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CircuitStudio - First impressions

cloidnerux

So, I saw this today and wanted to see what this thing can do. It is advertised as a "Professional PCB Design Tool" with a "Streamlined and Easy-to-Use Interface".

I know Altium Designer and thought "wow, finally a cheaper version of AD for those who only want to make PCBs".

So I tested it and I have to say: Is it a joke?

 

Yeah, it has the 3D stuff, it can open the AD schematic files, the schematic, PCB and project look like AD. The ribbon is looks a bit more modern.

But what the hell. There are no usefull shortcuts and no shortcut editor? AD has it, Eagle has them, but CS not? Why does anybody think it is okay to constantly press some menu buttons to access so frequently used features like laying a wire or a track? Place power symbols, route, unroute, zoom stuff and so on? I thought this is a professional tool and not a kids learning program.

And what is with the default colour scheme? Blue on Blue for different layers? I get it, that it should also fit to the colouring scheme of the UI, but this is a "professional" tool. How on earth is anyone supposed to differntiate the layers, if they are 50 shades of blue? How is this "professional"?

Why is there no step export of my board? How can a mechanical engineer integrate the board into his mechanical design?

Why is there no gerber viewer? Am I supposed to have another tool just because Altium fears for their AD customers?

Why is there no importer for AD PCB files?


3k€ for a programm, that does not include usefull and necessary features because manglement fears for some customers?


Just my 2 cents.

 

 

  • I was thinking that you were being  a bit harsh until I reached the 3k !

    I don't think their flagship product is worth any more than that, let alone the cut down version.

     

    I use EasyPC - which ticks most of your implied boxes and costs from £247 - £447 (1000 pin limit - no limit)

     

    MK

  • We have been paying very close attention to the feedback from the evaluators, our initial customers, feedback via e14 support personnel, and these forums. It is with this feedback that developed v1.1 of CircuitStudio and you can expect to see this released in mid-May.

     

    Along with the typical maintenance one should expect for this product, we are adding the capabilities I’ve listed below to the toolset. Please know that your participation in these forums greatly assists us in getting the product fine tuned.

     

    Here is what’s coming in May to CircuitStudio:

     

    -       - Importers Updated – Altium Designer 10 and Older PCB files, Protel, and PCAD (these are in addition to Eagle/PADs/OrCAD/and current Altium Designer Support)

    -       - Mixed Mode Simulation

    -       - .STEP Export

    -       - DXF Import

  • I largely agree with what you have said about CircuitStudio, after having been using an evaluation licence for version 1.1 for the last 2-3 weeks on a prototype board design. The lack of any useful keyboard shortcuts and not being able to assign one's own is a major functional drawback which I deem to be detrimental to the "Professional" tag being associated with the product. There being no support for gerber viewing is also quite shocking considering the price tag.

     

    I have experienced quite a plethora of Exceptions in my use over the last few weeks, at least not causing a complete crash of the application, but regularly causing untimely hiccups when executing rudimentary commands. It is definitely not a polished enough product for professional applications.

     

    Having been used to AD from previous experience I was quite excited to try CS, but I am strongly considering not going forward with the purchasing of 4 licences for our company in light of my experience with the product.

  • in reply to Former Member

    I've been struggling to use several functions that exist in CS, because hotkeys are missing.  I can see functions in the search bar that are part of the Altium infrastructure, but CS doesn't have a means of accessing them.  Hopefully this is added to an update soon.  Background: I'd put myself in a Altium Designer at work user category and a purchaser of this product for home use.

     

    "Find Similar Objects" is amazingly powerful but I don't see that type of query anywhere in CS, I really need that one added as well.  The PCB panel has some tools in it to find similar hole sizes, etc, but it doesn't find and select everything like I need.

     

    Also, why can't Altium Designer open a CSPCB file?  It makes no sense to me that the flagship product can't open all files from the same company.  How can you expect people to grow into the full blown tool when it can't open legacy boards and work on them?

     

    I have been using the importer you mentioned; SnapEDA provides Altium library files in a PCAD format that thankfully CS can deal with.  Their service is helpful about 30% of the time.

     

    Overall though, it is a powerful tool for the price point, but lacking some important functionality.  Thanks for listening.  image