Author Topic: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?  (Read 8524 times)

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Offline nctnico

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Re: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?
« Reply #25 on: October 29, 2017, 12:36:22 pm »
I'm wondering at which point we will see some movement from the A-brands when it comes to paid decoders. There are several brands now which include them at no extra cost without needing hacks.
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 

Offline mikeselectricstuff

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Re: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?
« Reply #26 on: October 29, 2017, 12:40:43 pm »
Silent just offered me a 1204 to review, but I've not had time for my own stuff the last few months let alone reviews of gear I wouldn't normally use..
Youtube channel:Taking wierd stuff apart. Very apart.
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Offline Fungus

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Re: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?
« Reply #27 on: October 29, 2017, 12:47:49 pm »
The new 4 channel Siglent is under US$500 and like other recent Silgents includes all the serial decoders for free.
So yes, if you raise the bar to US$500 then there are good competitors to the Rigol.

Reviews and teardowns are pending, but, if they release that thing at that price then Rigol will probably need a new model, yes.

(or at least a price cut, which they can probably do quite easily these days)

Or maybe $399 is the sweet spot for hobbyist 'scopes. Who knows?

Silent just offered me a 1204 to review, but I've not had time for my own stuff the last few months let alone reviews of gear I wouldn't normally use..

Feel free to pass them my details.  :popcorn:
« Last Edit: October 29, 2017, 12:53:14 pm by Fungus »
 

Offline frogblender

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Re: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?
« Reply #28 on: November 22, 2017, 03:49:58 pm »
Anyone on Hantek DSO4004B series or DSO4004C (with funcgen)???

They LOOK great - 4ch, 4sets of knobs, cheap, maxbw=250, sampl=1Ga.   But 2 out of 2 amazon reviews (Oct2017) ROASTED the firmware as complete unuseable horsecrap - super buggy and unbelievably slow.  But hantek released new firmware in Nov2017...

http://amzn.to/2jeU45Q





 

Offline jjoonathan

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Re: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?
« Reply #29 on: November 22, 2017, 09:20:34 pm »
Hantek has a decade(s?) long tradition of terrible software / firmware, even by the standards of low-end test equipment, which are low to start with. Consider them bad until proven good.

Last time I installed a hantek upgrade, it took me the better part of a day and IDA to get working (they linked against a debug dll that they didn't include). Support never got back to me (of course). That was my first and last experience with them, but I've heard many like it, and none that suggest they may have changed their ways.
 

Online EEVblog

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Re: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?
« Reply #30 on: November 22, 2017, 09:28:46 pm »
I'm wondering at which point we will see some movement from the A-brands when it comes to paid decoders. There are several brands now which include them at no extra cost without needing hacks.

Who is the other one apart from Siglent?
 

Offline nctnico

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Re: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?
« Reply #31 on: November 22, 2017, 09:37:39 pm »
I'm wondering at which point we will see some movement from the A-brands when it comes to paid decoders. There are several brands now which include them at no extra cost without needing hacks.
Who is the other one apart from Siglent?
GW Instek and MicSig (the latter until the end of this month but it wouldn't surprise me if they change their minds -again-). BTW I'm not sure whether Siglent was the first to include free decoding anyway.
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 

Offline bitseeker

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Offline Old Printer

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Re: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?
« Reply #33 on: November 22, 2017, 10:54:58 pm »
Rigol seems to be having a fire sale on the 1054Z. First it dropped to $349 with the usual free shipping and then the Option BND-MSO/DS1000Z software bundle thrown in as a freebee. No mention of upping it to 100 Mhz, natch. A lot going on in this market recently. I mentioned this in another thread, but that was started about the 4ch Siglet and it was already getting pretty far off track, so I decided to mention it here as well. Dave
 

Offline Fungus

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Re: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?
« Reply #34 on: November 23, 2017, 09:40:53 am »
Rigol seems to be having a fire sale on the 1054Z. First it dropped to $349 with the usual free shipping and then the Option BND-MSO/DS1000Z software bundle thrown in as a freebee.

Rigol has shipped an awful of DS1054Zs over the last couple of years. Probably more than any other oscilloscope in history. There was a thread where people were watching the "in stock" number on Batronix' web page and they were shifting thousands per month, maybe as many as 10,000 last Xmas season alone.

With sales like that over the last three years they'll be in a good position to cut the price a bit if a real competitor appears.

No mention of upping it to 100 Mhz, natch.

I don't believe they've ever offered 100MHz as an official upgrade.
 

Offline borjam

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Re: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?
« Reply #35 on: November 23, 2017, 09:45:14 am »
GW Instek and MicSig (the latter until the end of this month but it wouldn't surprise me if they change their minds -again-). BTW I'm not sure whether Siglent was the first to include free decoding anyway.
Maybe it's just a language aspect, but Siglent has been the first one to launch a model for which no options exist. I mean, it's different to say "this is model SDS1202X-E with features such as decoding, etc" or say "this is model SDSwhateevr with free decoding and triggering options until 2018".

They haven't announced their model as a special offer, but as a model with everything in the packge. Others launch "special bundles" now and then, generally limited in time, and with options in their price list.

 

Offline nctnico

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Re: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?
« Reply #36 on: November 23, 2017, 10:33:23 am »
GW Instek and MicSig (the latter until the end of this month but it wouldn't surprise me if they change their minds -again-). BTW I'm not sure whether Siglent was the first to include free decoding anyway.
Maybe it's just a language aspect, but Siglent has been the first one to launch a model for which no options exist.
I'm pretty sure GW Instek was the first to do that with the GDS1000B and GDS2000E series. There are no options available for these models since everything is included.
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 

Offline borjam

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Re: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?
« Reply #37 on: November 23, 2017, 11:05:01 am »

I'm pretty sure GW Instek was the first to do that with the GDS1000B and GDS2000E series. There are no options available for these models since everything is included.
Oops, sorry. I stand corrected, then :)
 

Offline rstofer

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Re: What new in the "$400 DSO world" for 2017/2018?
« Reply #38 on: November 23, 2017, 06:17:37 pm »
The new 4 channel Siglent is under US$500 and like other recent Silgents includes all the serial decoders for free.
So yes, if you raise the bar to US$500 then there are good competitors to the Rigol.
The Rigol (still?) has the advantage of being hackable.

A 4CH shootout might in order if I can find the time...

Such a shootout would make an epic video.  There would be a lot of interest, not only for new buyers, but from those who might consider upgrading from the DS1054Z.  I don't know that I would sell my Rigol but I very well might buy the Siglent.

In my view, bandwidth is the most important spec for a scope - other than channels.  And 200 is higher than 100, channels being equal.

 


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