Dangerous Prototypes Open Source Hardware

Best cheap PCB service

February 18, 2014, 05:41:52 pm

Well, the poll title says it all!
All we are trying to find a cheap PCB supplier for our projects. Multiple post and topics are all around the web but I don't think anything can be better than a poll! It is fast, it is simple and can easily divide the good PCB manufacturers from the buzz!

I've include some of the well know cheap manufacturers. I know that there are multiples out there but those are the ones that are the well known, tested from most of the people, really cheap etc

The most critical variable is the quality of the PCB in general. You can select not one but two from the listed manufacturers.

It will be great if except from the poll selection you can write a few words about your selection.
Something like: Nice PCB quality, not good communication, free shipping, well packed

Re: Best cheap PCB service

Reply #1 – February 18, 2014, 08:04:37 pm

Good day Elpis,

I have not used any of the above PCB suppliers, but to me "cheap" is a relative term.  To me, "cheap PCBs" means low cost, but high quality PCBs.  I recognize that there is a balance here and so I am willing to pay more for higher quality, as debugging a design is time consuming enough let alone dealing with a bad PCB...  That being said, I have consistently been using U&I (http://quickturnpcb.co.kr) for both my prototypes and production PCBs and have been extremely satisfied with the quality, price, and speed of their service.  I have been using them for about 4 years and have yet to have a bad PCB (about 30 PCB designs).

I have seen other posts about using the above PCB vendors and was thinking about trying them for some simple protos given the low prices.  However, I have seen mixed reviews on some of these and so I have yet to try them.  Most recently I sent a rather simple design to http://pcb.hqew.net/ to see how their service is.  I would have sent this design to U&I, but I wanted a white solder mask and U&I were unable to accommodate.  Anyway, it will be a week or so before I have the PCBs from HQEW and if there is any interest I will post my experience and the quality of the PCBs.

Cheers,

Sam

Re: Best cheap PCB service

Reply #2 – February 19, 2014, 03:30:00 am

I've used Seeed studios and been happy with them. At the moment I use Elecrow a lot, because they don't charge extra for different coloured soldermasks. OSH park is really great and if you have smaller boards and don't need 10 of them, they can be cheaper and better quality than some of the others.

For more complex boards hackvana (http://www.hackvana.com/) seems to be great, but I haven't had a chance to try them out.

My point is, that two choice are probably to few, and there are different scenarios, in which different suppliers excel.

Re: Best cheap PCB service

Reply #3 – March 07, 2014, 09:53:53 am

Hi, dear sir.thanks for your recommend. This is Alice from HQEW. And i saw this topic when surfing on the internet.
coincidence,and cheers.
anyone who wants to do PCB prototype, you can log in our website to calculate price and place an order .
you can add my skype to know about the details:  hqew-four

Re: Best cheap PCB service

Reply #4 – March 11, 2014, 03:21:38 pm

I'd used both Seeed and Itead a lot previous but recently move over to Smart-Prototyping as they have a slighter better postal options for shipping to the UK/Europe.

Re: Best cheap PCB service

Reply #5 – March 13, 2014, 03:20:57 am

I use circuit-mart.com Their website has a few issues now and all quoting is done via email so it can take a day to get sorted.

However I have always had good quality boards and great service. Depending on size a batch of 5 prototype boards (any soldermask & legend colour, difficult shape etc) is $55usd and 10 business days to my workshop. Their volume pricing is really good as well. Certainly worth sending them an e-mail to get a price at least.

Re: Best cheap PCB service

Reply #6 – March 20, 2014, 05:13:52 am

I've always used Seeed Studio, but now that I'm in China I have a 'supplier' that's significantly cheaper than anything online. Same vacuum packed 10s, 100% etest, any color, 3 day turn, that you get anywhere else. We're strongly considering starting a small pcb buying group here in the forum to get it faster/cheaper. It wouldn't have an online interface at first - paypal and email, but you'd always have someone answering emails which is a step above many I think.

Re: Best cheap PCB service

Reply #7 – March 20, 2014, 03:38:24 pm

Ian, that sounds very interesting.

I would definitely be interested in trying someone new

Best cheap PCB service

Reply #8 – March 20, 2014, 10:43:42 pm

I think I spent about $500 with itead last year, would love to give that business to you (isn't a ton but it all adds up).

I am about to send a bunch of boards to itead to collect during the workshop week, should I send them to Jin instead?  Am happy to pay the same prices.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Re: Best cheap PCB service

Reply #9 – March 21, 2014, 04:12:38 am

I don't want to set expectations too high :) These are defo prototype quality boards. There will be inconsistencies from batch to batch, and the silk screen is usually terrible. But, they're cheap, oh so cheap, and I've never had any issues with them in 30 orders. That used to be enough, but with so many players the expectation for a $10 batch of PCBs seems to be going WAY up. 5 years ago we were grateful to give that Bulgarian company $100 for 5pcs 5cmx5cm with no solder mask...

Maybe we should call the service  "Dirt Cheap Dirty Boards" and focus on experience (tracking, updates) rather than quality...

Re: Best cheap PCB service

Reply #10 – March 21, 2014, 07:45:36 am

+1 on "Dirt Cheap Dirty Boards", when prototypes are done, one can discuss other producers that is known for their quality.
for beeing able to get superfast, small quantity prototypeboards to check if concepts work etc.. (and for one-offs.. )

Re: Best cheap PCB service

Reply #11 – March 23, 2014, 08:16:02 pm

How are the shippingcost, Ian? Or are they just 'local'?

Re: Best cheap PCB service

Reply #12 – March 25, 2014, 02:23:27 am

Delivery is by courier, just a few hours lol :) About 10-12 RMB ($2).

Re: Best cheap PCB service

Reply #13 – March 25, 2014, 11:12:33 am

[quote author="ian"]Delivery is by courier, just a few hours lol :) About 10-12 RMB ($2).[/quote]

to .nl i take it is $2000 (assuming the same courier on his bike ;))

Re: Best cheap PCB service

Reply #14 – March 26, 2014, 10:31:03 pm

I'm assuming by OSP park you mean OSH Park. I've used them a bunch, always very successfully. Super cheap and free shipping to Canada - about a three week turnaround. I've emailed them to cancel orders and they've been very nice and super responsive.