Re: PCB layout software (Orcad versus Pads)

From: qrk (SpamTrap_at_reson.com)
Date: 07/03/04 

Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 19:45:45 -0700

On 30 Jun 2004 21:49:52 -0700, justlearning1@hotmail.com (Tom
McAndrews) wrote:

>Hello,
>Thank you in advance for your response.
>
>I am looking for a new schematic capture and layout program. To date,
>we have been using IVEX (www.ivex.com) tools. Due to the complexity
>of our new designs, we need to upgrade to more advanced tools.
>
>I have been looking at the Orcad (www.orcad.com) and Pads
>(www.pads.com) suites which seem to be reasonable priced for our
>budget. Most of our designs are 2 or 4 layers, but we will be getting
>into 6 and 8 layers soon. I have never used an autorouter but would
>like to implement such a device for non-critical traces (both orcad
>and pads have this option).
>
>I am looking for something that contains the least amount of bugs and
>is easy to learn and use. Does anyone have any suggestions? Does
>anyone have any comments regarding the two packages I am looking at?
>
>There is a blurb on www.pads.com that the future of orcad is in
>jeopardy. Does anyone know about this? Should this be a reason not
>to go with orcad?
>
>Thanks again.

People have been saying Orcad is on its death bed for many years. It
hasn't happened yet. Last week, I attended a seminar by EMA
<http://www.ema-eda.com/> who is the reseller for Orcad in the US.
They claim that Orcad is still alive and there are no plans to kill it
in spite of the claims like you mention. The same was said about PCAD
many years ago - it's still alive.

Layout isn't the easiest program to use. Other programs are probably
easier to learn. Manual routing is still goofy, but way better than
versions previous to 9. The autorouters are ok for non-critical stuff.
Now that Cadence owns Orcad, you can get the Specctra router which is
supposed to be a pretty good tool. Specctra may require a bit of time
to use it effectively. The latest version 10 was almost unusable due
to the multitude of bugs. Subsequent updates may have fixed most of
the problems. Version 9.2.0 has been pretty stable. Expect a crash per
12 hour day. As with any program, save often and save your work to a
different filename a few times per day so you can back track. Once you
get used to Layout, it's an ok program. If you also use Capture, you
can do some nifty reuse stuff for multi-channel designs.

Layout doesn't support macros, so you need a third party product like
Macro Express <http://www.macros.com/> to make life easier.

If you have the time, try get demos of the programs mentioned. Things
to consider are making new parts, netlist importation if you use a
different brand schematic program, porting changed netlists into a
fully/partially routed board (it should only rip up the stuff that has
changed), manual routing, handling multiple nets on a plane layer,
autorouter (hard to get a feeling for this in a limited time span),
DRC, and post processing (Gerber plots, pick & place reports, assembly
documentation, ...). Macro capability, or remapping the keyboard is
also nice. All of these should work with minimal cursing. Also
consider add-on tools like Gerber viewers/editors. Some programs come
with third party tools. Layout comes with GerbTool
<http://gerbtool.wssi.com/index.php>. It's nice to verify your Gerber
plots with a third party tool. 

---
Mark
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