Hello,
Since you've not listed those which don't meet your needs, I can't be
sure you'll find this helpful.
Try Circad. Extremely fast and easy to use. Library creation is easy,
and library USE is REALLY easy. Under 1000 bucks, you can get it for
less if you are a ham. See the website for details. www.holophase.com
64x64" board size. .001" resolution. 16layers. Creates EXCELLENT
gerbers/docs for the board house!
Ballendo
--- In
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Michael Johnston"
<mike_johnston@v...> wrote:
> Sorry about the previous post. I got to clicking a bit too fast in
Outlook.
>
> I've been evaluating different schematic capture and pcb layout
programs for
> Windows for the last two months. Of what I've seen, there seem to
be three
> basic classes of software. (1) Garbage that is not worth the time
to
> download, (2) limited usability and (3) ridiculously expensive
(>$1500).
> Several programs fall into the first category (I won't list them
for fear of
> offending someone's favorite program). There is no need to go into
the
> third. That leaves the middle category.
>
> Programs like EasyPC are a pleasure to use but are significantly
lacking in
> functionality. The well thought out user interface allows you to
sit down
> and actually be productive in a matter of minutes. But limited
> functionality keeps you from going too far. At the other end of
the scale
> is Eagle. Excellent functionality but totally lacking in a
functional user
> interface. Now before anyone says "You're crazy, Eagle's great you
just
> need to give it a chance" let me say that I will fully agree with
you that
> Eagle will do just about everything a home hobbyist and many pro's
will
> need. BUT, any program that is going to take three weeks of my
time just to
> figure out how to create new libraries, get them entered into a
schematic
> and create a board layout is NOT how I define "functional". It may
be great
> once you know it, but I would rather spend the learning time
actually doing
> something productive with another program. With EasyPC I was able
to figure
> all of these things out (as far as the cripleware version would
allow) in
> under a couple of hours.
>
> So, is there anything out there with the usability of EasyPC and the
> functionality of Eagle that doesn't fall into category three that I
just
> haven't come across yet? What is the closest I can get to both
worlds?
>
> What do the people in this group use?