EEVblog #692 - Digilent Analog Discovery Review

[EEVblog]

Dave reviews the Analog Discovery 14bit 100MS/s USB oscilloscope and multi-function instrument
http://www.digilentinc.com/analogdiscovery/

! Private video

[ncoonrod14]

It looks like there's a catch to the educational pricing. In the terms of their pricing it mentions that the educational pricing is only available if the board is required for a class. Since I haven't tried to order one I guess you might be able to get around that but I'm not sure you could buy this unless your institution is listed as requiring their hardware 

To qualify for student pricing, the customer must be a student at a US academic institution and be required to purchase the board for a class.

https://www.digilentinc.com/NavTop/AboutUs.cfm#academicpricing

[R_G_B_]

As Dave said the network analyser is worth the money alone. When you compare it to other such tools  its a bargain:

https://www.picotest.com/products_BODE100.html

It has its limitation but for low frequency it
Does the job well. One of the problems with it is cross talk. It seems to be very sensitive to this kind of interference. Sometimes its difficult to tell if the noise is coming from the actual measurements or the analogue discovery its self. Also Useful to test mathematical functions analogue computing negative group delays etc using the bode plotter, wave generator and scope. Nice tool to have very handy.

[mtdoc]

It looks like there's a catch to the educational pricing. In the terms of their pricing it mentions that the educational pricing is only available if the board is required for a class.

I was able to get one last year for $99 just by taking the free edX UT embedded systems class and putting that on the order form. It was not required for the class - just suggested by the instructors. That course is being offered again in January.

As Dave says, for $99 it's a steal.   The $20 BNC breakout board is well worth buying.  With it and some inexpensive probes you get usable bandwidth up to 10 MHz.

[orin]

It looks like there's a catch to the educational pricing. In the terms of their pricing it mentions that the educational pricing is only available if the board is required for a class.

I was able to get one last year for $99 just by taking the free edX UT embedded systems class and putting that on the order form. It was not required for the class - just suggested by the instructors. That course is being offered again in January.

As Dave says, for $99 it's a steal.   The $20 BNC breakout board is well worth buying.  With it and some inexpensive probes you get usable bandwidth up to 10 MHz.

If they do run the offer with the edX course again, order early!  I think they ran out quickly as there was quite a delay in shipping when I ordered one.

[ncoonrod14]

To qualify for student pricing, the customer must be a student at a US academic institution and be required to purchase the board for a class.

It looks like there's a catch to the educational pricing. In the terms of their pricing it mentions that the educational pricing is only available if the board is required for a class..
Sneaky bastards! Imagine trying to get away with that.

Well I placed an order for one as well as the BNC add-on and just submitted the details of my university as well as my university email address and I've received a order confirmation so it looks as if you can still order it as long as you can prove you're a student.  I must say though, I was rather disappointed to see their cheapest shipping option was $16 for such a small package when I live less than 300 miles from their facilities... I suppose they don't offer USPS because they want their orders insured. 

[EEVblog]

It looks like there's a catch to the educational pricing. In the terms of their pricing it mentions that the educational pricing is only available if the board is required for a class. Since I haven't tried to order one I guess you might be able to get around that but I'm not sure you could buy this unless your institution is listed as requiring their hardware 

Damn, didn't see that, yeah 

[mtdoc]

It looks like there's a catch to the educational pricing. In the terms of their pricing it mentions that the educational pricing is only available if the board is required for a class. Since I haven't tried to order one I guess you might be able to get around that but I'm not sure you could buy this unless your institution is listed as requiring their hardware 

Damn, didn't see that, yeah 

I don't think that is right. They didn't require that when I got mine.  It looks like ncoonrod14 was able to order one without that as well.

[HP-ILnerd]

Dave!  Pop that baby in your Amazon store!
I've got a pretty good idea what I'm gettin' for XMas!   

[nitro2k01]

Don't want to hear a word about it, eh? Well consider this: If a plot is not a Bode plot, but looks like one, could you then say that it is a Bode-ey plot?

[HP-ILnerd]

Dave!  Pop that baby in your Amazon store!
I've got a pretty good idea what I'm gettin' for XMas!   

If Dave put it in his Amazon store after giving it a generally positive review it would leave him exposed to accusations of conflicted interest.

But there's all sorts of stuff in there he's given positive reviews to.  The first four items that come up The Fluke 87-5, the Agilent U1272A, The Rigol 1052E, The Extech EX339 he has reviewed and recommended.  Look through it, those aren't close to the only things.

[Syntax_Error]

Dave, thanks so much for this video! I've long been hoping you would do a review, and had kind of resigned to thinking it wasn't going to happen. Imagine my surprise when I logged on to see a nearly hour long video posted just four hours prior. Jackpot! Great review, too. I really enjoyed it, because I have seen every review I can find over the last few years for this thing, and they are all the same/similar, except yours. You explored the buried details that I have not seen anybody else look at. Great work!

I've said a few times on the forum here that I have the AD, the BNC board and probes, the parts kit, their multimeter, and a few other parts. I bought them for learning purposes and went through Digilent's Real Analog course before taking some Coursera electrical engineering courses. I have been impressed with the quality of Digilent's products and I still love their Real Analog course to this day.

I also have a Nexys2 and a few Pmods, and did their Real Digital course a few years ago. The board is great, and the course was ok. I learned a lot more from a few FPGA / Verilog books I bought that cited use of that board.

[Syntax_Error]

Also, regarding the student pricing, I'm shocked to see all the thumbs down reviews! The alternative is to have NO student pricing. As Dave mentioned, the cost of parts alone in this board exceed 99USD, not to mention NRE costs and I wouldn't count them as in league with the devil himself if they tried to squeeze a drop of profit out of the thing, either.

We don't know what their price point structure is based off of. For all we know, they could take a loss on every US Student board, or those might be the only boards that they get full subsidy from ADI for, etc. For the record, I bought mine for the full $279 last xmas because I wasn't a student, and I was very disappointed that I didn't qualify for student pricing, but (to me) it is still worth it at that price. And I don't fault Digilent or students for offering special academic pricing cheaper than what I paid. They do this with nearly every product they offer.

Now, I just need to enroll in a course that requires their fancy Virtex5 or Virtex7 boards! They take about 23k$ off for student pricing on that one.

[Postal666]

It looks like there's a catch to the educational pricing. In the terms of their pricing it mentions that the educational pricing is only available if the board is required for a class. Since I haven't tried to order one I guess you might be able to get around that but I'm not sure you could buy this unless your institution is listed as requiring their hardware 

Damn, didn't see that, yeah 

There were a couple of options, including course, design project, and research.  Digilent required fields like school name, school email address, instructor email address, and course website.  I chose the "design project" option and put N/A for the course name and website fields.  Of course I gave valid school email (.edu) for myself and a previous professor.  Whatever their criteria for validation is, it must not be much. Their website said thanks for the order, and had confirmation email within seconds.  Don't knock 'em for having at least some requirements to get the student pricing.

[ncoonrod14]

Don't knock 'em for having at least some requirements to get the student pricing.

It's not that I had a problem with them having some requirements, in fact I actually agree that they should. However I don't think its right that they advertise it simply as "student pricing" when by the terms of the price exclude almost all students. Kind of misleading if you ask me.

[plexuss]

I'd like to get the digilent analog for audio work. But I am in canada and cant seem to find a place that sells this to canadians. Does anyone have a source for these that ships to canada?

[ncoonrod14]

I'd like to get the digilent analog for audio work. But I am in canada and cant seem to find a place that sells this to canadians. Does anyone have a source for these that ships to canada?

On the left side of their site there's an international distributors button
https://www.digilentinc.com/partners/international.cfm

[pickle9000]

I'd like to get the digilent analog for audio work. But I am in canada and cant seem to find a place that sells this to canadians. Does anyone have a source for these that ships to canada?

Digikey

http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/410-244P-KIT/1286-1037-ND/3902834

[plexuss]

They dont list it on their site. I will email. But from what I have seen those available in canada (eg digikey) are on the order of $330. im looking to get one at the sale price at least of $239. thanks for the link n

[ncoonrod14]

I just searched it on their site and found it... like digikey it was also around the $320 mark.

[plexuss]

Yeah. I am trying to find a we-dont-rip-canadians-off supplier for it. I'll keep digging.

[miguelvp]

Yeah. I am trying to find a we-dont-rip-canadians-off supplier for it. I'll keep digging.

Silly question, but, did you try to order directly from diligent?
Sometimes vendors in the States ship to Canada.

[plexuss]

I did. on the order page where you select the country, there is a link that says something like "international? click to see our distributors" and the "state" drop down only has US states listed.

[Postal666]

It's not that I had a problem with them having some requirements, in fact I actually agree that they should. However I don't think its right that they advertise it simply as "student pricing" when by the terms of the price exclude almost all students. Kind of misleading if you ask me.

I hear ya. Was just making a blanket statement and quoted your post is all. Like I said, the criteria must not be much. I didn't even get a verification link to the school email or anything. Maybe they're just using the "for a course" requirement as a way to run off "students" just looking for a deal?     Of course I could be completely wrong. I didn't specify it was for a class, just design project. Maybe I will get a rejection email when a human evaluates my info? I doubt it, but will let you know.

[Selectech]

I got mine from Microchipdirect { TDGL023 } for $219 USD.  They also have the BNC adapter board { TDGL024 } for $20. Ships direct to Canada.