Rigol or Agilent Gear for PC control?

[envisionelec]

I'm outfitting my lab with a new semi-automated test system. Ideally I'd like to control it using VBA in Excel. I wanted to use Rigol equipment for such tasks, but  from my vantage point, it appears Agilent has this application nailed complete with sample code and/or sequence wizards.  Have I missed something? Do you have any suggestions?

[Kohanbash]

I have never used the Rigol hardware but I have used the Agilent hardware logging to a PC and been happy with them.

[qwaarjet]

I have a Rigol DS4024 and have had problem when transferring more than 50,000 pts I have never been able to transfer the full 140Mpts memory but if all you want to capture is what on the the screen it works well enough. As far as controlling channels and  triggers control was fairly easy.  Control was done LabVIEW over USB

[mcinque]

I have Rigol HW and their software simply sucks  .

[plesa]

I'm outfitting my lab with a new semi-automated test system. Ideally I'd like to control it using VBA in Excel. I wanted to use Rigol equipment for such tasks, but  from my vantage point, it appears Agilent has this application nailed complete with sample code and/or sequence wizards.  Have I missed something? Do you have any suggestions?

It depends how complicated your setup will be, But nobody knows what you will need in few months.
Consider there is no Rigol support available at all. Tek and Agilent has forum where they help you to resolve reported issue.
TEK offer free version of NI Signall express with their instruments and Agilent provide Command express.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Although Rigol are  about the best Chinese supplier, the general standard of software quality from China is poor, and once it is working enough to ship, you're unlikely to see any updates, or get any support - all they care about is shifting boxes.
Things like remote control are a minority feature and you can't expect any serious effort to have been put into testing. Even once bugs are found by users in the field, fixes will be a long tome coming, if they come at all.

Agilent have decades of experience making instruments, and much of the software will be shared  over a wide range of models, and their support is generally good.