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Comment by unixhero | Hacker News Reader

Somebody needs to order a batch of these printed from China and try it out!

Actually, China is often a less-than-ideal option for prototypes, unless you live in or near China.

I can't talk for the US, but in Europe where I live there are some amazingly cheap options for prototype batches. You could probably order a prototype batch (2~3 boards) for around 150 euro with a 7 day delivery. Ordering from China from EU will probably take around a month to arrive.

Any you'd suggest in particular? I often find it cheaper to get 10 boards made in China than to get 1-2 made anywhere near remotely local. (And DHL from China isn't a lot slower than DHL from Germany)

Indeed I'd also like some Europeean equivalent (maybe that deserves its own Ask HN ?).

Germany isn't a bad place to get 100 - 1,000 PCB's of this magnitude made .. perhaps you'd be better off doing the hardware assembly in Hungary or Croatia right now, albeit for the current cruise notwithstanding, of course ..

Hmm, I can get a 4 layer board the same size as the a500 motherboard in quantities of 5 in 2 weeks for £100 delivered, European suppliers seem to be nearly that for a single board even with prototype specials?

It may be useful for smaller pcb's and a fast turnaround, but given everything at the moment, is anyone really in a rush?

It takes a month, yes. There's absolutely no problem with that.

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