Best price for small run of double-sided PCBs?

[Dave Marsh]

I want to get 100 double-sided PTH boards made. They are very
straightforward, eurocard size (100x160mm), 200 holes, some standard surface
mounts, silkscreen one side, no special requirements except a couple of
small slots. Delivery, anything up to 4 weeks is ok.

http://www.pcbpro.com comes out at a bit over $6 each. Is this a good price?
What do people think of their quality?

This place is potentially promising too (it's in the UK as I am, but will
deal with anywhere):
http://www.top-tec-pcb.com/eng/sites/products/pcb_2_1.html
Their price is 4.35UKP ($7.80) - cheapest in the UK I've found so far but
don't know what they are like.

I'd like to know when I've found a reasonable price without sacrificing
quality. What do others here pay for your PCBs and any places you'd
recommend for short runs?

Many thanks,

Dave

 

[Nico Coesel]

I want to get 100 double-sided PTH boards made. They are very
straightforward, eurocard size (100x160mm), 200 holes, some standard surface
mounts, silkscreen one side, no special requirements except a couple of
small slots. Delivery, anything up to 4 weeks is ok.

I'd like to know when I've found a reasonable price without sacrificing
quality. What do others here pay for your PCBs and any places you'd
recommend for short runs?

I'm about to send a board to Olimex in Bulgaria (www.olimex.com)...
I've read some good stories about them in this NG.

 

[Leon Heller]

I'm about to send a board to Olimex in Bulgaria (www.olimex.com)...
I've read some good stories about them in this NG.

Watch the hole clearances, you need to allow for plating.

Olimex is fine for prototypes, but their boards aren't top quality.

Leon

 

[martin griffith]

I'm about to send a board to Olimex in Bulgaria (www.olimex.com)...
I've read some good stories about them in this NG.

I have used Olimex quite a few times, for prototypes, a excellent
service.
However I did find that the copper on the prototype PCB's did lift
easily from the prototype boards when rewoking, compared to large run
manufactures, but never followed it up with Olimex




martin

Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.

 

[[email protected]]

Watch the hole clearances, you need to allow for plating.

Olimex is fine for prototypes, but their boards aren't top quality.

Leon

We've used Olimex in the past, and I agree that they are terrific value for
prototyping. Unfortunately we've had some problems with a few boards, mainly
faulty vias, that's cost us quite a bit of time. So we are now looking for
someone else that can do small production runs at a decent price. Any
suggestions for other suppliers gratefully received, thanks!

Dave

 

[paul]

try Washington circuits in the uk good quality and delivery

http://home.btconnect.com/Washington-CCT/

 

[Leon Heller]

We've used Olimex in the past, and I agree that they are terrific value for
prototyping. Unfortunately we've had some problems with a few boards, mainly
faulty vias, that's cost us quite a bit of time. So we are now looking for
someone else that can do small production runs at a decent price. Any
suggestions for other suppliers gratefully received, thanks!

PCB Pool is more expensive, but their boards are very high quality:

http://www.pcbpool.com/ppuk/info.html


Leon

 

[soundman]

I use PD technologies in Sussex.

They have given a consistently good service and they don't charge silly
prices.

The last one I did with thme was about 1/2 eurocard size, about 100 holes
and worked out about £1.60 per card for 100 off plus about £30 (I think) for
artworks etc. I would guess they will be a bit less than £4.35

My contact there is Andy Hulin, tel No 01903 202205

Peter

 

[[email protected]]

PCB Pool is more expensive, but their boards are very high quality:

http://www.pcbpool.com/ppuk/info.html


Leon

Thanks for the recommendation Leon.

Just wondering if anyone has used these people:
http://www.top-tec-pcb.com/eng/sites/products/pcb_2_1.html
Their price is very low for double-sided and includes an electrical test
(with PCB Pool this is quite a bit more).

Dave Marsh

 

[[email protected]]

I use PD technologies in Sussex.

They have given a consistently good service and they don't charge silly
prices.

The last one I did with thme was about 1/2 eurocard size, about 100 holes
and worked out about £1.60 per card for 100 off plus about £30 (I think) for
artworks etc. I would guess they will be a bit less than £4.35

My contact there is Andy Hulin, tel No 01903 202205

Peter

Many thanks for the info, Peter. That does sound very good. I notice on
their website
http://www.pdtechnologies.co.uk/
that they do assembly too. That could be handy.

Dave Marsh

 

[[email protected]]

try Washington circuits in the uk good quality and delivery

http://home.btconnect.com/Washington-CCT/

Thanks Paul - I'll bear them in mind.

Dave

 

[Thomas Philips]

I use Advanced Circuits in Colorado (www.4pcb.com) for all my proto
boards. They are reasonably priced and do a superb job. They also have
a bare-bones service which they advertise on a separate web site
(www.barebonespcb.com). It's dirt cheap ($25 + $0.50/square inch +
shipping, with 24 hour turnaround), but you get no soldermask or
legend. I've used both services and have been delighted.

Thomas Philips

 

[[email protected]]

I use Advanced Circuits in Colorado (www.4pcb.com) for all my proto
boards. They are reasonably priced and do a superb job. They also have
a bare-bones service which they advertise on a separate web site
(www.barebonespcb.com). It's dirt cheap ($25 + $0.50/square inch +
shipping, with 24 hour turnaround), but you get no soldermask or
legend. I've used both services and have been delighted.

Thomas Philips

Thanks Thomas. I've read good things about them before on usenet but for
some reason always assumed they were a little pricey for anything above
prototype quantities. However, trying out their online quote system, a run
of 100 is good value (for 2 weeks delivery and longer).

Dave

 

[Wouter van Ooijen]

I'm about to send a board to Olimex in Bulgaria (www.olimex.com)...

I've read some good stories about them in this NG.

Olimex is very cheap for proto's (1 or 2 exx), I use them often, but
for 100 as the OP asked they might not be the best choice.

Wouter van Ooijen

-- ------------------------------------
http://www.voti.nl
PICmicro chips, programmers, consulting

 

[John Devereux]

I want to get 100 double-sided PTH boards made. They are very
straightforward, eurocard size (100x160mm), 200 holes, some standard surface
mounts, silkscreen one side, no special requirements except a couple of
small slots. Delivery, anything up to 4 weeks is ok.

http://www.pcbpro.com comes out at a bit over $6 each. Is this a good price?
What do people think of their quality?

This place is potentially promising too (it's in the UK as I am, but will
deal with anywhere):
http://www.top-tec-pcb.com/eng/sites/products/pcb_2_1.html
Their price is 4.35UKP ($7.80) - cheapest in the UK I've found so far but
don't know what they are like.

Forget UK.

Try e.g. Myro PCB <http://www.myropcb.com/>.

Should come out at around $3 each plus $60 tooling + £35 shipping.