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CadSoft will enhance Premier Farnell and element14

awinning

We have been getting questions and requests for further information about Premier Farnell’s acquisition of CadSoft and the business of of Cadsoft  Computer Inc. While I don’t have all the answers, I’ll post what I know, and if you require any further information, please post your question here and I’ll try my hardest to find out the answers.


 

EAGLE software will continue to be supported and developed. The two founders of CadSoft who initially developed EAGLE software will remain with the business for agreed time periods as part of the integration process.

EAGLE software will facilitate design exchange between engineers through element14, which when combined with Premier Farnell’s transactional websites offers a complete online solution to purchasing and design needs. In addition, TechCast tutorial modules on element14 will enable new customers to quickly become familiar with the tool and help them learn how to use it.

The acquisition of CadSoft will give Premier Farnell more tools to help in the design process. These tools include the recent launch of DesignLink, which bridges from the other CAD tools straight to Premier Farnell’s product data, and information. 

  • I've just received this statement from the company on CadSoft

     

    As we strive to better understand your needs in the design process, we are constantly looking for ways to enhance the products, technologies, services and information we offer to ensure you get the support you need. We are delighted to confirm that we have recently acquired CadSoft, market leading developer and supplier of CAD software. The software, EAGLE, is now in use by thousands of design engineers throughout Europe, the USA and Asia.  The combination of the EAGLE software, our unique e-community, element14 and our vast product range and services ensures that we can now offer you a complete on-line solution to all of your purchasing and development needs. With our recently launched DesignLink which bridges from CAD tools straight to our product data and information, we are now able to truly offer you support right through the design process.

    If you are an existing EAGLE user, we assure you that your existing relationship is unaffected by the purchase. We will continue to develop the software and offer the same support and service as before. The freeware version of EAGLE will also continue to be available. The only changes you should see will be positive ones, as we invest more time and development expertise to improve EAGLE even further without changing its position as the most affordable design engineer CAD solution on the market. We will keep you informed as these exciting developments come to fruition.  For the latest information and most up to date discussions visit www.element-14.com.

  • I'm excited at the possibility of new developments for Eagle. As a hobbyist electronics tinkerer, I've found Eagle to be a very good cross-platform tool for my small projects, certainly better and more stable than the freeware alternatives, but I've started to run up against the freeware limit in board size.

     

    Right now the hobbyist "Maker" market is very hot. Companies like Adafruit and Sparkfun and Make magazine are really cashing in on this and a lot of people are entering the low-end electronics design market. I'm definitely not a market expert, so take this with a grain of salt, but it feels like a great time to introduce a "Maker's Edition" of Eagle.  The problem for me right now is that going from a half eurocard board to a full eurocard board means buying a $498 license, even though my design is open source. I would love to see a less-expensive option for hobbyists. For example, I would be perfectly happy to pay $99-$149 for a full-eurocard, two-layer limit and no autorouting. Or, better yet, a limit on pad count rather than a limit on board size, since I often want to do a big board with few components. But I have a hard time justifying anything over a $200 hard-limit for my purposes, and I suspect that's going to be a pretty common price point limit for electronics hobbyists who are getting more serious.

     

    Thanks for the opportunity to comment on your purchase of CadSoft. Good luck, and best wishes!

  • I too would love to see some additional flexibility in the pricing structure. Eagle is a great tool for a small (read: VERY small) manufacturer and the pricing is generally good but the board size limit is the problem.

    I want to design boards with a few large components or connectors for ease of integration into extisting equipment but I cant make the board big enough in Eagle for what i can afford to pay!

     

    An increase in the board size but maintain the limit on layers to say 4 and schematic sheets to 9 or 10 would be a good compromise?

     

    Its got my stuffed how you can design a 99 sheet schematic and jam it on a 160x100mm board anyway! I've done a couple of tests with the "free" version as an eval and could fit a quite advanced deisgn into the 1 schamtic sheet and tiny board!

  • Hello,

     

    I'd like to know whether it is possible to place orders with Farnell through DesignLink as it links to Farnell's website or is it only possible to search for products?

     

    Thank you.

  • in reply to Kamila

    Hello Kamila,

     

    the current version offers a seach function only. We are working on further improvements, so our aim is to allow the customer to place an order as well.

     

    Regards,
    Richard