Good service from PCB manufacturer.

[Nigel Goodwin]

It's just kind of amazing you get any customer support for a couple bucks!

If you watch the video posted above by DirtyLude (which is amazing!) you'll see it's a VERY large and professional outfit.

 

[JonSea]

I'm not suggesting otherwise. But considering all the steps that go into making a circuit board, how much labor can $2 buy for customer support?

 

[DirtyLude]

$2 is just the special offer price. It'll go up again sometime. I'm assuming if this is not a loss leader for them, it just breaks even, but the idea is that you get thousands of orders and support will be pretty minimally needed, especially after people get more familiar with the process. The other providers have been doing this for a few years at about the same price.

If you want a coloured PCBs Seeed is cheaper. The base $5 includes any colour. I might go back to them next time and pay the extra $3 and see if they have DHL. That one week delivery has me willing to pay the $18 extra. Yesterday, I got a package in the mail I ordered 3 months ago. Screw that noise. Also I really liked the red PCBs.

 

[DerStrom8]

I am impressed that they allow you to track the progress of your boards throughout the manufacturing process!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I am impressed that they allow you to track the progress of your boards throughout the manufacturing process!

I think that's a recent addition, or at least I only noticed it on my last order.

 

[DerStrom8]

Update on my build, I ordered on a Wednesday and the build time was 4 days. I expected the weekend wouldn't count so I figured the boards would ship yesterday (Tuesday). It's Wednesday and they still haven't shipped.

That being said, for the price there's no way I'm going to complain about an extra day. I'm eager to check the quality of the boards, and whether or not they followed the board outline gerber and my note regarding a creepage slot isolating a high voltage part of the board.

EDIT: Scratch that, just checked back and the boards have actually shipped. They are expected to be delivered by the end of the day on Monday.

 

[DerStrom8]

Boards arrived today (two days early). Quality looks pretty good at a first glance!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Well my new boards have left China, and have been processed in Hong Kong - suggested delivery Wednesday, although I suspect Tuesday could be quite likely

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

New boards arrived yesterday

Interestingly they sent eleven boards rather than ten, presumably they must have had space on the large board so stuck on extra one on for free!

 

[MaxHeadRoom78]

For some reason I cannot access the site, tried two browsers and just throws a site access error??
Used PCBWay and Seeed with good cheap results.
Max.

 

[DerStrom8]

For some reason I cannot access the site, tried two browsers and just throws a site access error??
Max.

Yep, they appear to be down at the moment.

 

[MaxHeadRoom78]

Logged on but they are quoting $30.00 for qty10 100mm x 100mm.
PCBWay and Seeed still at $5.00 for the same.
Max.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Logged on but they are quoting $30.00 for qty10 100mm x 100mm.
PCBWay and Seeed still at $5.00 for the same.
Max.

You're looking at the wrong price - it's still $2.00 for ten prototype boards 100x100.

Look across the middle of the page - there are four items - 2 layers, 4 layers. 6 layers, SMT stencil - the two layer one is clearly listed at £1.52 (in my case ).

I suspect you're looking at the scrolling prices above, and happened to read the 6 layer one.

 

[DerStrom8]

You're looking at the wrong price - it's still $2.00 for ten prototype boards 100x100.

Look across the middle of the page - there are four items - 2 layers, 4 layers. 6 layers, SMT stencil - the two layer one is clearly listed at £1.52 (in my case ).

I suspect you're looking at the scrolling prices above, and happened to read the 6 layer one.

Unless he's factoring in shipping, but shipping costs are waived for the first order.

 

[MaxHeadRoom78]

I see it is for 4-6 layer, the 2 layer does not show immediately without asking for a quote, I may try them next time.
Max.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I see it is for 4-6 layer, the 2 layer does not show immediately without asking for a quote, I may try them next time.

????? - this is clearly and permanently displayed on the home page of their website:

 

[MaxHeadRoom78]

Unless he's factoring in shipping, but shipping costs are waived for the first order.

My favorite has been Seeed up till now, but they are no longer shipping Hong Kong mail just DHL etc.
I believe they got complaints of non tracking ability and long delivery times.
Max.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

My favorite has been Seeed up till now, but they are no longer shipping Hong Kong mail just DHL etc.
I believe they got complaints of non tracking ability and long delivery times.
Max.

We happily pay for DHL, spread across ten (or more) boards it still gives you cheap high quality boards delivered in a nice fast time.

I've ordered ten more boards today, slight too big for the 100x100 deal though

 

[JonSea]

Keep in mind if you need a long but narrow board...you can lay it out on the diagonal of the 100mm x 100mm bounding box. The may allow you to make a board as long as 130mm or even longer depending on the width, especially if you can tolerate rounded ends. You do have to work at a 45° angle if you do this, but it's not too difficult.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Keep in mind if you need a long but narrow board...you can lay it out on the diagonal of the 100mm x 100mm bounding box. The may allow you to make a board as long as 130mm or even longer depending on the width, especially if you can tolerate rounded ends. You do have to work at a 45° angle if you do this, but it's not too difficult.

Unfortunately the board is about 100 x 120, the longer dimension is to fit in the guide slots in the box we're using - but as I said, it's still a very cheap price for the boards - we're very happy with them. They are actually a revision of one of my earlier boards, with the required changes implemented - such as adding the I2C pull-up resistors I forgot!, and altering the size and position of sockets on the board to make they product easier to construct.

That's the thing with boards as cheap as these, you can afford to order ten and use them finding out what you 'should have done' before ordering a larger quantity. I've only ordered ten again this time, in case we think of any further improvements. We don't have any orders yet, but we've got two of the first prototypes (with I2C pull-ups added on the bottom of the boards!) lent out for evaluation - and hopefully to produce some sales.