They look very reasonable too! Even more so because you pay for a size, like 5cm x 10cm, and you can planelize multiple boards if you want, without it adding to the cost, as long as you just panelize with sik screen lines instead of grooves or holes.
May I suggest that if at all possible (maybe asking for a moderator to do it) you change the thread title to something more neutral like, say, "My PCBWay experience" or something like that?
As is , knowing they had sent you the boards after all, the title sounds somewhat unfair because it will show up in searches and anybody who reads it and the first few posts will walk out with that impression.
Thanks.
As is , knowing they had sent you the boards after all, the title sounds somewhat unfair because it will show up in searches and anybody who reads it and the first few posts will walk out with that impression.
Thanks.
@Dale: Well I do appreciate the encouraging words. First, I have to say that at least once or twice I have been blessed to work for a manager that was both very knowledgeable, to the point of being an excellent mentor, and a good all around "people person". So if for no reason that to encourage others, I can say that it does happen. 
This is getting way off topic now for sure, but my current situation arose after a long string of one job leading to another, amid acquisitions and buyouts, over a near 20 year span developing substation automation systems (for utility companies). That long "career path" (freindly word for it I guess) came a halt last December, when the last bigger fish company that swallowed the one before it, did a clean sweep of all departments whose products were not on the cutting edge... That is, the cutting edge or revenue, not innovation (LOL!).
But as it turned out, I had saved like a banshee during eh years I held an impressive title, and though its a little earlier than I'd planned, early retirement is possible. I have no debts, and regardless of what anyone thought about the new ACA, it was now possible for me to afford my own health insurance. So with that, i decided that at least two 1/2 finished projects were far enough along to finish them, and go for the "goal" of independence. Time will tell.
The reason I'm willing to go for product revisions is because like the old "hair club for men" advertisement, I'm not only the "president", but a client! LOL You see, I'm a musician, and I tend to make things that I want that I can't buy at any price, because nobody is making it. Once in a while those projects prove very useful. But I also have other musician friends who are not necessarilly high tech, but *DO* like gadgets, and are VERY opinionated! hence, there has been a long seemingly endless cycle of add ons and changes, what my old manager used to call "product creep", as new features called for revisions, followed by more add ons, and "hey... since it can do THIS now, could you make it do THAT too?". Again, because I'm going to use this stuff myself, and because devices that have built in MCU I can code lend themselves to endless feature improvement, a two piece device I had planned to start marketing last March (or at least start looking for investors) is now into a 4th major addition. Now its become a whole "system" where a customer could choose the building blocks they need, and add on later as necessary. And of course all this time, the first two device have gone through so many tests and improvements, that they are going to require new PCBs. again too. One was a 4 layer board that cost me over $200 for 4 lousy pieces. The quality was good, but these days I really feel the pain of NRE!!!!
So thats what started all this. And indeed, that company that this thread was based on ( PCBWAY.COM ) has confirmed to me that they will do 5 boards, 2 layer, each about 4" x 2-1/2", for $15 TOTAL, plus about $30 shipping. That's 5 boards for the $15, not $15 each! I still balk at the shipping, but for that kind of price I'll take chance! After all, despite the many board options I've come to place "just in case", I'd still be crazy to think there won't be a need for a REV at some point. Not because I'm not a know it all, but because both my friends and I are hard to please when it comes to musicians electronics! If anything, the hard part comes when a good suggestion has to be deemed a "no show", to be added in a future incarnation of the product. Otherwise, it never be ready for market.
Good luck on that UHF field strength indicator! One good thing in your favor, if you need to keep those costs down, UHF component placement is going to be so tight, you shouldn't have to worry about a very large board!
This is getting way off topic now for sure, but my current situation arose after a long string of one job leading to another, amid acquisitions and buyouts, over a near 20 year span developing substation automation systems (for utility companies). That long "career path" (freindly word for it I guess) came a halt last December, when the last bigger fish company that swallowed the one before it, did a clean sweep of all departments whose products were not on the cutting edge... That is, the cutting edge or revenue, not innovation (LOL!).
But as it turned out, I had saved like a banshee during eh years I held an impressive title, and though its a little earlier than I'd planned, early retirement is possible. I have no debts, and regardless of what anyone thought about the new ACA, it was now possible for me to afford my own health insurance. So with that, i decided that at least two 1/2 finished projects were far enough along to finish them, and go for the "goal" of independence. Time will tell.
The reason I'm willing to go for product revisions is because like the old "hair club for men" advertisement, I'm not only the "president", but a client! LOL
You see, I'm a musician, and I tend to make things that I want that I can't buy at any price, because nobody is making it. Once in a while those projects prove very useful. But I also have other musician friends who are not necessarilly high tech, but *DO* like gadgets, and are VERY opinionated! hence, there has been a long seemingly endless cycle of add ons and changes, what my old manager used to call "product creep", as new features called for revisions, followed by more add ons, and "hey... since it can do THIS now, could you make it do THAT too?". Again, because I'm going to use this stuff myself, and because devices that have built in MCU I can code lend themselves to endless feature improvement, a two piece device I had planned to start marketing last March (or at least start looking for investors) is now into a 4th major addition. Now its become a whole "system" where a customer could choose the building blocks they need, and add on later as necessary. And of course all this time, the first two device have gone through so many tests and improvements, that they are going to require new PCBs. again too. One was a 4 layer board that cost me over $200 for 4 lousy pieces. The quality was good, but these days I really feel the pain of NRE!!!!So thats what started all this. And indeed, that company that this thread was based on ( PCBWAY.COM ) has confirmed to me that they will do 5 boards, 2 layer, each about 4" x 2-1/2", for $15 TOTAL, plus about $30 shipping. That's 5 boards for the $15, not $15 each! I still balk at the shipping, but for that kind of price I'll take chance! After all, despite the many board options I've come to place "just in case", I'd still be crazy to think there won't be a need for a REV at some point. Not because I'm not a know it all, but because both my friends and I are hard to please when it comes to musicians electronics! If anything, the hard part comes when a good suggestion has to be deemed a "no show", to be added in a future incarnation of the product. Otherwise, it never be ready for market.
Good luck on that UHF field strength indicator! One good thing in your favor, if you need to keep those costs down, UHF component placement is going to be so tight, you shouldn't have to worry about a very large board!
I agree and will make the change if the OP requests that I do so. (Any mod can make this change)
Thanks.
Sounds fair because it was basically a misunderstanding or clerical error but more so because Forum Members can use its services at a fair price instead of running away into some expensive opotion.
@ peterpan, please keep us up to date, not only about your PCB experience but even more about how your product matures.
As of the UHF meter or whatever, the $100 price limit is ridiculous
That later such devices can be produced for less, even for $10 each in quantity, that is irrelevant, the main cost is development.
Those $100 assigned may pay for 1 hour designer's time.
Which would mean an UHF detector such as this :
And yes, it does work, and very well.
In fact it's the classic (think since the 40's and 50's ) "RF Probe" meant to be used with VTVMs ... of course they work just as well with a digital multimeter.
Sounds fair because it was basically a misunderstanding or clerical error but more so because Forum Members can use its services at a fair price instead of running away into some expensive opotion.
@ peterpan, please keep us up to date, not only about your PCB experience but even more about how your product matures.
As of the UHF meter or whatever, the $100 price limit is ridiculous
That later such devices can be produced for less, even for $10 each in quantity, that is irrelevant, the main cost is development.
Those $100 assigned may pay for 1 hour designer's time.
Which would mean an UHF detector such as this :
And yes, it does work, and very well.
In fact it's the classic (think since the 40's and 50's ) "RF Probe" meant to be used with VTVMs ... of course they work just as well with a digital multimeter.
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Came across this site and the associated just recently. I have no experience with them. Seems associated with the maker community.
Dirt Cheap Dirty Boards
Dirt Cheap Dirty Sourcing
FlyLin Consulting | — A place for X-pats
Dirt Cheap Dirty Boards
Dirt Cheap Dirty Sourcing
FlyLin Consulting | — A place for X-pats
LOL! I can't help but think of the song lyrics, "Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap!". But hey thanks! I'll give it a look.
OK, I just couldn't resist. I've bitten the bullet and ordered from PCBway.com. their website has issues, their communication is mediocre, and their English is poor. But the board house I've been using for years professionally quoted me $136, and that was their 'special prototype' price, for 4 boards. Of course that includes shipping, BUT PCBway quoted me $15 for 5 boards. Granted, its another $30 shipping from the USA to China, but now we're talking MORE prototypes for 1/3 the price. If it turns out to be total crap, OK... lesson learned. But even if its "kind of" crappy, but good enough for a prototype test, at least I'll be able to put the prototype through its paces. And if the board quality is OK, that means I'd get 3 chances to get it right, for the price of ONE chance with my old vendor. And you know, my old vendor just ships stuff to China anyway. So now it looks like I'm cutting out the "middleman".
As a US citizen, I really hate to build products using so many China made parts and services. But every time I visit Ali-Express there's no way I can pass up their prices. Even with shipping i always come out 2-3X better. I really hope this is the case with these PC boards. As I've pointed out, even my very best circuits and boards soon reveal an option I might have wanted to try. Sometimes even a slightly different but better enclosure comes along, and I'd love to start using it. But up to now that's meant a whole new NRE charge, and paying though the nose for any change. Crossing my fingers! This is a simple 2 layer board, so they ought to be able to get this right.
As a US citizen, I really hate to build products using so many China made parts and services. But every time I visit Ali-Express there's no way I can pass up their prices. Even with shipping i always come out 2-3X better. I really hope this is the case with these PC boards. As I've pointed out, even my very best circuits and boards soon reveal an option I might have wanted to try. Sometimes even a slightly different but better enclosure comes along, and I'd love to start using it. But up to now that's meant a whole new NRE charge, and paying though the nose for any change. Crossing my fingers! This is a simple 2 layer board, so they ought to be able to get this right.
Hope it works (it should).
Just doublecheck they ship it to you in Florida and not, say, to me in Buenos Aires.
HAHAHA!!! well if they do, maybe I can get them to foot the bill for me to come visit you to pick them up! I could use a vacation
Here's another update:
After discussion the issue with the rep from PCBway they agreed to give me a discount on my next order to make up for the mistake on their end. This shows good commitment to their customers in my eyes. Honestly, every once and a while there is a problem and how that problem is "solved" is what is important. I think that PCBway produces good quality boards and I am glad to see them reach out to me to try and make everything right again.
If anyone wants to give them a try, if you send me a PM with your EMail address I will have a $10 discount coupon sent to you (I earn a small credit in return for doing this).
After discussion the issue with the rep from PCBway they agreed to give me a discount on my next order to make up for the mistake on their end. This shows good commitment to their customers in my eyes. Honestly, every once and a while there is a problem and how that problem is "solved" is what is important. I think that PCBway produces good quality boards and I am glad to see them reach out to me to try and make everything right again.
If anyone wants to give them a try, if you send me a PM with your EMail address I will have a $10 discount coupon sent to you (I earn a small credit in return for doing this).
That's good to hear! One thing though, just looking ahead and hoping for the best, I had used their online estimator for a slightly larger board I had done elsewhere. This time it was both bigger than their preferred (for discounts anyway) 100mm max size, about 130mm x 70, and also it was a 4 layer board, not 2. I was still only asking for 5 boards. They still beat the price I got last time from my other board house by a significant margin, but after a quote of $15 of all 5 on my slightly smaller 2 layer board, I expected maybe 4X that amount as a quote. I was surprised to get a quote of $108. Hey that's still a great price, but still maybe 2X what i expected.
My next question for them is going to be about repeat orders, and I'm concerned about getting bad info due to the poor grasp of English on the part of the reps. But for these pricier boards, I'll want to know is whether some part of the price is NRE, and whether a repeat order would then come at a discount. When I think of conveying that to my rep, the phrase "good luck" comes to mind.
My next question for them is going to be about repeat orders, and I'm concerned about getting bad info due to the poor grasp of English on the part of the reps. But for these pricier boards, I'll want to know is whether some part of the price is NRE, and whether a repeat order would then come at a discount. When I think of conveying that to my rep, the phrase "good luck" comes to mind.
I was about to put an order but now I won't...!!! Thank you for your post.
OK folks... my order of 5 boards arrived today. I have not done an electrical test yet, and I'll probably just populate the board and test it. But I have gone over these boards with a jewelers loup, and tested the resistance of several vias too. I am SO hugely impressed. Wish I'd have just gone ahead and made the order for 10 boards. Granted, once I start plugging larger 4 layer boards into their website, my savings (compared to fab houses I've been using) is not as huge, though still very significant. But certainly, I have never had this good a quality for such a low price. Like low gas prices that probably won't last, I'm very inclined to re-order, and submit a few more designs. I can only hope they stay around and maintain there low prices for a few years. As one who is starting a product business venture completely financed out of my own pocket, this will make a major difference for me.
After many apologies by my purchasing contact, I gave them another try. This time things went MUCH more quickly and smoothly, from the production scheduling to shipping to delivery. DHL was on time as well. All in all 1000% improvement over the previous experience.
I've got some additional boards for them, and I will report back on them.
Maybe a mod can change the thread title to "PCBway ordering experiences", since the thread now has both bad and good stories...
I've got some additional boards for them, and I will report back on them.
Maybe a mod can change the thread title to "PCBway ordering experiences", since the thread now has both bad and good stories...
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