Good, cheap, and fast -- choose any 2 (and if Chinese, expect just 1)
I beg to differ... I have used several PC board houses over the years (OK make that decade(s) now, damn time flies) most of them in China, some in the US and some in the EU, there are certainly a lot of turds to be found from what I have seen and read but I have personally found several gems and not had what I would call a horrible experience... I have had what I would call, good, cheap and fast service even from Asian board houses...
You really have to establish a baseline, for the definitions...
Good - I have never had what I would call a 'bad' PC board made, in fact I would say that most have bee very good... But, I also don't cut corners (cheap substrate, thin copper, no resist, non-plated holes etc) trying to nickel and dime the cost down... What is your definition of 'Good'?
Cheap - Open for huge interpretation, and A LOT of the cost depends on the quantity, and of course the surface area... What's cheap?
Fast - Define fast? You are not going to get next day or 24 hour turn and delivery times from overseas, but you can get 48 - 72 hour turn/delivery times... I have a particular Chinese company that I use for faster turns, they only advertise a 10 day turn, but with an email to my sales rep they will bump me up to a 24 or 72 hour turn for a modest fee... Of course you also need to factor in the additional shipping as well, and again being overseas, it's generally 2 days at best... I simply have never been able to justify a 24 hour turn for a domestic manufacture, it's just not worth the money they demand...
You also have to consider the communications issues, if you are a newbie that doesn't know what you need or want, or have potential newbie design rule errors in the board layout, dealing with an Asian company could result in a nightmare due to translation issues... If you are a newbie it might be best to seek out a domestic house that you can phone and communicate with, or seek out a third party that will help 'broker' the transaction for you with an Asian company...
In short I'm VERY hesitant to disclose my primary manufactures for the simple reason that I spent a great deal of time researching, communicating and investing money in test runs to locate the gems... I didn't Google and pick the first manufacture that popped or take a chance on the latest spammer to hit a forum, I invested time into researching the ones I use... Even if it was simply shooting off emails to get a feel for the sales reps, asking for a sample board to test, or doing a small run of a small board that wasn't crucial if it wasn't top quality...
I will supply some leads (the more popular ones you will likely easily find among hobbiest) if you tell me more about your desired run, so that I can match you to a house that will cater towards that profile... Prototype or production? Quantity and size? Irregular shape or squared? Slots or fine pitch/exotic components? Full featured board or bare basics?
