Tektronix TDS640a vs Rigol DS1054z

[SirRage]

I have a DS1054z that has the available options installed. I also have a TDS640a that I picked up off of eBay because it was a good price and the initial specs looked quite impressive. 500mhz and 2/gs. Now that I have them both setup, I'm just wondering when I would want to use the 640a over the 1054z. I'm pretty sure think the Rigol beats it out in terms of storage, but I've been having a heck of a time trying to figure out just how much storage this thing has. 2000 points what I think it has, but how that translates to something useful I'm not sure.

The TDS640 is in pretty good shape for a scope from the early 90s. The only real issue is that the main fan makes a buzzing sound and the tube shows signs of being burnt in, but it was serviced in 2012 so I imagine it's still in spec.

I'm still pretty new to this stuff but I'm having fun with it.

[JPortici]

here you go
http://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/TDS640
http://www.tek.com/oscilloscope/tds620a-manual/tds620a-tds640a-tds644a
yes you should have 2000 points memory on the TDS (aka only what's on screen)

it would be interesting to compare the performance during FFT operation (for the joy of rigol bashers ) and i suppose you can in general trust more what are you seeing on the screen in terms of vertical accuracy as the fron end is probably of much higher quality and lower noise

[SirRage]

Cool thanks for the info. It would be kind of fun to do a side by side between the Rigol and TDS.

[T3sl4co1l]

I'd guess you'll find yourself using the Rigol more.  Get out the TDS when you need the bandwidth.

Tim

[Bryan]

I'd guess you'll find yourself using the Rigol more.  Get out the TDS when you need the bandwidth.

Tim

That's why I kept my 2465B

[T3sl4co1l]

Gee, TDS640 isn't much of a step up from a 2465.  It's kind of like, why bother?

Tim