Altium 365.
September 19, 2024

Altium 365.

Pat Duncan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Altium 365

We use Altium for all of our electronics design requirements. We are particularly fond of three main aspects: the centralized component libraries (integrated with our sourcing processes), the ease with which we can share and collaborate with various third parties (suppliers, contractors, etc.), and the 3D rendering, which enables a smooth workflow with our mechanical designers, etc.

Pros

  • Assembly guides - giving our prototype builders an easy experience while reducing error.
  • 3D collaboration with our manufacturing team - giving them an 'almost error-free first-time' experience with their physical prototypes.
  • The automatic feed-forward updating of replacement components was a particular bugbear of our previous solution(s) and is now painless.

Cons

  • It could use some project management integration with third-party offerings. We use Jira, and there is some clunkiness involved with our project management.
  • We would like to see git version control incorporated properly.
  • Octopart integration would also be rather nice.
  • I can only guess, but I think the investment, at least for real industry, is a no-brainer. The labor savings are obvious and far over the outlay.
  • To be more specific, the time saved on component selection/procurement is phenomenal. I will no longer waste days poring over catalogs and websites.
  • The biggest downside I know of is the time spent explaining the above to the accounts department because, let's face it, it's still pretty spendy.
It's a very steep learning curve, and the available (free anyway) online help is a little bit hard to search and find answers quickly.
In comparison with OrCAD, the collaborative features of Altium's design process and the libraries far outstrip the rival. Also, I may have mentioned the steep learning curve earlier. OrCAD is so much steeper. Fusion... is a slightly souped-up version of Eagle, and unfortunately, I find the Autodesk offering to be spread a little too thinly over so many fields. The superiority of Altium is quantum leagues ahead.

Do you think Altium Develop delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with Altium Develop's feature set?

Yes

Did Altium Develop live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Altium Develop go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Altium Develop again?

Yes

It is very well suited to large, multi-user, collaborative, long-term projects where its many features come into their own. It is not so much for quick-and-dirty design, for example, small jigs and test rigs that don't really warrant the full-blown design process nor are subject to stringent control, etc.

Comments

More Reviews of Altium Develop

  1. Home
  2. PCB Design Software
  3. Altium Develop Reviews
  4. User Review of Altium Develop