Which one is best ?

[ppa88]

I have used Protel99SE under Win98 and XP and I must say it had problems with 98. But with XP Pro SP 2 , it is quite stable. The only care you have to take is make regular backps of your work as you proceed. A brilliant package for a beginner, it has got a nice database approach for storing your project. Its autorouter is more than average and will require good tuning as any other. (Remember there is no better router than a sound human brain!). But then Protel were good enough to provide the Specctra interface , so if you have that, then you are in driver's seat, (Specctra is the best autorouter I have seen). The greatest feature of this software is what is called "GLOBAL EDITING" which I have not seen anywhere. What a brilliant concept !

The downside of Protel99 is absence of PIN and GATE swap and the non integration of the device symbol and package into a single entity (as has been done in Eagle for eg.). This inconvinience was taken care of in DXP and Altium Designer. AD is a professional level package with a great FPGA design integration, but it may put off a newbie because of its being a huge huge package with too many features. And some of the features which were easy to do in Protel99 are difficult to do in AD (eg., global editing is a bit of a pain in AD).The situs autorouter is criticised for being unstable for complicated designs but again the specctra interface is there.

Eagle - Good package for small PCBs , a huge library available and it is easy to add your components

PCAD - Similar to Protel in features but more difficult to use

Traxmaker - Good for amateur work

Most people in industry say that Pads PowerPCB, Zuken Cadstar and Cadene Allegro are the preferred ones but I think they are too costly and I really don't know if third party libraries are available easily. (Protel 99SE  and Eagle are winners in this)

These are my views in brief, of course people may differ.

[Trishool]

And some of the features which were easy to do in Protel99 are difficult to do in AD (eg., global editing is a bit of a pain in AD).The situs autorouter is criticised for being unstable for complicated designs but again the specctra interface is there.

PPa88 ,
 I am not able to comprehend,  global editing you are talking about . Please elobrate , do you mean multi documents (schematics) interconnect, I have been using Altium DXP with SP4 , situs autorouter  is just fine . Are you talking about the latest software of Altium Designer V6.6  , what problems are there in the Auto router, that you have encountered .

Ts 

[ppa88]

By global editing I mean the facility to do multiple changes with a single operation. This feature is activated by double clicking on a component on a PCB or Schematic and then clicking on the Global button.  The "Attributes to Match by"  and "Copy Attributes" choices which open then give you amazing control on the multiple changes that can be done in a single operation.This is a truly great feature in my opinion. The same operation in AD is not as simple to do as in 99SE for a newbie.

As far as the situs autorouter is concerned, I have not used it personally as I always use Specctra. However I have seen criticism for the same (in situations where it has to follow many rules) on other forums. They might have improved it in 6.6.

[SONSiVRi]

Some boards ban "which is best" posts because all it does is create useless traffic. I can see their point but until it becomes a problem here I will add my opinion.

go for it, its knowledge.

[Ahmad_k]

I think each software have a bug, but for me i use OrCad Capture to draw the schematic because it is the best one, it is very easy in editing components in place. and then i use the Protel Dxp to place the components and manual route, i dont use autorouter. After that i use eagle to generate a 3D Pcb by redrawing the components only in Eagle layout.    . I have a laboratory, me and my team create a professional PCB using these steps.

But the good news exists in OrCad 16. Cadence had removed LAYOUT and integrates the Allegro layout which is the best of the best, and integrate a powerfull components autoplacer, you can see a demo on the www.cadence.com

So i will wait until the Orcad 16 becomes cracked

[Trishool]

By global editing I mean the facility to do multiple changes with a single operation. This feature is activated by double clicking on a component on a PCB or Schematic and then clicking on the Global button.  The "Attributes to Match by"  and "Copy Attributes" choices which open then give you amazing control on the multiple changes that can be done in a single operation.This is a truly great feature in my opinion. The same operation in AD is not as simple to do as in 99SE for a newbie.

As far as the situs autorouter is concerned, I have not used it personally as I always use Specctra. However I have seen criticism for the same (in situations where it has to follow many rules) on other forums. They might have improved it in 6.6.

I will use thie feature , I want to add one thing to the Situs auto router AD DXP and that is , even though you set design rules , and it shows 100% connection complete , the DRC reports short circuit voilations that the situs makes delibrately and the width constraints arnt followed strictly , \otherwise the auto router is the best one I could see . 

[ppa88]

even though you set design rules , and it shows 100% connection complete , the DRC reports short circuit voilations that the situs makes delibrately and the width constraints arnt followed strictly ,

This can be a potentially serious problem especially for a complex pcb design, I hope Altium takes care of this in their next release.

[Prommer]

Eagle is world wide in use and there are a lot of library avaiable via www.cadsoft.de (Libs are free).

The better performance for professional user is Altium Designer. You can made the complete devolopent with it. Schematic, Simulation, Layout, FPGA ......

I'm using Eagle, P-CAD and Altium Designer and the best is Altium Desinger, but last two are very expensive
(for Professional use).

[eibol]

Eagle is very easy to use ! and work under linux

[mviboolr]

Hi friends
     I prefer Eagle. It's easy to used and small.
mviboolr

[id2]

For single-side pcb I use protel99se but manual routing

[ugur]

I use proteus. I think is so good.
I write a robbot code with jal. Pic 16f877 controls 32 servo motor with brain. Proteus simulates robbot so really.

[memed500]

Orcad Layout is best.

[sammm]

I use pulsonix autorouter and I think that  it doesn't work very well. I think that if you want a good routing you have to do a manual routing! Anycase also if u want only to link pads, pulsonix autorouter is not a dragon!

Posted on: January 11, 2008, 06:23:45 18:23 - Automerged
Which are feature that make an autorouter a good autorouter?

[shibuv]

proteus is best for micro controller

[nine9]

i prefer eagle for small projects but didn't like the new beta version

[munaf]

protel 99SE is the best one from others.  you can get help via email  from protel company for any problem.  they repply very soon.

[sheriefaly]

orcad is the best

[eLAB]

And what if we want to use legal version?

What is a price of Proteus, Protel, Orcad etc?

Eagle is affordable and Diptrace also... Diptrace is now released in version 1.50 beta. Surely progressing...
Yes, autorouter is not the best side of this sw but in newer versions it will be corrected (I hope!)....
Eagle is very good but when editing finished boards, it`s weaker then diptrace...

Vote for diptrace

[irvinos]

Try Electra. It comes with PROTEUS. electra is more smart than ARES autorouter.

[yangzy]

Protel 99se is easy to start,you can try it.

[ashu.spect]

Eagle is best in free softwares but professionally Altium designer(previously Protel) is the best

Ashu

[MAXPAYNE]

topic locked