pcbway?

[multi_s]

anyone using these guys? or who do you use for pcbs these days?

pcbway.com

price similar to itead without annoying "size" categories and seems a bit faster, also 1 day turnaround for 2 layer only +25 bucks? not bad?

i've done a few orders, so far so good, but just wondering what else people use in 2017?

[eatyourguitar]

They are right in the middle between itead and pcbcart.com

I like pcbcart.com for bulk and for matte black PCB panels in eurorack.

Itead is still good for getting one PCB with 9 extra pointless pcb for prototyping a non working design. Ironically you pay the same for prototyping with oshpark for 3 PCB.

So yeah pcbway is OK for ordering 25 PCB of something. It is still on the medium quality, specification, error rate etc..

Itead has pretty small drills but pcbcart you pay more for super small drills mills and traces. I know I will be a lot closer to %100 of the PCB not being defective with pcbcart compared to any of the other places mentioned.

[multi_s]

did you have errors from pcbway?

i have made everything to .006 inch spacing exactly, the min cheap spec, and still wait for the errors. so far so good.

itead also i still had no errors in hundreds of boards except we did PCBA with them once and they shipped 1 board out of 600 that has an internal short on a 4 layer spaced to their min spec.

pcbway looks cheaper and faster than pcbcart for same size/layers? even 5 pcbs? even 100 pcbs? what size puts pcbway mid way?

try for example 15 by 10 cm, 5 or 100 pcs in each quotation. pcbway < 1/2 price <1/2 the lead time?

another place i haven't tried but got some crazy quotes from is raypcb.com ~ 1/2 itead when you order large qty.no online quote tool although they did recently make their website less 1998.

[eatyourguitar]

6mil trace with 6mil min space between traces means they probably sub contract from the same factories as itead but really I'm not sure. I have had %100 working PCB from itead for years but in the last year the error rate has gone up a lot almost %2 fail for copper shorts. I have never used pcbway myself. please post pictures of the PCB so everyone can see.

[eatyourguitar]

To answer your question the price at pcbcart is for 400 PCB with 12 week turnaround. Try that for a price and compare. This is why I use pcbcart. I got 400 for $250 shipped

[Rygot]

So far so good here with pcbway. I haven't had anything super precise, though.

About to populate a new one tonight/tomorrow so I'll update you after that.

Also, they're surprisingly quick.

[multi_s]

ya the speed of pcbway is surprising i would say.

thanks for sharing EYG. 2% is pretty high. i noticed if you do panels on pcbway you have an option to accept panels with error boards in the panel or only accept perfect panels at a slightly higher price, but i wonder if you did that what the actual % of bad boards in the panel would be.... probably only one way to really find out...

here i post some pictures of pcbs done at different places for you:

Bittele/7pcb bare pcb, 4 layer, uses 6/6 spacing but bittele will go down to 4/4 iirc.


same pcb bottom view


same board with pcba (from Bittele, pots soldered in house)


Almost the same board from itead, with pcba, with internal short somewhere....some parts have been manually desoldered/soldered to look for short, c32, c33 for example.


4 layer 6/6 mil spec from pcbway, no blind/buried vias.


same board as above bottom view


V scored panel from itead, 2 layer 6/6 mil spec

[eatyourguitar]

I investigated prices from pcbway.com

4 different PCB sizes and shapes. 20pcs 50pcs 400pcs + shipping. each time it was the same or more expensive than itead. 400pcs was cheaper than itead but definitely not cheaper than pcbcart.com after you factor in the one time setup charge that you do not pay when you restock another 400 units from pcbcart.com. overall I would say pcbway gives you more linearity of pricing that will transition you from itead small quantity to pcbcart bulk with complete granular control over the size of your business at $0.13 increments.

[multi_s]

i dont think there is a setup fee with pcbway.

i agree the price is very similar or more than itead though, but so far it is much faster so the price diff is worth it to me.

also i tried 400 and pcbway is still cheaper, even without the tooling fee on repeated orders from pcbcart.

i'll assume we used different parameters but on a 10 by 15 cm board similar spec both places its about 785 shipped form pcbway wiht 6-7 day lead. 1083 from pcbcard with 12 day lead, reorders would be less 155, sill over 900 USD.

i tried to get a $250 quote from pcb cart using 23mm by 100mm board, the same board in pcbway is 187 shipped.

you are free to use whatever service you want for whatever reasons but i don't see much evidence to suggest pcbcart is actually cheaper than itead or pcbway, although one may have other motivations

To answer your question the price at pcbcart is for 400 PCB with 12 week turnaround. Try that for a price and compare. This is why I use pcbcart. I got 400 for $250 shipped

i assume you meant 12 day?

[eatyourguitar]

yeah 12 day sorry

150mm x 100mm that is a lot bigger than what I do mostly. 8HP is 40mm x 108mm. thank you for sharing this information. now I know what dimensions would have the advantage at pcbway. this is something that is hard to guess. 400 units is the price break at pcbcart that matters. if you can beat pcbcart at 400 units then definitely everyone should go with pcbway in that size dimension pcb 150mm x 100mm.

[multi_s]

pcbway now 5 dollars for 10x 10cm by 10cm boards?

gtfopcbway.png (37.98 KiB) Viewed 7510 times

the price does not make sense, worse pricing when you buy 100+.

the first time is free.....

in other news itead now back up to 19,90 for same deal?
https://www.itead.cc/open-pcb/pcb-proto ... m-max.html

[eatyourguitar]

pcbway now 5 dollars for 10x 10cm by 10cm boards?

gtfopcbway.png

the price does not make sense, worse pricing when you buy 100+.

the first time is free.....

in other news itead now back up to 19,90 for same deal?
https://www.itead.cc/open-pcb/pcb-proto ... m-max.html

you mean back down? it was $29.00 now $19.90

itead raising and lowering prices every two weeks. the price is great when it is on sale. itead shipping for 5cm x 5cm, 5cm x 10cm @ 10 units is $4.60 while the 10cm x 10cm shipping is $7.90. pcbway have $30 shipping DHL with signature required so is it really worth it when you add shipping?

this is itead 80mm x 108mm sold as 100mm x 100mm

[multi_s]

naw im pretty sure it has always been "on sale", just used to be 66% off now only 32%. the 10 10 10 10 deal has seemed pretty standard lately (last year r 2), even seeed fusion has this offer for example.

i only want express shipping when i order pcbs. so paying for dhl is no problem for me. so yes it is totally worth it. with 24 hr for 25 bucks and 30 dollar shipping you could have 10 copies of a pcb delivered in a few days for 60 bucks. that is pretty outstanding imho.

i guess it depends how much you value your time.

board looks good.

s

[multi_s]

yeah 12 day sorry

150mm x 100mm that is a lot bigger than what I do mostly. 8HP is 40mm x 108mm. thank you for sharing this information. now I know what dimensions would have the advantage at pcbway. this is something that is hard to guess. 400 units is the price break at pcbcart that matters. if you can beat pcbcart at 400 units then definitely everyone should go with pcbway in that size dimension pcb 150mm x 100mm.

even this dimension is not cheaper?

pcbway 302 shipped express 5-6 day lead.

pcbcart 367.46+ shipping? + 8 day lead time. even less the tooling cost on future runs it is still a bit more, although not a huge difference.

it may be better quality/service/etc, one day maybe i will find out.

it does not appear you can get 400 of a pcb with the dimensions you specify from either place for 250 shipped though, so maybe the pcbcart price has changed since and that is why, or coupon codes etc maybe?

https://goo.gl/photos/K3fcfQPG6YBnAdaL8

[eatyourguitar]

that is interesting. I would do 12 day on pcbcart but I think you only save $5 from 8 day to 12 day. I also noticed that the setup charge is decreasing on pcbcart from last month. it was $48 to $56 depending on the pcb. now I see $31 setup in your quote. even so, reorder from pcbcart would be more expensive than first order from pcbway. conclusion, either pcbcart went UP or pcbway went DOWN from last month.

I would gladly switch to pcbway. I officially dropped itead after they made too many mistakes. all those mistakes from itead created more delays and problems then it was worth.