On Sun, 11 May 2003 20:53:46 -0700, you wrote:
>Here's my experience with AutoTrax:
>
>I tried Autotrax, and it crashed on me a few times, and I lost my work. I'm
>using Windows XP Professional, so maybe it's more stable on other versions
>of Windows.
Uhmmm, no ofense here, but Windows XP is definately NOT more stalbe
than other versions of Windows. W2k or NT are much better here. Never
belive the Microsoft marketing hypes. We do install many Windows
machines here at work and again, there ARE problems with XP. I'm of
course sure that after the second or third service pack such problems
will be solved but that's the point, XP is still too new to be more
stable than W2k etc.
With regard to Autotrax - well, I don't have too much personal
experience with using it, but they run a support e-mail list similar
to this one, and support and bugfixes to crash reports etc. are
delivered very promptly. So, I still think that Autotrax is a good
option for someone not yet having a package.
>I also got the impression that its parts libraries were very
>limited, although maybe I didn't search hard enough for them.
Most design software lacks of this. I'm - as mentioned - a happy Eagle
user, but even though there IS a huge part library, I have to create
library elemtents for probably 50% of the parts I use. (I do admint
that the percentage vastly depends on the kind of design work made, so
this mileage surely varies). Of course, using Autotrax it probably
would be 90% or more, but then the package is free and once the parts
are made they can be reused later on.
>In the end I switched back to Eagle. Admittedly Eagle crashed on me a few
>times also at first, but once I set it to use "vector fonts always", it has
>been rock solid. This was suggested on their support forum. The support is
>excellent, even if you are using the free version.
Well, with no access to the Eagle support forum you may would have
given up on Eagle also. That said, your Autotrax problem probably
would have vaporized if you would have joined their support e-mail
list and asked there. I must say that even though I'm overall happy
with Eagle, I don't understand why the so problematic option "vector
fonts always" is turned off by default and what the opiton actually
should be used for. I mean so many people stumble over this it's
really hard to understand. I also figure that we both agree that
Eagles user interface is far away from any standard Windows program.
Again, I'm happy cause I can do the work I need but I DO apreciate the
fact that the traditional manufacturers of such design software get a
reasonable competition that hopefully will wake them up a bit.
Markus
>- Chris Graham
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "tamerlane221" <T_dragger44@...>
>To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
>Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2003 8:41 PM
>Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: PCB design software
>
>
>> Markus,
>> Thank you for the pointer to AutoTRAX. I actually ended up with a
>> number of suggestions from folks on this list but, since you suggested
>> that AutoTRAX is fairly new, I thought I'd give it a try. I'm not
>> sure I understand why these software companies make their product
>> available for nothing; what's up with that? Is the competition in
>> this market extremely strong?
>>
>> I don't really know how to assess one PCB design software package
>> against another since I don't know enough about how to build a board.
>> So, I'll get a copy of AutoTRAX and try to let the group know if I
>> discover anything interesting.
>>
>> Thanks again for the help....
>> Monte
>>
>> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Markus Zingg <m.zingg@n...> wrote:
>> > Check out autotrax. Pretty powerfull and - belive it or not -
>> > completely free!
>> >
>> > http://www.autotraxeda.com/
>>
>>
>>
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