I'm considering PCB schematic/layout tools as I'm about to start my masters degree. I personally think Altium Designer is the best tool I've used (I've also used Zuken, Allegro, and KiCAD). I would prefer to use Altium Designer, however, the price-point post-graduation is limiting.

I am currently using KiCAD which is a terrible experience IMHO. Particularly with BOM generation and part libraries not being linked to footprints. As it's free, I've been living with the painful nuances of the software. I'm thinking it's time to upgrade to a paid version that is more useful to me from a time-savings standpoint.

Some of my key considerations:

• I hope to upgrade to Altium Designer at some point when it's more reasonable to do so (as a business expense) so porting designs to AD at some point will hopefully be a necessity.
• Ease of use. Intuitive.
• Needs to have a good default library (I don't want to have to build every part I use).
• I prefer the library to be linked to footprints/pdfs/etc based on a generic part number.
• Needs to handle schematic variants
• Would ideally handle board variants (i.e. panelization with small changes on each panel)
  
• Hopefully can be version controlled nicely using Git/SVN (prefer Git).
• Must be a locally running software. No cloud operation. Occasionally pinging a server is okay for license verification or something of that nature.
• I must control all rights to the designs I make (no 'community' designing or GNU licensing requirements).

Some of the software I'm considering

• Altium's CircuitDesigner. Kind of expensive for home/student/semi-pro use, but it looks to have a similar structure to AD, so hopefully it would be an easy transition in the future. Does anyone have experience with this software? Pros/Cons?
• Diptrace. I have a coworker that loves this software. A plus is the perpetual license.
• Eagle. I know a lot of people like this software. I'm really not fond of the yearly/monthly installment plan. 4 layers is a bit limited for their midgrade version.

Are there others I should consider? Pros/Cons of each that I may not be privy too having not used any of these software packages? Any other thoughts?

 

It's the age old search for the perfect EDA... have you downloaded the library and footprint files for kicad? They do updates frequenty and have a github page for it github.com/kicad ... I know lots of folks who love kicad

 

Hello,

With kicad, you can get support from several sides.
The infobox shows already these adresses:



Bertus

 

Here is a link to the Altium Designer student discount: https://www.altium.com/solutions/academic-programs/student-licenses

I don't see anything there that would limit a Masters degree student (even a Ph.D. student) from getting the discount. Only a .edu address seems to be needed. Even as faculty, I have gotten ".edu" discounts. Sure, it's 1-year at $99, but how many years to you intend to spend on your Masters?

 

Just out of curiosity, which Zuken have you used? Currently I use CR8000 and i would say it is ok to work with, less quirky than for example Orcad 16.7 was, but in Zuken I only use schematic, whereas the most quirks in orcad were in the layout.
In Orcad I do my personal pcbs, because I am used to how the layout works, and I have a nice library of parts and footprints and I am used to editing them, and generally know how to make it do what I need...

Also, for real world professional design, there are a lot of things that some people cannot live without and others never use at all. Our Zuken guru told us that most asian companies never use netgroups and the associated spacings rules that come with the software, and their schematic is always one huge sheet.
Some companies need hierarchical design, some need huge amounts of combinations of variants and destinations, some need nothing at all, some need simulation of PCB trace impedances and reflections.

 

Here is a link to the Altium Designer student discount: https://www.altium.com/solutions/academic-programs/student-licenses

I don't see anything there that would limit a Masters degree student (even a Ph.D. student) from getting the discount. Only a .edu address seems to be needed. Even as faculty, I have gotten ".edu" discounts. Sure, it's 1-year at $99, but how many years to you intend to spend on your Masters?

Well, I submitted the application. I just have to provide a photo of my student ID and it sounds like we're off to the races. I guess I will go get my ID from the school tomorrow.

I'm currently on the 5 year plan for my MS. That's okay because I'm not paying a dime for it!

 

Look at Target 3000