Re: Found a place for cheap pcb manufacturing

If You need quality Work in PCB manufacturing with advanced technology I think 4pcbassembly.com is best place for PCB manufacturing and PCB Assembly. The company is Founded in 1964.

There is no price in their site, so I think I'll stick with iTeadStudio.com (http://imall.iteadstudio.com/open-pcb/pcb-prototyping.html). At least iTeadStudio states upfront what their prices are. There is no need for a stupid "Contact us for pricing" step, which is really a very old-fashioned way to do business.

Businesses that can't put their prices on their website - or at least an idea of pricing - pass the idea of being very expensive, or want to choose clients that have time to spare.

richardlawson1489:
(...) I think .com is best place (...)

You think?! Since you appear to work for them, shouldn't you be sure?

If You need quality Work in PCB assembly with advanced technology I think http://technotronix.us/ is best place for PCB manufacturing and PCB prototype. The company is Founded in 2012.

I'm new to having boards made for me.

Perhaps not the CHEAPEST... but I liked, for a novice, some of the features at OSH Park.

Also, they are in the US, so just now (Feb 15) they might be a better option than the Chinese alternatives, given that China is in the midst of the big annual festival.

I use KiCad to prepare by Gerbers. No hassle at OSH Park, although their help pages are more Eagle oriented.

I've done a page for KiCad people at...

Liked OSH Park's "instant" (preliminary) file check and pricing system. (No surcharge for small order or overseas. Minimum: 3 copies of your double-sided board... but it can be small.)

Osh park, I second. The others listed here are real busy sites, lots of words, and NO pricing. 5 dollars per sq inch, so 5 bucks gets you 3 one inch boards. And I dont work for them, just use them.

The others listed here are real busy sites, lots of words, and NO pricing.

You overgeneralize. iteadstudio has all their prices listed.
10 boards, 50mm x 50mm, (just under 2inch x 2inch), $9.90. So nearly 40 total sq inch of board for $9.90, or ~25 cents/square inch.
10 boards, 50mm x 100mm, $14.90, ~19 cents/square inch
10 boards, 100mm x 100mm, $19.90, ~12 cents/square inch Can fit a ton of parts on 100mmx 100mm board.
Slow cheap shipping, or DHL for faster shipping. Chinese Holiday ends in3 days.
I've not had much calling for 25mmx 25mm boards; my most recent custom design used a '328P TQFP and couple components on a 50mmx 50mm board as a controller for a lot more parts on 2 50mmx 100mm cards. (size restrictions determined by housings the cards go into).
25 x 25 doesn't allow much room for connecters. My 328 Mini and 1284 Mini cards are larger then 25 x 25, mostly due to room for 0.1" connectors.
Smaller than that and you're not making much than a SMD to DIP breakout board I suspect, or something really custom.
http://www.crossroadsfencing.com/BobuinoRev17/

The company that makes the cheapest boards for one size is not going to make the cheapest boards for all sizes. There is no such thing as "the cheapest" PCB manufacturer.

Once you've designed your board, you should go to PCBShopper.com. It's a price-comparison site for PCB manufacturing. You enter your board's size, number of layers, soldermask color, silkscreen options, quantity, the country to ship to, and how quickly you want them to arrive, and PCBShopper gives you prices from over 20 different manufacturers.

Just checked out the shopper site & it was correct for Elecrow , except that the shipping prices was very wrong and only included express not standard shipping. Actual shipping is much less than presented. (Sample size = 1)

Still, it does pop up a few suppliers that I hadn't come across yet.

Correction: The total prices were closer than first thought. I misread the shipping, which includes the base price of the boards (i.e. its the total for boards + shipping). Still not 100% accurate but close. Best to confirm the shipping costs directly.

ralex:
The company that makes the cheapest boards for one size is not going to make the cheapest boards for all sizes. There is no such thing as "the cheapest" PCB manufacturer.

Once you've designed your board, you should go to PCBShopper.com. It's a price-comparison site for PCB manufacturing. You enter your board's size, number of layers, soldermask color, silkscreen options, quantity, the country to ship to, and how quickly you want them to arrive, and PCBShopper gives you prices from over 20 different manufacturers.

Great site! It even does IP Geolocation and currency conversion.

Like I predicted, however, it placed ITeadStudio (the one I mentioned in post #2) and SeedStudio in the 1st and 2nd places.