Big Scope Comparison (need clarification)

[Stonent]

Ok, I'm probably nowhere near financially able to make a purchase, but I have been doing some comparisons on scopes.
The problem I'm having is some vendors give the sample rate in total and some per channel.
Can someone glance over this list and see if there's something to correct? I would like the sample rate to be in total, so 1GS/s on one channel and 500MS/s for two channels.

I'm working on my own "value" formula for me that basically goes Price divided by Frequency divided by MS/s and that will get me the value indicator as far as raw functionality. (The lower, the better)

Then I will try to weigh that against screen size and res, and the other value added items (LAN, RS-232, VGA etc)

So could you all just verify if I have my MS/s for a single probe correct?

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Brand Model      Freq Chan MS/s
Owon PDS5022T 25 2 100
Owon SDS5032E 30 2 250
Owon SDS6062         60 2 500
Rigol DS1052E         50 2 1000
Rigol DS1102E        100      2 1000
Atten ADS1042C 40 2 500
Atten ADS1022CL+ 25 2 500
Atten ADS1042CML 40 2 1000
Atten ADS1062CAL 60 2 1000
Atten ADS1102CAL 100 2 1000
Atten ADS1102CA 100 2 1000
Siglent SDS1022DL 25 2 1000
Siglent SDS1052DL 50 2 1000
Tekway DST1062B 60 2 1000
Instek GDS-1052-U 50 2 250
Instek GDS-1072A-U 70 2 1000
Aktakom ADS-2022 25 2 500
Aktakom ADS-2031 30 2 250
Aktakom ADS-2031V 30 2 250
Aktakom ADS-2061M 60 2 500
Aktakom ADS-2061MV 60 2 500
Also in case you're wondering where my formula has led me:

Code: [Select]

Brand Model         Price Value
Owon PDS5022T 279 0.0558  Worst Value
Owon SDS5032E 299 0.0199
Owon SDS6062         349 0.0058
Rigol DS1052E         329 0.0033
Rigol DS1102E         399 0.0020
Atten ADS1042C 287 0.0072
Atten ADS1022CL+ 290 0.0116
Atten ADS1042CML 411 0.0051
Atten ADS1062CAL 348 0.0029
Atten ADS1102CAL 339 0.0017  Best Value
Atten ADS1102CA 439 0.0022
Siglent SDS1022DL 239 0.0048  Best Price but not best value
Siglent SDS1052DL 290 0.0029
Tekway DST1062B 441 0.0037
Instek GDS-1052-U 385 0.0154
Instek GDS-1072A-U 418 0.0030
Aktakom ADS-2022 299 0.0120
Aktakom ADS-2031 262 0.0175
Aktakom ADS-2031V 272 0.0181
Aktakom ADS-2061M 345 0.0058
Aktakom ADS-2061MV 358 0.0060
If I factor in screen:
The Tekway gets the best over all value, but is the most expensive.
If I go under 300, the Siglent SDS1052DL gets the best value in that range.

I need to re-do this though because I want to factor in sample depth also.
Also a good screen is important to me so that may end up knocking out the 5.7 320x240 screen scopes. Rigol would probably be out except for the hackability factor.

Also if I've left out a scope in the under $450 USD range, let me know.

I found PCE and Xytron scopes but they seem to be rebadged versions of other scopes that are sold only in certain parts of the world.

If you're wanting to know what I'll be using it for, strictly hobby level stuff. Microcontrollers, 555 timers, adding and subtracting capacitors, inductors, and maybe playing with sound. So I guess if that's it, really any scope would do, but I'm always up for a good value for the dollar.

[JuanPC]

I'm working on my own "value" formula for me that basically goes Price divided by Frequency divided by MS/s and that will get me the value indicator as far as raw functionality. (The lower, the better)

Then I will try to weigh that against screen size and res, and the other value added items (LAN, RS-232, VGA etc...
If you're wanting to know what I'll be using it for, strictly hobby level stuff. Microcontrollers, 555 timers, adding and subtracting capacitors, inductors, and maybe playing with sound. So I guess if that's it, really any scope would do, but I'm always up for a good value for the dollar.

i think you need to add more variables to your equation.... to be accurate.
guarantee, menu jump around factor, internal clock stability, stability/accuracy when measuring a 10MHz rubidium standard, FTT performance, dual trigger, probe 10x precision,
just to name a few...

also there are other brands like UNI-T,.

Bigger Screen without accuracy, speed or enough DSP is useless, 
for starters,
 think what´s the maximum SQR wave frequency you will be measuring, PWM from a Scanner? CNC Machine? Digital Audio? etc...

multiply that by x20 & thats your scope Miniumum requirement.
also more Real GSa/s the better.

memory is a controversial topic, More the better, but some times less is more.

for example:
s/pdif at 192khz goes at >6MHz = 120MHz scope.
FM Radio 110MHz, BUT FM Radio is NOT SQUARE waves, = for Sine a x2 should work, Nyquist minimum 220MHz scope, but more is better.

Those 555 can go really fast.
also there are other factors like Rise Time, if you really need to measure accurate Rise&Fall Times, you need a really fast Scope >500MHz has 0.7ns, 350MHz has 1ns, etc...
going cheap on BW is not a good idea.
if you need to detect digital glitchs, you need a fast wms/s, Agilent dsox3k has 1M, almost all others are under 100k waveforms per second, and cheap scopes are too slow.
...

is not all about value, it´s about what works.

[Stonent]

Yeah I know, I actually do have more variables but I haven't been able to give them values yet.
But I will also say, yes, I know I don't know enough to even be making informed decisions outside of paper specs.

I will dig in more as I start to narrow things down. Hopefully eventually add chipset into my calculations.

[Stonent]

Oh thanks for reminding me of Uni-T. I found a 100Mhz scope that's currently tied now with the Atten using my unscientific score. However I can't find the screen resolution mentioned anywhere. I'm guessing it's going to be 480x234 as all the 7" scopes seem to be that resolution.

[Stonent]

So what's a go/no-go software feature I should be looking for?
Probably a good chance the OWON scopes are out of the running due to Dave's recent bad review of one of their ones that was even higher end than what I'm looking for.

Also I've published my read-only spreadsheet if anyone noticed a correction that needs to be made, please let me know.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnnYGMOtVmrVdFZrT19PR1ZTOTFKSHFzZFBpT3hiTmc&usp=sharing

The areas below the main list part were just scratch areas where I've got a few scopes that didn't make the main list because of lack of details and below that is my attempt to create a value based on screen.

[tinhead]

The Tekway gets the best over all value, but is the most expensive.

right, typical price is something 330EUR so $429 for Tekway DST1062B (or Voltcraft DSO-1062D).

However, right now there are some Hantek DSO5062B for $329 and DSO5101B (100MHz bw) models for $334 on ebay, that is dirt cheap.


There is another model, with 24kpoint memory (but latest hw) for $220, look for Hantek DSO5072P