I wonder if anyone can offer a suggestion where I can get some non-square PCBs fabricated. I need some boards that around 100mm x 20-25mm. I've used seeedstudio for boards many times and I very much like their service but they seem to be most suited for square shaped boards. It seems wasteful to pay for 100mm x 100mm board (100x50 is strangely the same price) and then give them a board that's under a quarter the size.
I've considered panelizing but I don't have a good way to separate the boards.
OSHpark and batchpcb are both extremely overpriced. If I just ignored the issue I posted about and wasted 75% of the board area on seeedstudio/itead, I'd still get 10 boards from them for less than 3 boards from OSH or batch.
several have reported problems lately (myself being one)
I still havent got my last order
over the last week(s) I have randomly gotten broken emails that do NOT address my questions...
along with the random excuse (new office, no emails, PayPal broken, lost order, found order, re-doing order..etc..etc).. each email has maintained that the boards will ship out that day..
and now my current order does... so I am posting to inform others.
OSH quality might be 'better'.. but not their pricing.. FAR from it in fact..
lets take a 1 x 2 inch board (even though itead lets you go up to 5cm x 5cm, which is roughly 2x2 inches..so they even allow bigger PCBs for less cost)
12pc x PCB, iTead = $10.00
12pc x PCB, OSH = $40.00
4 x the price.. and shipping isnt even factored in yet.
I dont find that pricing attractive/appealing at all....
I dont know what happened to them (iTead).. all previous orders outside the last two have been fine
I on the other hand have not had the same issues at all with itead. My last shipment of 50 boards arrived with nothing but automated messages, with the first received during their recent break giving the order # - then notification of factory acceptance of the files - and a third with tracking #.
Itead can do custom shapes also, they made board that designed with one radius at the top, another at the bottom, notches to go around posts in two different places, and a couple of screw holes for mounting. Whole thing looked like a slice of frisbee with holes punched in it to fit inside a motor drive case.
I placed a rush order with iTead on Friday, March 1st, knowing that they wouldn't actually receive it till Monday, March 4th. I e-mailed them on Friday, March 8th, to request an update. The next day, Saturday, march 9th, I received a response that said the order will get shipped "before Monday" and that I will get a tracking number then. UPS was knocking on my door ON Monday.
BatchPCB on the other hand completely dropped the ball on a rush job once. To make up, they doubled the amount of PCBs ordered ... I still have left overs.
Campagne:
I make my own PCB. Very Easy!!!
(...)
PCB ready!!!! under 1 hour, costs are minimal.
Most of us, I guess, do that for simple, 1-side boards. However, when it comes to 10+ units, double-sided boards, with very thin traces and unforgiving tolerances, doing it at home isn't an option.
All of my single-side boards are etched at home.
Back on topic: I am still waiting for my order from iTeadStudio. It's been over 40 days since the order was placed and paid, and I got confirmation that it went into production (which means the Gerber files were ok, right?)
For the US$ 18 (9,90 + S&H) I paid to iTeadStudio, for the 10 green, 2-side, 5cmx5cm boards, it will be a very goodprice if I ever get them.