Notes On A Good PCB Fab

[smallbearelec]

I have had Advanced Printed Circuits (www.4pcb.com) do several boards for me. I have always been very happy with their quality and service, but it was expensive. I considered trying one of the shops recommended in other threads here, and then I noticed a "Bare Bones" option on the 4pcb site.

If you can live with the limits that 4pcb sets out for this service: no slots, rectangular outline, tinned copper, etc., etc., they will do a prototype for you very reasonably. My order was for a board 2.15" x 3.25". I e-mailed gerber files on Monday morning, they produced my order Tuesday and shipped that evening. I had spec'd Fedex standard, so I had my boards this afternoon. The bill for four pieces (their minimum) was just under $100.00 before shipping, which I though was pretty good.

I hope this is helpful to some of you.

Regards
SD

[aion]

That's a pretty fantastic turnaround time for such a small quantity! If you're in a hurry then that's probably as good as it gets.

If cost is more important than timeline, I'd definitely want to mention the DorkbotPDX PCB service (which is probably one of the alternatives you mentioned): for the same board specs, you could get 3 copies for $35 total. It takes about 3 weeks for them to arrive, and you can only order in multiples of 3, but the fabrication quality is unmatched.

[MoltenVoltage]

I've had tremendous success with this company:

http://www.silvercircuits.com/index.htm

Their prices are great and the prototype service is terrific.

Even better, you only need to send them your Eagle .brd file

[crane]

Did I get it right - 100$ for 4pcs of 3x3inch pcb?
You can feed 100 african kids for a year with that money.
I use dorkbot group order for protoypes. 3pcs of 3x3 boards would be less than 40$ including shipping. It usually takes me about 2 weeks to get them. But than again - I live in east of Europe.

[Steve Mavronis]

That seems expensive but whatever works! I haven't used this service yet (since from a PDF print I get my dad to etch me a plated board here and there) but ExpressPCB has a cheap MiniBoard service that in a few business days you get three top quality boards 2.5" x 3.8" for just $51 (plus shipping). Of course you'd instead have to use their easy to learn free software to use the board manufacturing service so for $51 you can get around 6 PCB layouts on 3 identical double sided and plated boards and cut them out. Note - someone here was offering to convert ExpressPCB files to Gerber format for those you want to use a different board maker.

[Vicos2]

A good PCB Fab, like EasyEDA, Low price, fast delivery and top quality PCB with precise tolerances on solder mask, absolutely no errors.
If you are interested in it, you could  calculate your PCB price quickly through https://easyeda.com/order
The cheapest option is for 10pcs of 50mmx50mm boards, which comes to 9.8USD. 10pcs of 100mmx100mm boards is 17.6USD.

EasyEDA is featured by helping users make their design from concept to PCB production in the easiest way. It provides professional PCB custom service for customers to save time and reduce the workload in designing PCB.

[PRR]

Vicos2 Posts: 1 > "A good PCB Fab, like EasyEDA"

First-time posters who endorse a specific product/service with links might be suspected of spamming.

However your links throw a "404- Not Found" error, which is poor spam. The problem seems to be some extra "tracking" gibberish on the end of the URL.