I have been using KiCad exclusively for home projects now for about 2 years. I am now on my 3rd board design with it. For work purposes, I have used Mentor Graphics PADS and Orcad. I actually like KiCad better than either of those packages and it seems to me that KiCad is actually seriously catching up to these professional layout programs. Sean On Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 12:39 AM, Oli Glaser wrot= e: > I know this has probably been covered before, but with the discussion on > Diptrace, it got me thinking again (not always a good thing..) > > I have tried quite a few packages, including: > =A0Altium: > Wonderful, perfect for the design I am doing more frequently now > (multilayer, high speed, FPGA etc) > Too expensive to justify as yet with a newish business, but this may > change in the nearish future. > $4995 for full license. > Diptrace: > Old license, not used for some time. I liked it, the price was good but > I moved on. May revisit, as it sounds to have improved a bit. > Price is 585 Euros for full license. > Eagle: > Tried it briefly, not too impressed. Apart from the popularity which is > a big plus (support, libraries etc) > I can't see much improvement (if any) on something like Diptrace or even > Kicad, although I haven't used it enough to justify that view. > The price for a full professional license is $1494, not too cheap, > although we could probably get away with the autorouter free version or > the 6-layer 160x100 version ($995 and $498, a lot more reasonable) > DesignSpark: > Free, okay, but early stages of development and I'm not sure I want to > use it for professional development. It's missing "standard" features > like e.g. a bus in the schematic option, turn layers off/on in PCB, it > crashes occasionally and is extremely slow. It is backed by RS so it may > be worth keeping an eye on, development seems to be progressing at a > rapid pace. With the next version or two it may be one of the best free > options. > Kicad: > I have used it briefly, and it seems very powerful for an open source > package (best I have seen). Development seems to be ongoing with a very > active and widespread user base. I am thinking of giving it a "real" try > and using it for some commercial projects. > What do people think of this idea? Libraries I intend to make myself (at > least mostly) as I have done on other packages. I don't like to rely on > randomly designed parts with different standards, which seems to be the > case with most libraries in free/non-free software. Altium is the > closest I have seen to having "standardised" libraries. We may grab the > Ultra Librarian when it has improved a bit and is usable with something > like Kicad. > Aside from that, I believe I can work round it's quirks. Some advice > would be nice though as I'm sure I have not considered all the factors. > I will need the capability to produce stencils and other manufacturing > data easily. > I believe just about anything can be used to make a very complicated > board if you "work around" stuff, but my main objective is speed and > ease of use (i.e to quickly produce good work and avoid time consuming > problems, usually more of a worry with open source stuff) > My main reason not to grab something like Eagle or (uprade/renew) > Diptrace right now is I would like to hold out with free stuff for a > while, and then bite the bullet fully (if necessary, if things work I > may just carry on with Kicad) and buy something like Altium. > The choice is not fully mine of course, but it's me who will be using > the software 99% of the time. > Any advice would be appreciated, especially from anyone who has used > Kicad in a commercial setting. > > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .