As of this point, I've been unable to find time to video record the second part of my review - so, unless I keep the scope, it might not happen at all (but I'll try!). But nevertheless, I've posted many findings in this thread, and this summary should help convey my current feelings.
Summary of Owon testing:
After having used and tested the Owon now for several days I can report that, as far as I can tell, it appears that the Owon hardware is doing what they advertise - and performing to spec. All the new features work as intended (VGA, trigger out, etc) and within the admittedly limited range of ways I have to test the device, it appears to operate like a 100MHz bandwidth, 1GSa/s scope should - providing me with equivalent data that a hacked Rigol DS1052E did. Aside from some small, non-serious bugs which I noticed (but mostly couldn't repeat), the firmware seems to operate fine - I never had a single lock-up or crash - and I DID try to get it to do that
I admit I was at first rather annoyed by the firmware (having been spoiled by the better implemented Rigol one [with better usage of English]), but, having used it for awhile now, I've gotten more used to it and it's idiosyncracies - so there are only a few things left which still trouble me.
The main faults I find with the current version of firmware (in descending order of annoyance):
[Minor:]
Show All measurements: kind of a dud - but now that I see that you can display 8 real-time measurements simultaneously outside of the normal screen wave area, this isn't very important.
No linear interpolation of points [or just the ability to turn OFF sin(x)/x]: not a biggie - but it can be handy sometimes.
[Medium:]
No Equivalent Time Sampling: again, not something used all that often - tinhead and alm have pointed out that it's often not well-implemented in cheaper scopes - so while I'd prefer to have the option, if it doesn't work well (or provides erroneous data) it's probably better not implemented.
No SCPI command set (and accompanying VISA driver) - that was a big plus with the Rigol that I will miss. But there are published specs for reading USB data from Owon scopes - so the lack of these things can be worked around for bringing data into Matlab, etc.
[Large:] (these last three are all about not taking advantage of that great big screen - and not necessarily direct somparisons to the Rigol firmware):
No coarse/fine adjust of volts/div: the hardware is already there (push-button encoders) but just not used - why not? Why waste precious screen real-estate by not being able to maximize the wave size(s) to fill the area?
No split-screen window for FFT or zoom: not such a big deal in terms of the FFT, since you can alter sample rates and zoom while it's running, but for marking and searching waveforms, it would really be handy. But then again, there is...
No way to mark, search easily, or jump through wave records: this is just a pain in the ass for a scope with records which can be 10Mpts long. They really need some firmware commands for this similar to what I've seen implemented on the Hantek.
On the plus side:
I owned a Rigol DS1052E for the month previous to this - and even though their firmware is (for the most part) better written and with more features (not in every regard - as mentioned below), I could NEVER go back to the tiny screen and loud fan of the Rigol. BTW, for those of you who wonder about the relative sizes of the screens (Rigol - Hantek - Owon SDS), I've computed and attached a comparison chart - with each screen occupying an equivalent block based on actual display active area - see below.
Other features of the Owon SDS7102 that are missing from the Rigol (aside from 8" screen and quiet fan):
10Mpt sample depth
VGA output
Optional battery
Pass/fail synchronous trigger out
Math A/B [in Hantek also]
Ext. trigger/5 [in Hantek also]
AC line trigger [in Hantek also]
There might be more... that's just all I've noticed.
Lastly, as mentioned in other posts by me, I wanted to buy the scope in Europe if possible - meaning at something close to (or cheaper!) than the Chinese seller's prices.
This is possible with Rigol and Owon, but not the Hantek; That means a price comparison,
for me, of something like this:
Rigol DS1052E: Base price with European service (but must hack it to get 100MHz bandwidth).
Owon SDS7102: Base price + ~19% with European service.
Hantek DSO5102B: Base price + ~32% with European service [based on tinhead's figues]
In this regard, on a pure bang-for-your-buck level, the Owon seems to me to be the best buy.
So am I keeping it? Hmm... I need a little longer to think about it. Because that's just what I need... another hacking project
Screen_sizes.png (185.95 kB, 600x1350 - viewed 27 times.)Edit: Changed screen size chart for better representation of Hantek - tip o' the hat to tinhead
Edit2: Revised sin(x)x/linear comment and price chart.
Edit3: Revised sin(x)x/linear comment one last time... I promise