My boards ordered from PCBcart have arrived today!
So far,I am very impressed with their quality and service.
I ordered a small batch of fairly large double sided boards with no special options.
I zipped my RS-274X gerber files and sent them in via the web page.
The next morning, they emailed with a query about a few of the files.
It turns out that I had used an extra feature in my pcb cad program that caused a small issue with the gerber file layer conventions - this was quickly resolved and they emailed to confirm the solution.
(I will know not to make that mistake again!).
A day or two later, I received another email to confirm the order and an estimated completion date.
They emailed again when it was dispatched (on time) and gave my DHL tracking number.
The boards arrived well wrapped and vacumm sealed (even had a desiccant sachet in there)
The board quality was as good as boards previously made for me by a much more expensive place.
I have just populated one, everything fitted well and it worked first time.
Whilst designing this board, I did a bit of research and here are a few things that I found useful...
It is well worth taking the time to check that your design is ok by using a freeware gerber file viewer (I used Pentalogix Viewmate) first as it may save any delays or issues later.
Also, check that your drill hole sizes, track thickness and spacing and the minimum copper ring around pad holes (annular ring) all comply with your intended manufacturers capabilities.
The minimum annular ring thickness is very important as some pads in component databases can have a very thin ring around the hole.
You can usually easily make this slightly thicker to avoid any manufacturing problems or extra expense later.
Also, take care when adding text for the silkscreen or copper layers that it is of sufficient size and thickness to look good when manufactured.
Avoid using truetype fonts for any text as they may not convert properly to gerber.
I found a good checklist at
http://www.adcom.co.il/engineering/pcb_chl.htm