element14 PCB service, get boards made in a day

I like the turn around time, but the cost is almost 3 times that of my current PCB service.

In the UK I think that www.pcbtrain.com (Newbury Electronics) looks a better bet.

Those prices seem crazy expensive compared to UK services.

I thought pcbtrain was quite expensive, but they are much cheaper than pentalogix fast turn around.

Pentalogix off-shore service appears to be more than 2x PCBcart prices.

I don't understand what I am missing but this seems so expensive, I must be missing something because it doesn't stack up.

I think the prices are so high because of the fast turn around. The service I use, Pad2Pad gets more costly as the turn around time decreases, but still a bit cheaper.

Fast turn around is always a bit more expensive. Boards from element14 are going to be high quality.

And the real benefit is for CADSoft Eagle users, with one click to PCB fabrication. A complete integrated experience is worth a little more.

C

A lot of PCB manufacturers take Eagle '.brd' files. I accept clicking a button inside Eagle is easier than emailing a single file to a company. IMHO the difference between those two is utterly trivial compared to using Eagle to create a viable PCB.

I am sure Farnell will get business from their acquisition of Eagle, but this seems to me to be much less valuable compared to the ability to get a part numbered Bill-Of-Material.

And the real benefit is for CADSoft Eagle users, with one click to PCB fabrication. A complete integrated experience is worth a little more.

So, what layers are used for silk screen? It isn't mentioned, and I don't want to spend $200 to find out.

Also, what could I change to make the board cheaper? The advantage of e.g. PCBtrain is I can see what difference choices make to production costs.

Here is a direct comparison,

Board Size, 4x3

Silkscreen Top side only

2 layers

Sloder mask both sides

Element14 Price Quote

Pad2Pad quote

So unless you need the board the next day, it is a big savings.

These are top quality boards and I have never had an issue with them.

I'm not trying to dis-respect Element14, but I have always thought their prices are a bit high (and Newark).

Forget about everything just look at http://www.pcbprice.com/compare/europe

AWESOME

It's a nice idea but it need some serious work - if you set it up to look for a board on 10 working days delivery it ignores suppliers who offer a price for 5 day delivery even if that was lower than the price for 10 from a supplier it did find. They need to improve the search engine so that it looks for the best deal with some fuzziness in delivery otherwise you can (on my test case) end up with the best offer listed being twice the price you need to pay !

Michael Kellett

That is awfuly weak.

I tried 10off, 100mm x 100mm with slow, 25day delivery, and it was 5x more than several web suppliers, and ignored (at least) four suppliers who could deliver in less time for less money.

It's notion of matching is so crude that it is actually misleading.

Needs lots more work.