I have ALWAYS used plain (no copper) perfboard for my digital circuits. It's
point to point wiring but I don't leave the wiring on the underside of the
board, I route it around on the upper side. I prefer this method because I
find it looks nicer, and it gives easier access to the bottom of the board
for soldering modifications, repairs etc. Overall I have found it provides a
very reliable and compact construction.

I'm not entirely sure why I started building this way. My first big digital
project started when I was aged 13
(http://www.hanssummers.com/electroni...real/intro.htm) and this
would've been when I first used the method. I didn't have any "mentor" to
follow on digital circuit construction, I just came up with this method as
the best available for what my resources were at the time, and have stuck
with it ever since. I still believe it's the most appropriate for my
circumstances (VERY limited hobby time etc).

There are many examples on my website (all my projects use this method),
some good pictures to start with are at:

http://www.hanssummers.com/computers/newz80/intro.htm
http://www.hanssummers.com/electroni...ser2/index.htm

For RF work I tend to use "ugly", i.e. a groundplane PCB with the components
anchored above. If extra mechanical stability is required at some points I
use a very high value resistor or very tiny value capacitor (depending on
what the circuit will allow without alteration of its performance).

I have never used a PCB, for several reasons, not least because as Len said,
it can take longer to design and fabricate a PCB than to handwire a
perfboard. The main reason for me is that a perfboard is easy to modify, a
PCB isn't. This is useful when a design is finished if some modifications
are required, but most importantly in my case it's vital because I never
completely design a circuit before I begin constructing it, I just have a
bare bones design in my head then start building it and design the finer
details as I go.

73 Hans G0UPL
http://www.HansSummers.com