Yes, I will continue using AD6, and I don't need the Nexar functionality (for some years). And I think a subscription is something you cannot do without once you have chosen a package and want to use it seriously. And don't forget, a package that you can rely on for years, has no bugs or other difficulties, offers good support and has a price that makes everybody happy: it's an illusion.
I don't need Nexar for at least 2 or 3 years but I will change over to AD6 for FPGA's in the coming months (no cores). Once you went through the learning curve, the costs of invested time is higher than the price of the package, so there should be a very good reason to change to another package. Going through the learning curve of a new package and the delay in your production is a lot of money, and a new package will not be free. Staying with the current version is an option of course, Altium sells its software with a perpetual license (one of my priorities). But you will stay behind in capabilities and if you will finally buy an upgrade at a higher price? If you do that after 3 or 4 years, probably you have saved some money compared to a subscription, but what are the costs of missing the higher productivity during these years? The reason that I selected Altium a little more than a year ago was its ability to do Live Design FPGA's in an integrated package. Also its Multichannel capabilities with Copy Room Format was ideal for me since I do a lot of multichannel designs. I can spend some time on a single channel until it is perfectly routed and copy it 32 or 64 times (in my case) in a snap. Now that there are Snippets in AD6, physical re-use of layout of tricky parts (like switching power supplies) is very time saving. There are bugs, many that will never bother me because I don't use that features, some I think are VERY basic. However, in the 15 months of use, I experienced the help from Altium as very valuable and responsive. And I will not rest to communicate about the bugs I think should have been removed years ago, so I'm convinced they will be gone in some time. As a subscriber to DXP, I have been very disappointed about the downgrading I got (no FPGA's possible in AD6, as in DXP2004). I did not accept it so easily and communicated that disappointment quite clearly and now I will upgrade to the full version of AD6 (for my FPGA design) after a generous offer I could not refuse and that fully erased my disappointment. With best regards, Ton ----- Original Message ----- From: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'Protel EDA Discussion List'" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2006 3:16 PM Subject: Re: [PEDA] Snake Oil vs Pricing Ready to upgrade to 2006? >I have been a Protel advocate since the Version 2.3. I have been very >lucky > in my timing with upgrades so I can't complain where I sit now which is a > DXP2004 lic. It seems that the upgrade days of $1500 are over. I was > told > of an upgrade price of $2500 before Christmas and now they want $3500. If > I > don't upgrade before the end of the month that goes to half price or > $4000. > > My issues are not all the great features. There are a lot. But they are > not the features I need. I don't do FPGA. I don't use Tasking. I tried > the > auto-router once and gave up. I would use the analog simulator but have > found other programs easier to use. > > I find it hard to justify the $3500 when they have not fixed some very > basic > issues that have been here for years...like: > > Poor push and shove. > > Inability to composite print the solder mask or paste mask layers on top > of > copper layers so you can find the pad in a copper pour. > > The list could go on. On top of all this I work for a company that has a > full PCAD corp lic. Yet I prefer some of the Protel features like the > ability to import a lot of other products designs. > > For those out there that do not need the Nexar like functionality... are > you > continuing with Protel? > > > > ____________________________________________________________ > You are subscribed to the PEDA discussion forum > > To Post messages: > mailto:[email protected] > > Unsubscribe and Other Options: > http://techservinc.com/mailman/listinfo/peda_techservinc.com > > Browse or Search Old Archives (2001-2004): > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > Browse or Search Current Archives (2004-Current): > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > ____________________________________________________________ You are subscribed to the PEDA discussion forum To Post messages: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe and Other Options: http://techservinc.com/mailman/listinfo/peda_techservinc.com Browse or Search Old Archives (2001-2004): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] Browse or Search Current Archives (2004-Current): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
