Author Topic: iTead is taking too long. What other alternatives are there?  (Read 5162 times)

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Offline king.osloTopic starter

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Dave is lucky to have found his NZ board house.

I live in Europe. From the time I order my dirt cheap pcb from iTead, sometimes it is as long as 1 month before it arrives. I do not mind the quality of my iTead prototype and love the price, but it is taking too long. Sometimes I have made one or two new revisions before the pcb arrives.

What other alternatives are there? I looked at Eevblog board house list, but the boardhouses usually does not list their prices up front.

So I am collecting advice. What are my best options for prototyping?

Thank you for your time.M
« Last Edit: June 18, 2012, 10:19:18 pm by king.oslo »
 

Offline Chet T16

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Re: iTead is taking too long. What other alternatives are there?
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2012, 10:18:45 pm »
This^

I'd gladly pay twice as much as itead costs for a quicker turnaround
Chet
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Offline johnnyfp

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Re: iTead is taking too long. What other alternatives are there?
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2012, 04:17:03 am »
I use PCBCART.com but the turn around is a little slow. I placed an order 3weeks ago and still waiting but it is more than Half the price of the NZ counterpart.
 

Online free_electron

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Re: iTead is taking too long. What other alternatives are there?
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2012, 05:22:57 am »
Eurocircuits comes to mind...
Fast turnaround, reasonable price. Not winpangplong price but european prices...
Pcb pool is another.
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Any comments, or points of view expressed, are my own and not endorsed , induced or compensated by my employer(s).
 

Offline metalphreak

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Re: iTead is taking too long. What other alternatives are there?
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2012, 06:38:32 am »
I don't know about Itead, but with Seeed Studios, a majority of the time taken for it to arrive is the shipping method. Pay for DHL shipping and its less than 2 weeks, but then the price increases a fair bit...

Offline westfw

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Re: iTead is taking too long. What other alternatives are there?
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2012, 06:48:59 am »
Quote
I'd gladly pay twice as much as itead costs for a quicker turnaround
Is that an option anywhere?  Most of the places I know of that ship quickly have prices that are well above double Itead's prices.  Frequently just shipping is more expensive than the entire Itead pricetag.

There ought to be something in between "we'll do it in 48 hours and ship by FedEx" and Itead/Seeed; how about "we'll get to it in a week a drop it in a Priority mail envelope"?  (For the US; I'm not sure what the equiv would be in Europe.)
 

Offline T4P

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Re: iTead is taking too long. What other alternatives are there?
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2012, 07:10:18 am »
Quote
I'd gladly pay twice as much as itead costs for a quicker turnaround
Is that an option anywhere?  Most of the places I know of that ship quickly have prices that are well above double Itead's prices.  Frequently just shipping is more expensive than the entire Itead pricetag.

There ought to be something in between "we'll do it in 48 hours and ship by FedEx" and Itead/Seeed; how about "we'll get to it in a week a drop it in a Priority mail envelope"?  (For the US; I'm not sure what the equiv would be in Europe.)

There's something called a local pcbhouse
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: iTead is taking too long. What other alternatives are there?
« Reply #7 on: June 19, 2012, 08:07:07 am »
Dave is lucky to have found his NZ board house.

I pay for the privilege though, they are not cheap.
There is a reason fast turnaround boards are not cheap, it's a complex procedure just to do a "simple" DS/PT/MASK board. I'll be editing a video soon that show my boards being manufactured.

Dave.
« Last Edit: June 19, 2012, 08:09:15 am by EEVblog »
 

Offline Psi

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Re: iTead is taking too long. What other alternatives are there?
« Reply #8 on: June 19, 2012, 08:28:00 am »
I use PCBCART.com but the turn around is a little slow. I placed an order 3weeks ago and still waiting but it is more than Half the price of the NZ counterpart.

Have you checked your spam folder?
I think you can view the status of your order on there website to.

PCBCart have always been quick for me.
After i submit my order they always respond within 4 days with either; Questions about the design or Confirmation that they have started manufacturer.
Once they start manufacture they always ship within the lead-time that I've payed for (8 or 10days).

Shipping is normally 1 week or so.
« Last Edit: June 19, 2012, 08:30:33 am by Psi »
Greek letter 'Psi' (not Pounds per Square Inch)
 

Offline markus_b

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Re: iTead is taking too long. What other alternatives are there?
« Reply #9 on: June 19, 2012, 08:52:49 am »
I have not used them in a while, but Olimex (www.olimex.com) may fit the bill for you. A double-sided board (160x100mm) including shipping is around $50 and should arrive in about a week.

Their specs are somewhat below iTead (8mils), but they have been around since a long time.
Markus

A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible.
 

Offline johnnyfp

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Re: iTead is taking too long. What other alternatives are there?
« Reply #10 on: June 19, 2012, 10:30:25 am »
Have you checked your spam folder?
I think you can view the status of your order on there website to.
Shipping is normally 1 week or so.

Yeah to both. But I did submit 6 different panels. But even so. It's annoying when I want it now and not pay through the roof for now.

It's very selfish that I can't have both.
 


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