First Scope

[JohnSL]

I'm just getting ready to buy my first scope, and I wanted to see what people thought before I actually place the order. Right now I'm thinking of buying a Rigol DS1074Z. From what I've ready, this sounds like a good balance between low price and features. The only need I've had so far is with relatively low-frequency signals. I'm not sure what I'll be needing it for in the future, but I expect it will be signals generally below 1 MHz.

So, is this a good starter scope? Or is there another scope you would recommend? I had originally thought of buying a Rigol DS1102E, but I liked the larger screen and features of the DS1074Z.

Thanks,
  -- John

[marmad]

I'm just getting ready to buy my first scope, and I wanted to see what people thought before I actually place the order. Right now I'm thinking of buying a Rigol DS1074Z. From what I've ready, this sounds like a good balance between low price and features. The only need I've had so far is with relatively low-frequency signals. I'm not sure what I'll be needing it for in the future, but I expect it will be signals generally below 1 MHz.

So, is this a good starter scope? Or is there another scope you would recommend? I had originally thought of buying a Rigol DS1102E, but I liked the larger screen and features of the DS1074Z.

Thanks,
  -- John

Definitely a good starter scope, John - and one that is future-proofed for awhile. You don't want to buy the older DS1000E series - it's not just the display size that's smaller, but they're also lacking intensity grading, high waveform update rates at fast time bases, bus decoding options, and larger memory (for better sample rates at slow time bases).

Mark

[Fsck]

it's basically unrivaled in its price range (for a new scope). definitely a good buy.

[nanofrog]

Unrivaled value right now for a scope, and would make an excellent starter unit that you won't out-grow very quickly IMHO. 

[JohnSL]

Thanks! I just placed the original.