Mark wrote:
Eagle has a freeware version that is for non-commercial projects of smaller physical size. It is a very stable program... it has never crashed on me. Eagle has LOTS of community support.
For me, the problem with Eagle is the board size limit that you mention. Even the full ("Standard") edition (currently $315-$820 for one user, depending on whether you get the schematic and autorouter modules) is limited to boards sized 16x10 cm (about 4"x6"). The least expensive version ("Light," currently $69 or free) only does 8x10 cm. To design boards larger than 16x10 cm, you need the "Professional" edition (currently $635-$1640).
For many of us, the "Hobbyist" edition (currently $169 for all three modules -- 6 layers, 16x10 cm) is the "sweet spot," but it is limited to "non-commercial" uses. I presume this means that you may not design a board and sell completed gizmos that have the boards in them, or kits that include fabbed boards or the board files.
Anyway, I often need boards larger than 16x10 cm, so Eagle doesn't seem to fit my needs -- it's a tool with a steep leaning curve that would only do about half of my boards. And $1640 for the "Pro" version (or even $820 for the "Standard" version) is (IMO) way too expensive for the capability I need.
Why did they settle on 16x10 cm for the less expensive versions?? That seems pretty arbitrary, given that the "Professional" version supports boards 400x400 cm. I gather 16x10 cm is a common Eurocard size, but I don't see why that would guide the limit.
To interest me, the "Hobbyist" version would need to be capable of doing boards at least 8"x10" (about 40x50 cm). But with the recent improvements in KiCAD, and its growing popularity (and, thus, support community), it may be the winner.
I'd be interested to hear from users, whether partisan or neutral, who have recent experience with *both* packages (Eagle 6 or 7 *and* KiCAD 2013.07.07).
Best regards, Charles _______________________________________________ volt-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts and follow the instructions there.
