[Lab] Suggestions for EDA Suite?

[Paul & Andrea Mumby]

I typically design boards no larger than 4" x 6" at 4 layers. (plus mask and
silk of course).

I've never actually used it (considering how commonly I hear it mentioned, I
should really take a look). lol

Thanks!

- Paul

On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 10:44 AM, Tom Burns <tom.i.burns at gmail.com> wrote:

> Have you used EAGLE PCB at all?
>
> Not sure the PCB sizes you need but for hobbiest sizes/number of layers
> it's cheap, works cross-platform, and has a large part library.  Also a lot
> of hobbiest vendors like SparkFun or communities like Adafruit have their
> own component libraries released as EAGLE libraries.
>
> www.cadsoftusa.com
>
> Tom
>
> On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 10:41 AM, Paul & Andrea Mumby <themumbys at gmail.com
> > wrote:
>
>> Hey everyone! I've been using Proteus for my EDA suite for the past few
>> years now, and I'm comfortable with it and it works ok for me... But it's
>> beginning to get a bit dated. The component libraries are lacking, and it's
>> lacking gerber output capability for PCB designs (making it difficult to
>> have things professionaly done).
>>
>> So can anyone recommend a solid EDA suite that fits (at least most of) the
>> following requirements:
>> - Reasonably Affordable
>> - Schematic Capture & PCB Design, with netlist exporting from schematic
>> app. (or both features integrated in one, don't really care)
>> - Large component library for both schematic capture and PCB app, (or at
>> least industry standard expandable library so that it doesn't get outdated
>> too quickly)
>> - Basic schematic simulation capability (SPICE or equivalent)
>> - Would be nice if PCB design app supports 3D renderings of boards (for
>> visualizing layout before prototyping)
>> - Gerber output capabilities
>> - Fairly accepted standard, so that I won't have much trouble sharing
>> files back and forth with the community.
>>
>> Any suggestions would be appreciated. If nothing suitable is out there
>> within my price range, I might just stick with Proteus. But I figured it's
>> worth exploring at this point. Have some new projects on the go that could
>> benefit from a new EDA suite.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> - Paul
>>
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>
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