I am not affiliated with AllPCB but they are running a special with free DHL shipping. Though, they aren't actually calling it a special, just giving free shipping. As many of you know, PCB production in China is fairly cheap but shipping eats a lot of the cost. Another supplier I use (PCBway) offers similar pricing but no free shipping.
Basically, any PCB up to 100x100mm is $5 for either 5 or 10 pieces. You must take all the defaults including green solder mask, white silkscreen legend, 1.6 oz copper, 6mil clearance, ... My other vendor allows a lot more options at the $5 price point.
I gave them a try and the experience was good. It was a small board. They gave it a 5 day turnaround - fastest I've had out of China. They do charge $0.50 for use of paypal so total cost was $5.50. Still an amazing bargain. I was a bit worried about quality at such a low price point but the result seems pretty good. In fact, the silkscreening is a little better than other board houses I've used. In the picture below you can see both sides of the board. The array of holes on the left was a simple test to see how well they do holes of various sizes. As you can see their drills are a little off center in both X and Y though they are uniform so I can live with that. With plating, the holes appear to be close enough to correct size. Inspection with a microscope at 10X did not reveal any other obvious issues.
I continuity tested 2 of the boards and they all "buzzed out" ok. Have not yet populated them but I expect it to go well. Will do a simple "rework test" also. If there are any problems, I'll report back.
On the negative side, they really push hard for positive reviews. Even to the extent of offering credit towards future orders for verifiable reviews on popular sites. I dislike someone trying to buy a positive review so I have not asked for the credit. I'm not for sale. Expect high pressure tactics from them. Note that there was a prior thread on this deal but it turned out to be initiated by the vendor and was rightfully deleted because of that. The reason the lower right of the top image is blanked out is because it has the production code and want it to not be immediately identifiable by the vendor.
In summary, this appears to be a straight up deal with decent quality. I have no idea how long it will last. I just wish they weren't so aggressive on their sales tactics and that holds me back from a 100% endorsement.
Basically, any PCB up to 100x100mm is $5 for either 5 or 10 pieces. You must take all the defaults including green solder mask, white silkscreen legend, 1.6 oz copper, 6mil clearance, ... My other vendor allows a lot more options at the $5 price point.
I gave them a try and the experience was good. It was a small board. They gave it a 5 day turnaround - fastest I've had out of China. They do charge $0.50 for use of paypal so total cost was $5.50. Still an amazing bargain. I was a bit worried about quality at such a low price point but the result seems pretty good. In fact, the silkscreening is a little better than other board houses I've used. In the picture below you can see both sides of the board. The array of holes on the left was a simple test to see how well they do holes of various sizes. As you can see their drills are a little off center in both X and Y though they are uniform so I can live with that. With plating, the holes appear to be close enough to correct size. Inspection with a microscope at 10X did not reveal any other obvious issues.
I continuity tested 2 of the boards and they all "buzzed out" ok. Have not yet populated them but I expect it to go well. Will do a simple "rework test" also. If there are any problems, I'll report back.
On the negative side, they really push hard for positive reviews. Even to the extent of offering credit towards future orders for verifiable reviews on popular sites. I dislike someone trying to buy a positive review so I have not asked for the credit. I'm not for sale. Expect high pressure tactics from them. Note that there was a prior thread on this deal but it turned out to be initiated by the vendor and was rightfully deleted because of that. The reason the lower right of the top image is blanked out is because it has the production code and want it to not be immediately identifiable by the vendor.
In summary, this appears to be a straight up deal with decent quality. I have no idea how long it will last. I just wish they weren't so aggressive on their sales tactics and that holds me back from a 100% endorsement.
