On 22 June 2012 19:09, Dwayne Reid wrote: > Good day to all. > > I'm part of Microchip's Design Partner program and Microchip has made > an offer that seems to be too good to pass up. > > Microchip is apparently switching all of their electronic CAD > software over to Altium. =A0As part of that deal, they have extended an > offer to all Design Partners to purchase the Altium software for the > price of $2500 USD per seat. =A0This is a price reduction of about > $4500 (List price US $6995). > > The first year's software maintenance cost of $1500 per seat is > included in that cost. =A0However, the on-going cost is that yearly > cost of $1500 per seat. > > What the Altium sales rep told me is the maintenance cost includes > frequent updates (weekly or daily) for new symbols and > footprints. =A0He says that Altium's intent is that individual users > don't have to spend time creating new library components / symbols > for newly-released parts. =A0Instead, all of that is provided by Altium > as the new parts are released. > > Individual users do have to create their own custom symbols, of course. > > My questions to the PIClist community are this: > > 1) How do Altium users like the software? > > 2) Is it reasonably easy to use (after the initial learning curve)? > > 3) Is it stable? > > 4) Do you have to constantly check the output files (Gerber) to > ensure that they are accurate? > > 5) How is the documentation? =A0Is (was) it easy to learn to use? I've used Altium (and it's predecessor Protel) for many years. While the old Protel used to like crashing at the most awkward moments, I've never had a problem with Altium. Learning to use it can be a bit daunting at times: it definitely includes the kitchen sink. Learning which menu options to use took me a while to figure out. The interface itself has barely changed since Protel so there's plenty of documentation around for it. Also, Altium has recently started producing pretty comprehensive video tutorials on its website alongside their fairly complete wiki. The library of parts is good, although I wouldn't go so far as to rely on having every available part already available. (NB for this list: it includes hundreds of PIC parts.) I've never had a problem with the Gerbers being wrong. I've tried a bunch of alternatives from Cadence, Eagle, etc., but I prefer Altium every time. YMMV. I particularly like the board layout: its fast and user friendly, though it can be a bit of a memory hog. Also, it comes with a good SPICE simulator and FPGA bits and bobs. As for the price: even with your discount it's still 3 or 4 times as expensive as Eagle--not including the "updates" charges--so take a good look to see if it's really what you need. All the best, Brendan --=20 Brendan Gillatt http://www.brendangillatt.co.uk --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .