Hi,
I'm an electronics hobbyist from Melbourne. Since I do a lot of small projects that require PCBs, I've found that the biggest excitement killer is waiting for the circuit boards to come in.
I currently get them from iTeadStudio with the cheapest shipping option (aka, Airmail) and it generally takes about 3 weeks to get to my doorstep. The boards aren't that high quality either since I'm paying bottom dollar for them (not that I need high quality boards - most of my projects are one-offs).
Also, because the next shipping option up from Airmail is about 5 times the price, I don't bother with them and just end up sitting around waiting for the next 3 weeks. This also means that if I find out that I've made a mistake after receiving the boards, it'll be another 3 weeks of waiting (or cough up ~$30 to ship the $10 boards)
I also recently ordered from OSHPark since they just happened to be cheaper for one of my designs and they came in just less than 2 weeks with the free shipping option. The quality was great but I felt like I was still waiting too long for them. For most of my other designs, they also work out to be much more expensive.
I was excited to find Breadboard Killer on this forum and I hoped that it, being Australian-based, would strike a good balance between cost and reducing shipping times. I haven't been able to order a board from them yet though since their website is currently down.
Being a student might explain my cost sensitivity but I'm wondering about the habits of everyone else here.
Where do you get PCBs manufactured?
What kind of quality do you usually settle for?
How much do you pay to have them manufactured?
What kind of turnaround times do you have?
Would you pay extra to get it shipped to you faster?
Which is more important: fast-turnaround, low cost or high quality?
Of course, I'm not talking about mass-production here, I'm just talking about the odd few PCBs you need for a one-off project.
Thanks in advance!