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General discussion / How important is RoHS/Lead Free with prototype boards
I'm laying the ground work for a small order PCB pool service (similar to BatchPCB, OSHPark, Seeed Fusion, etc) aiming for the 3-6 board quantity and low prices on small boards. They will ship from Washington or California and I'm working with some PCB makers in China and California to see where it makes the most sense to have them made. Turn time will be 7-8 business days from when the panel is full. Basically I'm looking to keep my shipping line busy when not filling regular orders (for my company digistump.com), and of course expand the options for medium-turn cheap prototype boards.
Anyway - I've used services like this enough to know what I care about - price, consistent turn times, silk on both sides
But how important are RoHS/Lead Free finishes to people?
My choices have come down to ENIG or good old leaded HASL (with a significant price difference that would translate to about $0.50 to $1 more per inch). Now I know OSHPark is known for being ENIG, I also know that BatchPCB, Seeed, etc seem to all have a plenty big market offering HASL.
Does this matter when you pick a service? Do you think it is that important to most prototype-ers? What do you look for in a prototype service?
Thanks,
Erik