Hi,
I've recently bumped up my production/buying of 'circuit making stuff' to try and reduce the size of my to-do list. I've yet to make my own PCB's, but it seems if you're doing many different projects, that don't require more than 2-layer boards (few projects require more than 2) then I guess either press'n'peel, or the UV method would be good for you.
My main gripe with making PCB's at the moment is the drilling and chemicals. I don't have the space, nor the money for a drill press (although I have a dremel) and no garage to do etching.
If you're after 'prototype boards' like stripboards, veroboard, or tripad, I can't recommend ebay enough. It's all there, and theres one german guy who sells really high quality (FR4, drilled, tinned, VERY precise) protoboard's fairly cheaply. Cost me about 15UKP for 5 boards, 4 eurocard soze and one 220x190mm including shipping. And those are the most expensive ones I could find on there.
Of course, nothing beats a custom made board, fewer jumpers links and you've already laid it out. it really depends on what sort of work you're doing, SMT lends itself very well to DIY boards, fewer holes to drill. For true one-off's, unless its really complicated, and laden with really tiny parts, I go with stripboard, or the 'point-to-point' construction. You can use the dirt cheap SRPB substrate, but plenty of places do FR4 for RF/high frequency circuits. And despite what some say, stripboard can do SMT, just not the square packages.
I could chat for days about techniques, board types, pro's and cons, but I think I'll stop now
Blueteeth