Yes I suffer from the same problem. Radio Shack is one of the cheapest
places for proto-board, but the quality of thier board is a bit
lacking. The rings come off easier than they really should, and a lot
of the holes aren't centered... But its $3-4 for something that is
$20-25 in digi-key, so I cant complain. (just a rough guess there)

When I feel up to ordering something, I usualy go with the stuff from
www.allelectronics.com in the perfboard section they have a good
selection of cheap prototyping board.

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=455&type=store
Hope this helps.
Jonathan

On 4/24/05, Chris <chrisegroup@rocklizard.org> wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Does anyone on the list have a source of inexpensive perfboard (no copper)
> and prototyping boards.
> 
> For the prototyping boards I will use pad per hole but prefer 3 hole per pad
> and I really like 3 hole per pad boards with power and ground busses. I'm
> looking for sizes in the 2" x 2" to 6" x 4" range and sometimes I use larger
> sizes. For the perfboard, size does not matter since I can just cut them to
> the size I need.
> 
> After shopping around at the usual sources I'm surprised at how much these
> cost.  A 3x4 pad per hole board seems to run from $6.00 to $20.00 or more
> (depending on the "special" features).
> 
> I have been buying these one at a time from local Radio Shack stores and
> they are really cheap. The problem with Radio Shack is that you never know
> what they have in stock and their selection is limited. Since Radio Shack is
> normally an expensive place to shop I'm really surprised to see them selling
> prototyping supplies for 1/3 to 1/2 the price of other sources.
> 
> I don't mind buying in quantity if that's what it takes to get a good price.
> 
> Does anyone have any ideas? One other thing I'm considering buying is blank
> copper clad boards - they are really expensive too!
> 
> Thanks in advance for any help.
> 
> Chris Levin
> 
> --Chris
> http://www.rocklizard.org
> <myname>@rocklizard.org
> myname = chris
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