I used ExpressPCB once a few years ago. The software sucked. Could have been pilot error, but I had a lot less trouble with eagle, which is accused of having a steep learning curve.
I've been using Eagle and etching boards at home with toner transfer. I'm thinking of sending one out to BatchPCB soon. Hackaday posted a link to one guy's writeup; they also refer to a previous article they did on BatchPCB. http://hackaday.com/2010/06/15/preparing-your-pcb-design-for-manufacture/ -Jason kg4wsv
