Are 'premium' scope brands still justified?

[nctnico]

My most recent interaction with Keysight is from 2022

[tszaboo]

I'm not wrong, your experience is just different. I have asked Keysight and Tektronix for support in the past and didn't need to have warranty or a limited number of tickets. I got my technical questions answered to a satisfactory level. It is simple as that. But I did make sure to be really clear, without adding any excess information, in describing the exact problem and what my exact question was.

I've asked Keysight for a repair of a U8001 power supply. ~1000 EUR. As a company.
"We don't repair that, but we can provide you with a quote for a new one"
"Ok can you send me a service guide?"
"no, doesn't exist, do you want to buy a new power supply"
"I will, but somewhere else. " Ended up repairing it because all it was a blown SCR.

[2N3055]

My most recent interaction with Keysight is from 2022

That was when changes started..
Maybe your regional office did you a solid.
I find their employees on technical side generally very nice (when you manage to contact one).
Good people, but corporation is squeezing them down...

[H.O]

Personally, as someone who uses/has used basically all the scopes, using some brand's scopes annoys me...

Personally, as in someone who is not considered a "professional", being told to go away by some scopes brand's annoys me...

[madires]

I've asked Keysight for a repair of a U8001 power supply. ~1000 EUR. As a company.
"We don't repair that, but we can provide you with a quote for a new one"
"Ok can you send me a service guide?"
"no, doesn't exist, do you want to buy a new power supply"
"I will, but somewhere else. " Ended up repairing it because all it was a blown SCR.

The days of "excellent value" are gone. Most T&M vendors moved to profit maximization. We have to stop dreaming about what some brands meant in the past. Look at how they behave now and take this into account when buying new gear. If there's no additional real value, i.e. just paying for the brand name, then choose some other vendor.

[bdunham7]

On the chip front, you'll also see the "big boys" doing their own ICs but what's described in this thread as "B brands" are typically using off-the-shelf components and are stuck at that level of performance.

Rigol developed a whole line of custom ASICs for their scopes.

I could get an Ender 3 3d printer for $100, but there's a reason I paid 10x for my Bambu.

I got an Ender 3 Pro at Microcenter when they had that $100 special.  It's been living in a spare bedroom cranking out parts now for a couple of years with no issues to speak of.  YMMV!