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Cadstar:...better to use more up to date zuken pcb layout products?

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Flyback

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Hello,
My company is asking if it should use Cadstar to do layout of electronic drive pcb's.
Hasn't Cadstar now been superceeded by newer zuken products?
Has the application support for cadstar now virtually stopped?
Is it easier to get application support for newer zuken pcb layout products?
In summary, is cadstar now out of date?, and would it be better to drop it and take up one of the newer zuken products, or a new product like Altium?
 
I suspect you have you seen this now dated comparison: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_EDA_software

As best I can tell, Cadstar is still current and a revision is planned for 2014. Unfortunately, cost data for the various EDA options are not easily available, but it is probably safe to assume that the newer Zuken products (CR-5000 and CR-8000) cost considerably more than Cadstar. While the allure of getting the newest and bestest can't be denied, at some point, it becomes a question of what you or your company needs.

Based on your earlier thread about EAGLE, are you now working for a large company that may benefit from the more advanced software? If so, and if you are in the decision making group, I would require a comparative demonstration. Software claims are never enough to base a major decision on. On the other hand, if you are talking about your own small company, then I suspect there are or should be other priorities than updating to much more expensive software.

John
 
We use CADStar and they just released an update this year (Version 14), and the third patch to that update. Customer Support is up and running and very helpful every time I've needed them.

In my own consulting business, White Rabbit Technologies, I prefer and use PADS (Mentor Graphics). In my daily work, I use CADStar. Each system has its own strengths and weaknesses. They do somethings better, some things worse, than the competition. They do them very differently (overall concept of how a CAD system should work). When I first started with CADStar, I was like, "can't they do this more like PADS". Now, when routing in PADS, I think, "can't PADS do this more like CADStar".
 
Thanks, my memory reminds me that putting something in a library was a lengthy process in cadstar.
Also, I remember them telling me I couldn't have a library for a particular pcb. I don't know why theysaid this. In eagle, any pcb I do has its own library that has all that pcb's components.
 
Thanks, my memory reminds me that putting something in a library was a lengthy process in cadstar.
Also, I remember them telling me I couldn't have a library for a particular pcb. I don't know why theysaid this. In eagle, any pcb I do has its own library that has all that pcb's components.
PADS is like that also. You can write a specific library from the job. CADStar's library Overview leaves a lot to be desired, like it was patch worked in after the fact. Putting the stuff in the library does take a few extra steps, like you have to save the component outline as a file and then import the file to the library, and there is one additional step of having to index the libraries after building a part. However, they do version tracking and you can see if you have an older part on your board or schematic when there is an updated part in the library.
 
I'm so-so on the IT skills myself, and have done very well with CAD software. I'm thinking none needed, other than setting up your email to contact support. I did have IT come over and set up my cutewriter pdf generator for printing, but other than that I haven't had any issues.

I've kept away from IT from the very beginning, as when we first started connecting in the 90's, every one that had a problem would come over and grab an engineer to go and fix their system. But I had **** to do... so I just kept saying, "I'm not sure" and let someone else "handle IT" (pun intended).
 
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