Pricing on Agilent DSO3202A

[denlylance]

This is my 1st post on the forum.  I am a Journeyman inside wireman electrician and the last year or so I have been getting more into electronics. My question regarding the oscilloscope in the subject is this - A school has one of these for sale and was wondering what you guys would pay for a working unit.  Don't have any info on calibration dates so let's assume it hasn't been ever or a long time.  From looking around on the web, it looks like these things can bring around the same money as a new Rigol 1102E or 1054Z.  Am I wrong on this?  I currently have a Tektronics 2215A and have no plans on getting rid of it.  Thanks for your time.

[nctnico]

I'd check on Ebay and tick the box next to 'sold items' to get an idea of what prices a piece of equipment actually sells for (=what it is really worth).

[denlylance]

Ya, it came up with 0 sold for that exact model. A couple of 3102A's sold for 195 and 295.

[nctnico]

I've looked up the specs but they are very poor compared to new DSOs you can buy for around $350 to $400. The DSO3202A may even be a rebadged Rigol entry level scope. Anything over $50 is a waste of money IMHO. There are also many Rigol en GW Instek scopes for sale on Ebay right now due to a bankcrupty sale a couple of weeks ago. You might be able to score a very nice DSO for little money if you have the patience to scoop up a good deal. More equipment is going to be sold shortly so the market is likely to stay saturated for a while.

[denlylance]

Thanks for the quick reply.  I guess I will see what the school one goes for.  If it goes super cheap I'll probably grab it, but otherwise I think I'll go with a new one.  Also, thanks for the heads up on the bankruptcy.  I was not aware of it.  Thanks again.

[rstofer]

Thanks for the quick reply.  I guess I will see what the school one goes for.  If it goes super cheap I'll probably grab it, but otherwise I think I'll go with a new one.  Also, thanks for the heads up on the bankruptcy.  I was not aware of it.  Thanks again.

So, the used school scopes were used by ... students!  It would have to be dirt cheap before I would even consider buying one.

There are some good buys on eBay but the problem is, it's hard to figure out which ones.  If I were buying used from eBay, I would want one of the reconditioned and calibrated scopes.  Something coming from a company that deals in used measurement equipment.