we for fun once make a single layer board design(fully routed and placed by hand as single layer with lots of room to spare on the PCB) and then gave it to an auto placer/router It could place all the components although we did not get fingers on how he decided to or place what where. don't ever trust an auto placer and auto router. Perhaps you can buy Lee's books so you get a cick start :) If you want to design your own PCB for hobby then I think you can better use eagle as it is free, and there is a fast growing community that can help you. us talking with mechanical engineering now gives vision on both sides and that talks way easier. I personally really love the 3D features inthere as they really visualize what is going on. It is not cheap, but I come from orcad and altium is far far better. If you want to use the PCb tool for professional use, then Altium is getting better and better, specially in version control. I haven't heard the reasoning for why it was chosen just yet. It was used because it was considered by the department head to be the industry standard. It was chosen because the main EE had used it in college. Two companies ago I was using Altium Designer. I'm sure that that is a concern for some, but for everybody? Certainly not. I think your suggestion that people buy Altium only because of budgetary concerns is a bit presumptuous and not very accurate. I haven't used Altium's simulation capabilities - LTSpice has always been enough for me. I guess I had just expected more bells and whistles considering the cost of the software. Not that there is anything wrong with that - it is very functional. Orcad capture is very basic and simplistic, IMHO. I was only referring to Altium capture vs Orcad capture. Proteus is the equivalent of OrCAD: mostly for mixed signal / digital simulation than PCB layout.Īltium is like for people who cannot afford to buy Pads / Allegro. OrCAD is particularly strong in analog simulation and signal integrity. OrCAD is the flip: it is primarily a capture / simulation software, with the PCB end as an after-thought. Nleahcim wrote: I will say that orcad seems very simple and basic when compared to Altium Designer.Īltium (and Protel before it) is primarily a lay-out software: the simulation / capture part of it is not very friendly, and not as powerful.

Altium designer 17 unroute