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Inexpensive PCB CAD PC software

4/17/1998 3:02 AM
MHelin	Inexpensive PCB CAD PC software After trying some demos I decided to choose Winboard PCB CAD. It's got all features I need (ground fill, Gerber output, large libraries), and it's 200 pin version was quite inexpensive, around $45 for me, but NTE has the price of $29.95, see the NTE" target="_blank">http://www.nteinc.com/Web_pgs/cad_net.html">NTE site for more information. Demo version is a 100-pin version, fully working, and enough for small circuits like guitar FX stuff. Winboard is an IVEX product, it's user interface is not the most intuitive, but you'll learn it. You can buy extra pins at Ivex site ($50/100 pins). Routing is manual, so you wouldn't use Winboard for large projects. Another interesting and inexpensive one is the Ares Lite by Labcenter. It's a shareware version, but quite inexpensive. It's got a fully functional autorouter, and there are no pin restrictions, but there's no Gerber output option either, neither automatic ground fill generator. The demo version is not usable, there are 10 second delays everywhere and a 100-pin restriction. -Mikko

4/17/1998 3:02 AM

MHelin

Inexpensive PCB CAD PC software

After trying some demos I decided to choose Winboard PCB CAD. It's got all features I need (ground fill, Gerber output, large libraries), and it's 200 pin version was quite inexpensive, around $45 for me, but NTE has the price of $29.95, see the NTE" target="_blank">http://www.nteinc.com/Web_pgs/cad_net.html">NTE site for more information. Demo version is a 100-pin version, fully working, and enough for small circuits like guitar FX stuff. Winboard is an IVEX product, it's user interface is not the most intuitive, but you'll learn it. You can buy extra pins at Ivex site ($50/100 pins). Routing is manual, so you wouldn't use Winboard for large projects.

Another interesting and inexpensive one is the Ares Lite by Labcenter. It's a shareware version, but quite inexpensive. It's got a fully functional autorouter, and there are no pin restrictions, but there's no Gerber output option either, neither automatic ground fill generator. The demo version is not usable, there are 10 second delays everywhere and a 100-pin restriction.

-Mikko

Replies:

chip hys thanks for the info Mikko I tryed ... -- 4/17/1998 6:12 AM