[sdiy] selecting a semiconductor manufacturer

[Phil Harbison]

Tom Arnold wrote:
> All that being said, I have a soft spot in my heart for
 > Fairchild and lean towards Fairchild then TI then whoever
 > else has the part I want...

Fairchild's FAST and ECL100 logic was tops for a long time.
I like both Fairchild and National Semiconductor for most
parts except microprocessors. In that area, both companies
have a history of bailing out of the market and leaving the
customers hanging.

(see also: NSC32000, Fairchild Clipper, etc.)

I have always had good luck with TI and Freescale (formerly
Motorola Semiconductor) in every area. For fast logic parts
(e.g. 74HCT245) I am also happy with IDT (Integrated Device
Technology). For FPGAs, I've been happy with Atmel, Altera,
and Xilinx. For fast RAM: Cypress and IDT.

My area is digital design, so I really have no experience
with companies like Exar and Intersil (assuming those two
examples are still around). For A/D and D/A converters, I
have been happy with Burr Brown and Analog Devices.

-- 
Phil Harbison