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OSHPark price VS SeeedStudio price — Parallax Forums

OSHPark price VS SeeedStudio price

eagletalontimeagletalontim Posts: 1,399
edited 2013-10-31 16:36 in General Discussion
Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I have a board that is 3.688" square and I have finally finished the design using Diptrace. I went through the steps to order via OSHPark and at the end, the price is $68.20 for 3 boards. Then, I checked Seeed's board cost since I am shopping around for a good production run price after test boards are tested. Amazingly, Seeed's price is calculated at $20.90 for 5 boards!?!?! Am I missing something here or does that sound correct?

Also... On Seeed, the file extensions don't match according to what Diptrace outputs as a Gerber file and what Seeed is needing. Supposedly they work properly since OSHPark can process the board design automatically through their site. Do I just need to change the file extensions manually?

Comments

  • FranklinFranklin Posts: 4,747
    edited 2013-10-26 17:51
    I'd send seeed an email to ask. Each board house has their own rules and some software (Eagle) can take a file from the house and run a check on your board. Make sure before you commit.
  • eagletalontimeagletalontim Posts: 1,399
    edited 2013-10-26 18:09
    I did send an email about the file extension, but I am still worried that I am missing something about the price.... $40 is a huge difference!
  • Duane C. JohnsonDuane C. Johnson Posts: 955
    edited 2013-10-26 18:26
    Hi eagle;

    I always use the FREE software called GC-Prevue to examine the Gerber files my PC Board CAD program generates. See:
    GC-Preview

    You should at least be able to get your board files in G-Code so you can shop around for the beat deal.

    Here is an example of a board I use.
    It is about 1"x2.25"
    It's relatively complicated and very dense.
    I buy them in quantities of 1000
    The cost is about $0.28us each.
    The setup was a one time charge of about $250us
    OK, this is more than what you would want to pay for a prototype.

    What I'm saying is the first board cost $250.
    So $20 to $50 don't look two bad.

    However, that $20 to $50 better at least supply you with G-Code files so you can send them to a production board house.

    Anyway GC-Preview is a great way to prove your CAD software is working correctly. A second set of eyes so to speak.

    Duane J
  • JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,107
    edited 2013-10-26 19:20
    On Seeed, the file extensions don't match according to what Diptrace outputs as a Gerber file and what Seeed is needing.

    You can change that in DipTrace. I output files to match Protel naming because that's what we (EFX-TEK) used before. I have never had any problems submitting files [to the services we use] from DipTrace that were named using my customized extensions. Find out what Seeed wants and rename your Gerbers accordingly. You can even setup DipTrace to automate that process for you.

    The attached screen shot shows how I setup my Gerber output in DipTrace.

    BTW... you know you can order from inside DipTrace, right? Here's a tip: they have a minimum charge. Spin the quantity box up (from you needed count) until it changes. I recently needed five PCBs but got 16 for the same price. Not as cheap as the sources you cite, but then, I value my time. ;)

    Edit: It looks like Seeed wants Eagle files -- you can find the extensions on this page: http://www.protoexpress.com/content/gerber_extensions.jsp
    diptrace_files.jpg
    1024 x 640 - 113K
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2013-10-26 19:22
    Yes, the price difference if pretty big. I don't think there was a mistake in the price quoted by OSHPark. They charge $5 per square inch.

    I usually use OSH Park for small boards.

    I haven't used Seeed Studio but I have used Itead Studio. While Itead's price was about a fourth of the OSH Park's price the boards from OSH Park were much higher quality than Itead's boards.

    If you don't use OSH Park this time, you ought to at least try them when you have a small board you want made. I think you'll see a difference in the quality.
  • eagletalontimeagletalontim Posts: 1,399
    edited 2013-10-26 20:07
    Seeed already wrote me back! That was fast. They said :
    Hi Tim,
    1.GBR is ok
    2.yes , please choose 10*10, and will be 20.9.
  • tonyp12tonyp12 Posts: 1,951
    edited 2013-10-26 23:04
    OSHpark is the better options for smaller boards and when 3 is more than enough for a prototype check.
    Other pros:
    Made in USA, Purple mask on black pcb, gold enig, Internal cut out, Faster turnaround at about 9days, Smart online ordering website.
  • eagletalontimeagletalontim Posts: 1,399
    edited 2013-10-26 23:16
    I have ordered from OSHPark once before and like the quality of the board. I was hoping to use them again since they were cheaper than ExpressPCB, but $68 is a bit high just for 3 prototype boards.
  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,069
    edited 2013-10-27 21:02
    Most likely you have made a mistake and therefore the size is incorrect. One of the problems I discovered using my pcb software (Protel 3 - its old!) is that you must remove any origin offset, and that you require 3? decimals. One pcb got past where the holes were off the pcb because of no resetting the orgin. Can be picked up easily with a gerber viewer.
  • tonyp12tonyp12 Posts: 1,951
    edited 2013-10-27 21:11
    >is 3.688" square
    Something is wrong, make sure you don't have any via or even top silk outside of your intended board area.
    What is so good with oshpark is that you get views of silk and copper etc right at the website so you can catch that error.
    Plus at the end just before placing the order, the website says what your board size is did that match up with 3.688"?
  • eagletalontimeagletalontim Posts: 1,399
    edited 2013-10-27 21:12
    The size on OSHpark's automatic upload design thing matches exactly what the board dimensions actually are on Diptrace. The overall size is 3.688" wide x 3.688" tall. If that is converted to MM for Seeed's board sizes, that would be 25.4 / 3.688" = 6.89mm which is well inside the 10*10 board size. Once I get my design finished up (another thread about this), I will give them a shot... it's only $20 which is 3 times cheaper than OSHPark. If the quality is decent, I may stick with them...
  • eagletalontimeagletalontim Posts: 1,399
    edited 2013-10-27 21:15
    Here is the back of the board on OSHPark : http://uploads.oshpark.com/uploads/project/bottom_image/frBUPP9S/i.png
  • Dr_AculaDr_Acula Posts: 5,484
    edited 2013-10-27 21:26
    Seeed studios are very good value and I am using them for almost all my boards. $20.90 for five 10x10cm boards and lots of shipping options including very reasonable standard postage. The catch - delivery (to Australia) can be up to 25 days. Occasionally I have paid for courier delivery which makes things a lot faster.
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2013-10-27 22:06
    eagletalontim wrote: »
    The overall size is 3.688" wide x 3.688" tall. If that is converted to MM for Seeed's board sizes, that would be 25.4 / 3.688" = 6.89mm which is well inside the 10*10 board size.

    25.4mm * 3.688in = 93.68mm.
  • eagletalontimeagletalontim Posts: 1,399
    edited 2013-10-27 22:21
    hmmm. I had that backwards I guess. That would have been a big mistake. Event he reply I got back from the support email said this :
    A customer support staff member has replied to your support request, [#16521] Feedback on PCBA Service - Diptrace file extensions with the following response:

    Hi Tim,
    1.GBR is ok
    2.yes , please choose 10*10, and will be 20.9.

    I asked them if 3.68" was inside the 10*10....


    EDIT *** After looking closer, their measurements are in CM, not MM
  • Tim-MTim-M Posts: 522
    edited 2013-10-27 22:24
    Rich is right, 25.4mm or 2.54cm to the inch...
  • eagletalontimeagletalontim Posts: 1,399
    edited 2013-10-27 22:27
    Yeah, I just remembered I looked it up on Google before I selected the board size. Their site is in CM, not MM which is what had me confused. I am glad I did have it right, but it is still crazy that they are 1/3 the cost....
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2013-10-27 22:39
    Cluso99 wrote: »
    Most likely you have made a mistake and therefore the size is incorrect.
    tonyp12 wrote: »
    >is 3.688" square
    Something is wrong,

    The board is 3.688" square which is 13.601344 square inches. At $5 per square inch this comes to $68.01. So there is a discrepancy between the size Diptrace is claiming and the size OSH Park is computing but only a very small one. There's only a 19 cent difference between the two prices.

    I like OSH Parks boards but they get pretty expensive fast if your board isn't small.

    My 1/2" magnetic encoder boards cost $1.25 for a set three (including shipping). For really small boards, OSH Park's price would beat Seeed's price (unless you panelized your boards to fill the 25mm square).

    ImageProxy.mvc?bicild=&canary=Htwbyt3mZm94pB871PzS8%2baSzHMc84%2fn3Dl9auvpt6w%3d0&url=http%3a%2f%2fuploads.oshpark.com%2fuploads%2fproject%2ftop_image%2fz9a0Plx9%2fthumb_i.png
  • tonyp12tonyp12 Posts: 1,951
    edited 2013-10-28 07:26
    > 3.688" square
    If you did mean 3.688" x 3.688" when say so, I have heard the above term used sometimes but should be outlawed as to no be confused with 3.688 square inches.
  • eagletalontimeagletalontim Posts: 1,399
    edited 2013-10-29 21:34
    Well, I am at a catch 22.... I have enough money to buy the prototype boards from OSHPark which I know makes good quality boards but that will be all my money that I can afford. On the other hand, the Seeed option is 1/2 the cost with shipping than OSHPark but the delivery can be up to 30 days. I don't have the time to wait that long! Any feedback from someone in the US that has ordered PCB's from Seeed before? Shipping time, quality, etc?
  • JordanCClarkJordanCClark Posts: 198
    edited 2013-10-30 11:37
    My last Seed order was about 11 days in transit. Used up 6 out of the 10 boards ordered with no issues (outside of my own design flaws...:innocent:)
  • eagletalontimeagletalontim Posts: 1,399
    edited 2013-10-30 14:30
    So it took 11 days from the date of the order to get to you or took 11 days after it was shipped to get to you?
  • JordanCClarkJordanCClark Posts: 198
    edited 2013-10-30 16:57
    Sorry, 11 days from ship.

    I just took a look at the entire cycle. 22 days from order to arrival at my door.
  • eagletalontimeagletalontim Posts: 1,399
    edited 2013-10-30 17:50
    Ouch, that is quite a long time :( Is there any other company that is cheaper than OSHPark that has faster shipping than Seeed?
  • Invent-O-DocInvent-O-Doc Posts: 768
    edited 2013-10-31 04:25
    You pay either way; either in money or time. You can do a US maker and get quality and fast turnaround in a couple days for a price. Or you can get cheap prices from china and sometimes good quality if you can afford to wait.

    If there existed a really fast, good and cheap PCB manufacturer, everyone would be using it.
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2013-10-31 09:30
    "Project Management Triangle"

    - Fast
    - Good
    - Cheap

    Choose any two.



    455px-Project-triangle.svg.png
  • eagletalontimeagletalontim Posts: 1,399
    edited 2013-10-31 16:36
    LOL, well put RDL2004 :) I was just curious as I have not really "shopped around" since I am switching from ExpressPCB to a much wider range of options. I have heard of several PCB manufacturers and chose OSHPark for my first surface mount board which was a 12V to 5V and 3.3V power supply that would fit in the palm of your hand. It turned out great and the board looks amazing. Since I have dealt with them before and their shipping is better, I decided to go back with OSHPark for now and may try someone else after I test these prototypes. If I had to order 100 of these boards, I am pretty sure I would not use OSHPark as I would have to sell my house to buy them.
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