-panelizing?), 5-day turnaraound, and a minimum qty of 3 bds: $99.00 (plus shipping). e-Protos at (www.eprotos.com): Similar specs, 45 sq-in max/ 14" max. 5-day turn, Min qty 5 bds. $95.00 (plus shipping). Sierra Proto Express (www.2justforyou.com): Similar specs, Turnaround 4 days, 10 Sq-in (25sq-in same price?), no-design-check, ($20 service charge?), 2-board minimum... $88.00 (plus shipping). e-TekNet (www.e-teknet.com): Similar specs, Turnaround 8 days typical (3 days to 6 weeks min/max?), 12 Sq-in (3" x 4"), 4 bds min, 55 sq-in, ... $91.96 (plus shipping). Others? Thoughts? Thanks! --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software -- http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? 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