Hi all,
I had my first circuit board made by a manufacturer instead of DIY. This one was just a bit too tough for DIY so I thought I would try a board house. I selected
https://www.protoexpress.com/home.jsp and used their no touch service.
The board I had made was a 2 layer, measuring about 4 1/2" by 11" the price ended up at $113.00 with shipping and I selected their 10 day service.
One of the reasons I choose this mfg was that I could submit gerber files and didn't have to use someone's special software. I use Sprint layout. It took a few attempts to submit the files on-line, but once I understood what the problem was it was pretty easy.
The board shipped on time and Fed-Ex delivered on-time. It was packaged good (actually way overkill, but better safe than sorry).
Being that this was my first board from a board house, I don't really have a basis for comparison, but overall the board was good quality.
The silkscreen is a bit course, must be inkjet printed, but very legible
The solder masks are the typical green stuff and was good, and performed good during soldering (hand soldering).
The through hole plating was a bit rough in a few places. Some of the smallest holes seemed to be plated a bit "Thick", almost closed completely.
I did find 3 shorts between pads on a surface mount chip (atmega 644P location 44 pin QFP). Interestingly, the mounting area for the Atmega2560 chip (100 QFP, 13MM x 13MM) was perfect.
Anyway, just thought I would share my experience. They can do more layers and other things too, so if you find yourself with a project that is just beyond DIY capabilities, give them some consideration.
Chris