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What I find most impressive is the design was made using EasyEDA, JLC's web PCB design tool, and only on a four layer board. That BGA with DDR4 on 4 layers is s

What I find most impressive is the design was made using EasyEDA, JLC's web PCB design tool, and only on a four layer board. That BGA with DDR4 on 4 layers is something!

ACCount37 11mo ago
Why people actually use those clunky web-based tools is beyond me. It's like using a normal design tool but worse in every conceivable way.
- Renaud 11mo ago
  Is it though? EasyEDA is more than sufficient for most uses that don’t require large amounts of layers or components. It’s easy to pickup by a novice, has basic ERC, well integrated into LCSC ecosystem. It doesn’t have the versatility of KiCAD but is lighter and easier for light use or occasional design of moderate complexity.
- dsvf 11mo ago
  I keep wanting to get into Kicad, and the learning curve did become easier in the last years. But what I _want_ is to get a usable board into my hands, not just create a beautiful layout file. Historically, my pain points were were footprints, parts sourcing and SMT soldering. From a hobbyist-with-limited-time perspective, EasyEDA and the integrated JLCPCB assembly flow solved all these problems good enough that the hurdle to figure out how to do it with KiCAD was always higher. The minute I find a similar level of convenience in KiCAD + plugins, I'll gladly ditch being tied to online.
- IgorPartola 11mo ago
  I tried to start with KiCAD so many times and never could fully figure out how to do the basics of what I wanted to do. Mind you I was designing absolutely basic boards using capacitors, MOSFETs, resistors, some basic SMD sensors and ESP8266 modules. EasyEDA has a downloadable version that is significantly less clunky and the UI makes a lot of sense to an amateur. Plus of all the things I had tried it had me spend the least time finding footprints for components that were actually available and affordable. Nothing quite like picking out a capacitor just to find out that it costs $0.84/each while an equivalent but slightly different one would be $0.0037/each.
  - ACCount37 11mo ago
    Oh, KiCAD's old UI was fucked. If you started on, like, KiCAD 4.0, then I can see why you bounced right off it. Today's UI is good, so I actually recommend starting on that over something like EasyEDA. Footprints are a point in EasyEDA's favor, but in simple circuits, almost all footprints are universal. If you want a 10K+5% resistor, you just put in a 0402 (maybe larger if you're planning on hand soldering it) and pick the exact part afterwards.
    - IgorPartola 11mo ago
      Oh good to know. Mostly footprints I had issues with were things like really tiny through hole adapters to plug in sensors. But I will take a look.
fainpul 11mo ago
What worries me is that a lot of resistors / capacitors are placed at seemingly arbitrary angles. It looks messy and unprofessional. I wouldn't be surprised if this has many electrical problems due to amateurish PCB design.

What I find most impressive is the design was made using EasyEDA, JLC's web PCB design tool, and only on a four layer board. That BGA with DDR4 on 4 layers is something!

ACCount37 11mo ago

Why people actually use those clunky web-based tools is beyond me. It's like using a normal design tool but worse in every conceivable way.

Renaud 11mo ago
Is it though? EasyEDA is more than sufficient for most uses that don’t require large amounts of layers or components. It’s easy to pickup by a novice, has basic ERC, well integrated into LCSC ecosystem. It doesn’t have the versatility of KiCAD but is lighter and easier for light use or occasional design of moderate complexity.
dsvf 11mo ago
I keep wanting to get into Kicad, and the learning curve did become easier in the last years. But what I _want_ is to get a usable board into my hands, not just create a beautiful layout file. Historically, my pain points were were footprints, parts sourcing and SMT soldering. From a hobbyist-with-limited-time perspective, EasyEDA and the integrated JLCPCB assembly flow solved all these problems good enough that the hurdle to figure out how to do it with KiCAD was always higher. The minute I find a similar level of convenience in KiCAD + plugins, I'll gladly ditch being tied to online.
IgorPartola 11mo ago
I tried to start with KiCAD so many times and never could fully figure out how to do the basics of what I wanted to do. Mind you I was designing absolutely basic boards using capacitors, MOSFETs, resistors, some basic SMD sensors and ESP8266 modules. EasyEDA has a downloadable version that is significantly less clunky and the UI makes a lot of sense to an amateur. Plus of all the things I had tried it had me spend the least time finding footprints for components that were actually available and affordable. Nothing quite like picking out a capacitor just to find out that it costs $0.84/each while an equivalent but slightly different one would be $0.0037/each.
- ACCount37 11mo ago
  Oh, KiCAD's old UI was fucked. If you started on, like, KiCAD 4.0, then I can see why you bounced right off it. Today's UI is good, so I actually recommend starting on that over something like EasyEDA. Footprints are a point in EasyEDA's favor, but in simple circuits, almost all footprints are universal. If you want a 10K+5% resistor, you just put in a 0402 (maybe larger if you're planning on hand soldering it) and pick the exact part afterwards.
  - IgorPartola 11mo ago
    Oh good to know. Mostly footprints I had issues with were things like really tiny through hole adapters to plug in sensors. But I will take a look.

fainpul 11mo ago

What worries me is that a lot of resistors / capacitors are placed at seemingly arbitrary angles. It looks messy and unprofessional. I wouldn't be surprised if this has many electrical problems due to amateurish PCB design.