Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by geerlingguy 16 days ago
Yeah, and since it seems there's some competition there, the prices are decent. You can get milled metal, 3D prints, populated PCBs... crazy what you can do now and how quickly it can be turned around, if you are willing to pay.

I wish there were more regional places like PCBWay and JLCPCB in US, EU, etc (with similar pricing) so shipping didn't require circumnavigating the globe.
1 comments
lrasinen 16 days ago
EU has Aisler but what you win in shipping times you lose in production lead time (unless you pay for faster service).

And there are probably others but with even less visibility / willingness to interact with private customers. Hell, I used to live next door to a sales office for a local PCB fab, but they never bothered to answer my inquiry about prototypes.

(That's another thing the proto-friendly companies do right: instant quotes without log-in requirement)

link
ipdashc 16 days ago
> but with even less visibility / willingness to interact with private customers

It's honestly depressing. I could believe the theories (off vibes, since I'm not in manufacturing, just a hobbyist) that this is one of the reasons why China is overtaking the West in hardware. Manufacturers here just don't want to talk to you at all unless you're willing to buy a million units, it seems. From what I've heard, in China, it's far easier to get started (and that certainly matches my experience with jlc/pcbway).

Like, I get it, profit wise. But it's a bit of a sad state of affairs.

link