Re: Protel 2004

Hello,

I did the jump full of hope, because there is a converter from PROTEL 99 SE
to PROTEL 2004 XP, but not everithing was OK, the PCB has to been
resynchronised with schematics. Altium has upgraded the converter, and I
have not tried the last released (SP4).
The new annoying thing is that there was not database with all the
documents, (changed with service PACK 4, you can do an archive with your
project).
You have a separate file with each document !
For the new components, the library editor is globally the same with height
of the component for placement with height constraint on the board.
You can do integrated library schematic component with its footprint (you
have some furnished).
Compatibilty is always limited to Autocad version 14. (SP4 ?)
It take more place and more power but doesn't use processeur with
Hyperthreading (SP4 ?) when I route with my Pentium 4 / 3.2 Ghz it uses only
50% of the processor power (Dos = Windows XP pro).
When routing there is a firts pass of analysing the board which is more
longer than 99SE and after it start routing, but at first it is slower than
99SE even with a partially routed board.

Good things :
You can open 99SE library and 2004 XP library at the same time. You can save
at the old 99SE Format (Yes File format has changed, why ?).
It is more stable then 99SE (with service pack 3) I have just installed SP4
so I could not speak about SP4.
For drawing PCB there was a bug in circular component so you need to use
software arc in generating Gerber files otherwise gerber files was wrong and
PCB looks OK. Bug fixed with SP4 ?
The router doesn't route easily all CMS fine pitch if you say one pin inner
and one pin outer and two pin close together should be routed the same
direction (outer the component by example), but you can add more passes the
router. (Fixed in SP4 ?).
You can add/edit easily multiple component properties, but I h'vent checked
the possibity of linking to a database.
You can download new components library.

I only did 2 and 4 layers board with splitted planes at this time and it
take some time to take the full power from PROTEL XP 2004, well if you are
satisfied with 99SE and don't want to download new library components from
Protel.

François knoff
To answer replace <family name> with my name.

Email :fn.<family name>@neuf.fr





"Fred" <fps@xxxxxxxxxxxx> a écrit dans le message de news:
1126191596_21411@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Michael Bohlender wrote:
>
>> Hi Fred,
>>
>> Fred <fps@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
>> news:1126113470_15923@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:
>>>Hi,
>>>
>>>I'm using Protel99SE and have been apprroached by Altium with an
>>>upgrade path to Protel 2004. HAs anyone got 2004 that could give
>>>a heads up on how it compares to 99SE?
>>>
>>
>>
>> Hm, seems to be the same around the world ... we had this first some
>> months ago, and since then, every three-four weeks ... ;-)
>>
>> For the comparison have a look at their webpage (www.protel.com) and
>> look for some documents which list a number of features of DXP2004
>> which are not available in 99SE. They show this as a kind of "field
>> test" with their own engineers.
>> I received the printed version of this but at the moment can't
>> remember the document's title.
>>
>> For a "hands-on" comparison just tell them to send you the demo CD
>> install it and work with it! But MAKE A BACKUP of all your 99SE
>> design files because AFAIK the file format has changed completely!
>>
>> Regards
>> Michael
> Hi Michael,
>
> Thanks for the response and I certainly will do these things before
> upgrading. I guess what I'm looking for is current users of 2004 reaction
> to the change from 99SE.
>
> I remember when Protel 98 first came out. It was so full of bugs that the
> user base was driven nuts. The program would lock up capriously and a lot
> of work could be (and was)lost. It was very frustrating. As if this wasn't
> enough, when 99 came out, it was a similar situation. The user interface
> was also quite different and was alot of work to learn. This coupled with
> the 99 bugs was a platefull. 99SE has been a good stable performer but it
> was quite a while before it was available.
>
> What I'm saying is I don't trust Altium to deliver a satisfactory product
> until some time after it's initial introduction; I'm gun-shy. I'm looking
> for how previous users of 99SE felt about learning yet another
> user-interface, how long it took to learn, how stable it is and was it
> worth the effort.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Fred
>
>
>
>
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