Worth Repeating: Altium Circuit Studio half price until 3/30/17 $495

[GlowingGhoul]

This is a deal, and just in case interested parties aren't looking at the Circuit Studio subforum, I thought it was appropriate to list here.

http://www.altium.com/eagle-switch/circuitstudio/

Perpetual commercial license, 1 year maintenance, optional $150 annual maintenance.

(You are no longer required to switch from any other package)

UPDATE 3/20/17

To get the $500 discount you can ONLY buy through (Newark had reduced the price to $495 for everyone): http://www.altium.com/eagle-switch/circuitstudio/

Also, discount code REACY1 takes another $25 off for a final price of $470 (US)

[ECEdesign]

Pretty good deal, get a better tool anyway (haven't used CS but AD is great)

[Chopsticks]

 but isn't circuit studio like majorly crippled and buggy with basically zero support from altium?

[onesixright]

but isn't circuit studio like majorly crippled and buggy with basically zero support from altium?

Maybe you mean Ciruitmaker?

Another question: this is only for payed eagle users?

[EEVblog]

Another question: this is only for payed eagle users?

Doesn't seem to be any more, that's the standard price on Element14

[trevwhite]

I called Element 14/Farnell UK and the price is good throughout March for anyone. I purchased it yesterday no problem.

[voltsandjolts]

Assuming subscription cost is going to increase, can I buy CS + one year subscription to get covered for two years?
Or does the subscription start on the purchase date?

[GlowingGhoul]

Assuming subscription cost is going to increase, can I buy CS + one year subscription to get covered for two years?
Or does the subscription start on the purchase date?

Each 1yr maintenance plan you buy extends your subscription by another full year (not from purchase date), you can extend by multiple years.

[Throy]

Is this offer only available through Farnell?  If I remember correctly, they don't do business with private customers, only businesses.  At least in Germany

[Neganur]

Indeed, only via Farnell / Element14.

You can buy it from within the Circuit Studio (download the trial) interface by credit card payment but you do not get the discount there, the price is the undiscounted $900-something.

Pisses me off quite a bit too since the services that offer to buy from Farnell for you will add a significant surcharge. It's a download, paid by credit card. How hard can it be to make it accessible for the audience it is supposed to reach?

[julianhigginson]

Is Farnell actually that strict about only selling to businesses in the EU? I had a farnell account for years that i used for my own stuff (while working as an engineer at other places, sometimes even getting work related stuff, though they couldn't know any of that) and I use the same account now I have a real business...

do you have the concept of a sole trader in the eu? (a private person selling services) What's the difference between a private person and a sole trader and how could they tell?

I'd say, if you want the deal, go get it. If it works, you have the licence registered to your email account and your relationship with Farnell going into the future is irrelevant to that. if it doesn't you haven't lost anything...

[Iwanushka]

Depends on country, in my country they sell to private clients but only from their main uk warehouse they wont sell stuff from other warehouses like Belgium, also some items like raspberry pi is for business accounts only.

Is Farnell actually that strict about only selling to businesses in the EU? I had a farnell account for years that i used for my own stuff (while working as an engineer at other places, sometimes even getting work related stuff, though they couldn't know any of that) and I use the same account now I have a real business...

do you have the concept of a sole trader in the eu? (a private person selling services) What's the difference between a private person and a sole trader and how could they tell?

I'd say, if you want the deal, go get it. If it works, you have the licence registered to your email account and your relationship with Farnell going into the future is irrelevant to that. if it doesn't you haven't lost anything...

[julianhigginson]

element14 in australia always pops up a dialog with "are you a business or a private person" when selling Pi stuff..

you click "yeah whatever, I'm a business, sure" and then complete the purchase and pay with your credit card (personal or business account card, makes no difference) and they send it to you.

If they do the same over there with circuitstudio, There will be no checks on whether you are a legitimate business or not. You're home free. With the possible exception you might have had to click a button saying you are a business and not a personal user at some point in the process (if this is morally a problem for you, jump on upwork and go apply for some of the going work on PCB design, and boom, you're now officially a sole trading PCB contractor chasing international contracts - and maybe also apply for a sole trader registration with your govt if that's free and a thing where you live??)

They only time I have seen they really care if you are a business is if you are setting up a trade account (with a credit line) then they actually care what you are and probably want documentation and probably referees.

[Throy]

I had tried to buy some parts from Farnell two years ago.  I was able to create an account and put in the order but they cancelled the order on me because I wasn't a business.  They told me to use hbe-shop.de to order stuff from Farnell but from what I can see hbe-shop.de doesn't have the Circuit Studio for sale.  It seems rather back asswards to have the element14 forums for the hobbyists and makers but yet you can't purchase from them.

[julianhigginson]

What can you do to make yourself into a business where you live?

In Australia, you can apply for an ABN as a sole trader which is free, and that's as good as any other business structure to to B2B deals.

[Chopsticks]

no i was definitely referring to Circuit Studio, i had been eyeing this off for a little while as i can get is for about $500 outright since the price drop not long ago but I've been worried about the reviews and the seemingly lack of support for the product from altium? am i wrong there or does the support still go through element14?

would love to get some feedback there from anyone who uses the product

[julianhigginson]

the price drop was to 1k. Current price is a time limited 50% off, designed to grab angry Eagle users.
And element 14 had a further 10% off the 50% off price, in Australia at least, last time I checked.

If you want to know what circuitmaker features and support are like maybe you should go ask in the circuitmaker EDA subforum?

[Chopsticks]

i haave a trade account with element14 so it was about $950ish for awhile and now is about $500, this is just my trade account price, it doesn't include any further discounts or eagle upgrade paths, all i do it add to cart and it will cost $590AU so maybe it'd be cheaper if i tried to use the eagle upgrade path I'm not really sure. the price went down for me when they sold eagle to autodesk, mind you i have a edu account with autdoesk to so eagle id free to use but not my thing.

as for checking with the sub forums, sure i can do that but from what I've read here (eevblog) and elsewhere on the net CircuitStudio is lacking and riddled with bugs and has no actual support from Altium so its pot luck trying to get help from element14 as they didnt write the software...

not sure why you keep mentioning circuitMaker? maybe a typo?

[GlowingGhoul]

i haave a trade account with element14 so it was about $950ish for awhile and now is about $500, this is just my trade account price, it doesn't include any further discounts or eagle upgrade paths, all i do it add to cart and it will cost $590AU so maybe it'd be cheaper if i tried to use the eagle upgrade path I'm not really sure. the price went down for me when they sold eagle to autodesk, mind you i have a edu account with autdoesk to so eagle id free to use but not my thing.

as for checking with the sub forums, sure i can do that but from what I've read here (eevblog) and elsewhere on the net CircuitStudio is lacking and riddled with bugs and has no actual support from Altium so its pot luck trying to get help from element14 as they didnt write the software...

not sure why you keep mentioning circuitMaker? maybe a typo?

First of all, could you please curtail your run on sentances? It makes reading your post very difficult.

Since you can't be bothered to check the relevant forums, I'll just answer you. It's not 'riddled with bugs' nor 'majorly crippled'.  It's an excellent value at $500, which is the price it's available to everyone for, not just your trade account. Dave has said it's miles ahead of Eagle, and he's right. Perfect? No.

[Chopsticks]

no disrespect meant. i only asked if it was still buggy and laden with issues. i tried it out about a year ago and it has some big problems with stability, the vault, importing, missing feature etc. now i never said it wasn't good value for money or that eagle was better. in fact i said i dont like eagle and at its current price point of $500~ it may be worth buying for some/many people. you seem to be taking offence to what I've said?? when i was only asking a quick question hoping to hear some new insight into how it runs for people.

Yes, that is better asked in the sub forums (that I read from time to time) but i rarely post anything on the forums so i figured id just ask here when i saw this post as i hadn't looked at CS in some time.

my apologies for not writing up to your english standards but comments like that just make me feel even less inclined to participate in a forum like this one. so again sorry for somehow upsetting you mate and all the best

[Brumby]

my apologies for not writing up to your english standards but comments like that just make me feel even less inclined to participate in a forum like this one. so again sorry for somehow upsetting you mate and all the best

Don't worry too much about that.  An odd capital every now and then might be helpful - but you are using commas in a very useful way.  I didn't have a problem understanding what you wrote.

To me the challenge is reading posts from some people who do not have English as their first language.  I don't criticise them for that because I know my efforts in their native language would be laughable.

So long as I can read something and it makes sense to me, then I'm not worried.

[Chopsticks]

I'm very slack when it comes to correct grammar on forums or the internet. Perhaps I've relied to much over the years on autocorrect or google etc or maybe its all the assignment writing since i started uni thats done it

[Iwanushka]

can someone else buy the license and transfer it to other person? then some guys could buy it for guys who can't get it.

[Stekauf81]

I've actually heard this from a number of people..interesting

[Chopsticks]

as far as I'm aware altium don't let you transfer licences between people. they are tied to you name/email etc so i dont think it would be easy to do regardless of altiums policy

[Iwanushka]

as far as I'm aware altium don't let you transfer licences between people. they are tied to you name/email etc so i dont think it would be easy to do regardless of altiums policy

This policy sucks and it violates EU laws as far as I know.

[timb]

as far as I'm aware altium don't let you transfer licences between people. they are tied to you name/email etc so i dont think it would be easy to do regardless of altiums policy

This policy sucks and it violates EU laws as far as I know.

You can now buy it for $500 from within Circuit Studio itself, no need to go through e14! (As of a couple of days ago, per a post by an Altium rep in the other thread.)

[Chopsticks]

personally i dont think it sucks as it is a subscription based package, though i am from Australia and perhaps my views don't align with the majority?

[GlowingGhoul]

personally i dont think it sucks as it is a subscription based package, though i am from Australia and perhaps my views don't align with the majority?

It's not a subscription it's a permanent, perpetual license.

[stuartk]

You can now buy it for $500 from within Circuit Studio itself, no need to go through e14! (As of a couple of days ago, per a post by an Altium rep in the other thread.)

I can't find that on the CS website. The only link to buy takes you to E14 and it says that it's exclusively sold by E14.

[GlowingGhoul]

You can now buy it for $500 from within Circuit Studio itself, no need to go through e14! (As of a couple of days ago, per a post by an Altium rep in the other thread.)

I can't find that on the CS website. The only link to buy takes you to E14 and it says that it's exclusively sold by E14.

You buy it from within the Circuit Studio software.

Download the demo version from circuitstudio.com. Go to "My account" on the home screen. Under "billing" enter your credit card information.

Then, also under "My account", click "licenses". You will see a buy button to purchase a license for $495 from within CircuitStudio.

[stuartk]

You buy it from within the Circuit Studio software. Download the demo.

When you attempt to purchase from within the demo, you have to insert your credit card number before they give you the price of the license.

I'm just not certain what that price would be, and by then your card is billed.

Can Altium comment on that?

[Neganur]

The card will not be billed. You have to enter the card data first, it is saved under your profile/payment info. Only then can you see the price and click on the actual purchase button.

And I agree this is not standard shopping cart behavior, and poor usability.

[GlowingGhoul]

To get the $500 discount you must now buy through: http://www.altium.com/eagle-switch/circuitstudio/

Also, discount code REACY1 takes another $25 off for a final price of $470

[jpb]

Unless I've got this wrong, the Farnell price is £395 so it looks like the discount is available in the UK through the normal channels

http://uk.farnell.com/altium/11-100-15-1-e/circuitstudio-commercial-license/dp/2490980

I notice several posts stating that you have to be a business to buy through Farnell - this isn't the case in the UK, I have an account and just use my personal credit card. I don't think I was even asked if I was a business or not.

[Neganur]

Hah!

My trial expired and I decided to go purchase the license. But I encountered a nice 'feature' when clickingthe '+Buy New License':


OK I thought, I'll update....but no:

 

[dimkasta]

  I had the same issue but I assumed I had to upgrade to the new version. Is it out yet?

[Neganur]

1.4 is out, but at least you can't update from within the software

EDIT: The website installer offers to update:

[plazma]

You can update from the software.

[Zbig]

REACY1 code doesn't seem to work on the Farnell site for my location (Poland), neither does ACS10. Any hints what else could I try? Or perhaps it was just a "hole/exploit" in the way that the codes were only meant to by used with the full-price versions and they plugged it? I noticed that it's now a separate SKU after you click the link at http://www.altium.com/eagle-switch/circuitstudio/ - mentioning Eagle migration in its name explicitly.

[Neganur]

Maybe I wasn't clear enough.

You cannot update from within the software when your trial license expired,
you can't purchase a license from within the software if your version is not the latest.

You can go to the website and download the installer for the newest version and it will offer to update your old software.
Once you've updated you can purchase a license from within the software - at the price of $995.00

Farnell Finland still offers the reduced price - but I can't buy it from there.
Farnell Export GB (export.farnell.com) still sells it for £395.00 : Manufacturer Part No:   11-100-15-1 P E / Order Code:   2726528

The voucher for Circuit Studio at normal price is on the "offers" page of export.farnell.com but is not valid for the already discounted order code above.

[jpb]

I see the Farnell price has now gone up to £805 - more than double the £395 it was when I last posted.

The trouble with special offers is that when they end the product seems super-expensive. Altium seems to have randomly changed the price twice now - I would have thought stability would be much better for customer confidence.

[Neganur]

Exactly, and since the offer was originally advertised until 30.03. I think?
But then again, was that tied to an actual Eagle license or not...too confusing this whole thing.

I just hope they also will eventually use other distribution channels than Farnell.
Surely they must have someone who tests that the purchasing process works smoothly, or don't they have a usability analyst...?
Maybe just a decision from above without proper research.

[PlainName]

I recall some while back there was a special price on the X1 desktop search for PC, and a group of whom I was a member got wind of it. Naturally, many of us went to buy it but found vastly differing prices, around an order of magnitude. There didn't seem to be any logic to it, and I think someone eventually emailed X1 to ask wtf was going on.

To our surprise, the X1 top bod popped up in our group to explain. It seems that they didn't know what price to charge(!), whether to price high and get lower sales or get less profit but many more sales. The variation in pricing was to try and find the sweet spot for profit vs sales, and we were screwing it up by trying to game the system. He offered us preferential pricing if we promised not to blab about it and spoil their experiment (this is going back some way so no longer matters).

Could be that Altium are trying the same kind of thing.

[GlowingGhoul]

OK, it now appears the most reliable way to get the promotion is to go to the Farrell or element 14 site for your country and search for "eagle users promo". $495 on US, 395 pounds on UK, and 572 euro on DK.

[jpb]

PCB CAD software is not like buying a piece of hardware say, you have to commit to a system and probably will want to upgrade to later versions for features or bug fixes.

If you can't trust the price to stay within reasonable bounds then buying in on a cheap one off offer will mean that you're stuck if they put the price back up to $2k in a year or so.

[GlowingGhoul]

PCB CAD software is not like buying a piece of hardware say, you have to commit to a system and probably will want to upgrade to later versions for features or bug fixes.

If you can't trust the price to stay within reasonable bounds then buying in on a cheap one off offer will mean that you're stuck if they put the price back up to $2k in a year or so.

Why would you need to buy it again for $2000 (or whatever high price) in a year? Upgrades are included for the first year, and maintainance is $150 year after that.

[electrolust]

Thanks, I just bought it, in the US.  4/2/17.  I clicked through the banner link on circuitstudio.com to get to the special offer on newark immediately.  I also bought the maintenance at this time, to hedge against a price increase.  Anyway just 1 year of maintenance isn't at all useful.  Funny advertising from Altium, dissing subscription licenses when in fact CS also really decreases in usefulness without the maintenance (includes Vault subscription).

The email from Newark said, "order placed".  No license has come to me yet, so presumably they can still cancel the order.  That would be pretty bad form though, if they want the offer to expire I should not have been able to order in the first place.

FOLLOWUP: I got the license.  I have a slight buyer's remorse, as I can't import my Proteus data and CS doesn't have the IPC wizard so I still have a crap workflow for footprint creation.  bah.  I think I did know this from prior research but forgot about it due to sale fever.  At least I can import my Eagle data.

[Zbig]

It seems the deal is still on. They have probably finally figured out that lowering the price by X times could actually get them more than an X times increase in sales. Go figure.