As Dave said in the review and tear-down, why waste your money on a dog-pile?
As a test-equipment sales/service/calibration and rental company, we get offered products almost daily from (mainly Chinese) companies wanting to get into the Aussie market. We turn virtually all of them away. The reason is not that we don't think we can make money on something, it is more about the overall value of the product.
This thread showing a product that is cheap but of low value is an opportunity to put forward something to think about when it come to buying at the bargain end of the market.
As an example, compared to the QDSO, there's scopes from us
and our competitors that you pay a bit more for, but when you see what you get for that "bit" more money, you should pause for a bit of thought......
There's an old marketing-speak adage that goes: (Value = Performance/Price + Service)
For different people the 3 variables in the value equation have different levels of importance. So my advice is don't just consider the price, (sub-consciously most people don't anyway otherwise we'd all be driving Great Wall cars), but actively look for value within what you can afford and in the long term you'll be better off.
It might be unfair comparing things like the QDSO to low-cost (real) scopes, but when for not a lot more cash you can get much more, then as Dave rightly says don't waste your money.
Here's an example of value vs price vs performance..... Have a look at the scope on the link below. This scope is about the same price as a Fluke 170 series multimeter. Compare the amount of hardware you get for your hard-earned cash... then figure out who is making a bundle of profit out of you the buyer, and where are you getting the better value.
http://triosmartcal.com.au/siglent/2896-siglent-sds1022dl-25mhz-2-channel-widescreen-oscilloscope.htmlA good question always to ask yourself is "can I get the same functionality for less and still feel comfortable with my purchase in terms of performance and service?"
Apply that to an oscilloscope and a DMM.
Big-Brand Digital Multimeter at $300 = 1 little LCD + 1 little PCB + Case + battery connector + battery + 1 knob + a 4-button keypad + input hardware + fuses
DSO at $300 = Colour display, power supply, metal chassis, lots of knobs and buttons, USB etc.... simplistic but true... You can get a good DMM for around $100 (see Dave's Extech videos) but can you get a similar scope for much less and still take it back to where you got it if it goes wrong? It's not as easy.
So when diving down to the bottom of the waveform capture and display market, just considering hardware-cost alone, consider spending a "bit" more cash, and buy something decent from a reputable company with real people you can talk to, complain to, easily return goods to, (or even say nice things to) if necessary.
Here's a few of examples from the Aussie oscilloscope world. Two are a similar price but different performance and one is a main brand with a higher price. So play "spot the value...."
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=QC1932&CATID=97&form=CAT2&SUBCATID=1062#1http://triosmartcal.com.au/1961-tekway-dst1102b-digital-oscilloscope-with-wide-screen-hd-display.htmlhttp://australia.rs-online.com/web/p/digital-oscilloscopes/7344997/Now I know this is not a technical post on this thread, and people will say I'm plugging our company, but we have worthy competitors out there in Aussie-Land that do the same as us and that should be recognised too. In the end we all need to spend our cash to get test equipment (except Dave of course) but this thread is a good opportunity from a supplier point of view to take the opportunity to suggest that you need to look behind the price, behind the brand, and fill in the value equation when choosing your purchases or that dog-pile might just end up being yours.