Author Topic: EEVblog #474 - GW Instek GDS-2000A Series Oscilloscope Unboxing & Fi...  (Read 76055 times)

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Offline c4757p

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There is a maximum watchable length for videos of 20-25 min. Seriously.

I disagree as well.
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Offline IanB

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Says who?

Says me and video journalists the world over. Rules #1, #2 and #3 of content production are "cut out the fluff". Make every word (or minute) count.

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Just skip the parts you don't want to watch.

There's no fast forward button in YouTube. I wish there was. Considering that YouTube comes after VHS and DVD players, it is remarkably lacking in the user experience.
 

Offline Hydrawerk

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I like Dave's video. Yes, it's longer than usual, but why not? It was full of useful information, that you don't get anywhere else. Dave, for you  :-+ :-+ :-+.
There are shorter videos, too. But it's not very informative.

The intensity grading looks a bit better, maybe caused by the camera?
And you can hear some noise. Does it come from the fan?? :scared: :scared:
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Offline Hydrawerk

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Rules #1, #2 and #3 of content production are "cut out the fluff". Make every word (or minute) count.
Oh, slow down. Dave's videos aren't fast CNN TV News but rather a movie or documentary.

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There's no fast forward button in YouTube. I wish there was. Considering that YouTube comes after VHS and DVD players, it is remarkably lacking in the user experience.
Yes, I miss that. Once I found a strange casette at a trashcan. I put it in grandma's VHS player and there was some oldschool dirty German porn. I watched it in 3× speed or so. It was an unmatched experience.  :-DD :-DD O0 :palm:
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Offline Lightages

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There is a maximum watchable length for videos of 20-25 min. Seriously.

I disagree as well.

If this was the US and TV time, then yes it is true. Don't say anything on TV that can't be believed or understood or agreed upon by the unwashed viewer. If you must say something that is the least bit obtuse or controversial, then be able to back it up in 10 seconds or get walked over by the next sound blip that needs to be blasted out to keep the TV zombies from flipping the channel.

But this isn't US TV, this is an captive audience that has a special need, the need for real information. One cannot cover a subject like this scope in 20 minutes without making it sound like an infomercial. Could Dave have made it a bit shorter? Yes, but not that much.

Back on subject:
Based on the video, I will not be buying one of these. Way too many quirks and glitches for my liking.
 

Offline marmad

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Says me and video journalists the world over.

Ahhh... good to know it's video journalists the world over. I was slightly concerned that it was video journalists from just 4 out of 5 of the world's continents.

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There's no fast forward button in YouTube. I wish there was. Considering that YouTube comes after VHS and DVD players, it is remarkably lacking in the user experience.

Well, if you feel compelled to actually watch the entire video streaming from YouTube (not sure why you would, but TETO), there is a drag-forward handle - a 21st century equivalent.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2013, 01:57:39 am by marmad »
 

Offline David_AVD

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I must admit I went to watch it, but bailed out when I saw the run time.  That's just my reaction of course.
 

Offline KaloyanP

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No clickable knobs? Are you shitting me? They lost me right then and there. Why would I ever use any piece of gear with less buttons? That's why I pay MORE- to get the buttons and not have to struggle with a godawful interface.
 

Offline Stonent

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There is a maximum watchable length for videos of 20-25 min. Seriously.

I disagree as well.

I'm not even an engineer by trade and I sat through the whole thing like it was nothing and was like "darn, that was an hour?!"
Dave videos are usually pretty good time killers. He usually peters out before I do "Well folks, that's all the time I have. I've got to get home and take care of Sagan etc"
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Online EEVblog

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Says me and video journalists the world over. Rules #1, #2 and #3 of content production are "cut out the fluff". Make every word (or minute) count.

This is precisely the kind of comment I expected from this video (because it always happens and is so predictable)
The nature of how this video was shot does not dictate itself well to hack'n'slash editing. If you were a content producer then you would understand this.
I made it very clear in comments what this video was, it is a long informal video of random playing around and associated comments.
If you don't like this style of video then don't watch it. But do not make the mistake of thinking that is can be magically edited into my usual formal review style of video.
 

Online EEVblog

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I must admit I went to watch it, but bailed out when I saw the run time.  That's just my reaction of course.

Sure, and that's human nature.
Others will balk at 45min, others 30min, others 15min, others 5 min.
I'd probably have 10 times the audience I do if I kept all my videos to 5min, but that's not my style.
 

Online EEVblog

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But this isn't US TV, this is an captive audience that has a special need, the need for real information. One cannot cover a subject like this scope in 20 minutes without making it sound like an infomercial. Could Dave have made it a bit shorter? Yes, but not that much.

Everyone has to understand what this style of video is.
I went into knowing that:
a) I knew absolutely nothing about the scope
b) I only wanted to spend an hour or two tops unboxing and playing and recording (a proper 1hr review video would normally take all day to shoot)
c) I was not going muck and around and learn stuff and set up shots etc and then press record. It is basically leave camera rolling and record, and work with whatever material I captured.
d) The deliberate intention was to do a long rambling video of me unboxing it and my first impressions. This is a deliberately different style to a review.

Now when you go into a video like that, the end result is always going to be a non-concise rambling and long video.

Could it have been shorter with the material I had? Yes, but not by much as Lightages said, and it would be a choppy mess.

The only way to make the video more "bang per minute" is to go into it knowing it's going to be a full review and expend 5 times the effort and time doing so. In which case I'd be able to cover twice or three times the material I did in this video for the same length or less.

Now, people can argue all they want over the merits of one style vs the other, but it will, as it always does, come down to the fact that you can't please everyone. I deliberately made this  video for those who like my unboxing/first impression videos. If you don't, then that's fine, I fully expect that. But please, no complaints about it.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2013, 03:24:23 am by EEVblog »
 

Offline c4757p

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I'd probably have 10 times the audience I do if I kept all my videos to 5min

And still the same total of IQ points among them.
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Offline warp_foo

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Says who?

Says me and video journalists the world over. Rules #1, #2 and #3 of content production are "cut out the fluff". Make every word (or minute) count.

Quote
Just skip the parts you don't want to watch.

There's no fast forward button in YouTube. I wish there was. Considering that YouTube comes after VHS and DVD players, it is remarkably lacking in the user experience.

Actually, youtube videos have an even better option than ff/rw: You can click on the red progress bar at any time in the video and immediately jump forward or back. Not only that, but you get a mini-screenshot of the point you want to jump through so you can skip segments manually by previewing until the screenshot changes, and clicking to select that point to play.

m
Where are we going, and why are we in a handbasket?
 

Offline Salas

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Now, people can argue all they want over the merits of one style vs the other, but it will, as it always does, come down to the fact that you can't please everyone. I deliberately made this  video for those who like my unboxing/first impression videos. If you don't, then that's fine, I fully expect that. But please, no complaints about it.

Hints better on how intuitive a machine will be in the long run the way you did it.  :-+

P.S. Don't forget to show us if other settings made the grading appreciably better.
 

Offline IanB

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Actually, youtube videos have an even better option than ff/rw: You can click on the red progress bar at any time in the video and immediately jump forward or back. Not only that, but you get a mini-screenshot of the point you want to jump through so you can skip segments manually by previewing until the screenshot changes, and clicking to select that point to play.

That option would be good if it worked reliably, but I haven't had much luck with it. Quite often it messes up the cache and resets the video to the start or stops playing completely until I reload the page.
 

Offline c4757p

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Which platform are you on? It's quite reliable for me (Linux 3.7 x86-64, Google Chrome 27.0.1453.93, external Flash plugin 11.2.r202).
No longer active here - try the IRC channel if you just can't be without me :)
 

Online EEVblog

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That option would be good if it worked reliably, but I haven't had much luck with it. Quite often it messes up the cache and resets the video to the start or stops playing completely until I reload the page.

I get the the occasional issue with it, but for the most part it works well. I love the thumbnails, that feature is brilliant.
 

Offline IanB

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It's not the platform that makes the difference, it depends on your geographical location and whichever server you get directed to on the CDN, the time of day, and the server load. Google changed YouTube delivery so that it no longer caches ahead on your local machine, it streams in real time and tries to stay just in front of the time point where you are watching and no further. Every time you click on the progress bar now it cancels the current stream and starts a new transaction with the server at the new time point. If the server is busy this may time out or reset the session.
 

Offline skipjackrc4

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It's not the platform that makes the difference, it depends on your geographical location and whichever server you get directed to on the CDN, the time of day, and the server load. Google changed YouTube delivery so that it no longer caches ahead on your local machine, it streams in real time and tries to stay just in front of the time point where you are watching and no further. Every time you click on the progress bar now it cancels the current stream and starts a new transaction with the server at the new time point. If the server is busy this may time out or reset the session.

I have a big problem with this recently.  I've started just downloading the videos using a download manager and watching later locally. 
 

Offline EEgalitarian512

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I generally watch way more EEVblog videos than I actually post to. And I certainly don't have the depth or breath of experience that many members of this forum possess when it comes to driving an oscilloscope. However, my overall impression of the GW Instek machine is that it lacks refinement, both in appearance and functionality. I, personally, would rather pay for a machine that has fewer features with higher stability and quality - so that 99% of the artifacts on the display come from the circuit under test or the overall environment - and not from my test equipment. @Dave - I am totally good with the length of your videos - long or short - it doesn't matter. I watch them because it's YOU doing them. John
 

Offline Stonent

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When I press play on a video I always say "Hoy" along with Dave. Come on, I know some of you do as well.
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Offline mark5009

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Thanks for the video, Dave. 

I have a GW GDS-1072A-U, the baby-brother version of the unit you tested.  It is pretty similar, except less of everything (except sample memory depth, funnily enough).  Bootup time is around 18s.  The UI is pretty much the same, though only one set of menu buttons.  For me, it is a good basic scope that does what I need it to do without too much fuss.  Then, my demands are great either ;-)
 

Oracle

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I don't feel comfortable whit gw-instek oscilloscopes: I much prefer Rigols.... The app menu i found it pretty ridiculous: it's not a computer nor a cell phone... Anyway it's cheaper than agilent o tektronix ones and better than atten and lecroy...
 

Offline TheWelly888

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At first I thought - a 1 hour video?!  :o But I watched it all the way through and I was quite shocked at how poor some $3000 dollar scopes can be! Thanks for the review.

I think the strange artifacts on the AM waveform may have been due to some signal processing setting being left on from earlier?

I do have a GW Instek GDS 1152-A scope, when I purchased it, felt like better value for money than the equivalent Rigol scope (and easier to obtain in the UK!) The UI of my model is actually much better than the 2000 series one that Dave reviewed - for example there are no horizontal soft keys and only 5 vertical soft keys. My gripes with mine are: noisy fan, slow setting of trigger holdoff time, no menu escape key, no obvious way to select 1x, 10x, etc probe but I think mine is a reasonable workhorse DSO.
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