Unlock the Siglent SDS804X-HD for higher bandwith and other features or not?

[Kabala]

I am a electronics hobbyist, and I dont have access to highly advanced and expensive instruments like 15k+ oscilloscopes and signal generators. I really cant justify buying a 15k oscilloscope. This week I bought my first oscilloscope.

Oscilloscopes like the Rigol  DS1054Z has been around for years, and multiple ways are available to unlock higher bandwith and other functions in this oscilloscope. Often beyond what the oscilloscope is intended for it seems. The Siglent 800X-HD series seems to be the latest hit, and is quite easy to unlock.

My question is; how precise are these 50/70MHz standard oscilloscopes when the 100MHz option is unlocked/jailbreak compared to more expensive oscilloscopes which are intended for the 100/200Mhz bandwith?

And, will the 70MHz probes be able to handle 100MHz, and if so, what is the deviance/error in measurement? I dont mind buying better probes, but the math is kinda obvious; then buy  a better scope with 100MHz probes included, the price will be the same.

I just bought the Siglent SDS804X-HD and so far I have no need to go beyond 70MHz but I am very curious - is it worth it to unlock it or not? A am very new at this, sorry if this has been asked before or if it is a stupid question. I was brought up to believe that the only stupid question was the question not asked 

Kind regards, Knut

[Antonio90]

Whether it is worth to unlock it or not is your call. The oscilloscope is not jailbroken, valid keys are installed.
You need to assess the risk/reward of losing warranty (or part of the warranty). If you don't need the higher bandwidth/memory depth, maybe wait a bit, if the scope is going to fail, it will most likely fail in the first few months.

As per the performance, at least with this scope it should be the same as the higher models from the same series, as long as the same probes are used.
And yes, the difference in cost isn't really that big when the better probes are factored in. Also, I find it unlikely that you will be using standard passive probes at over 150MHz, as the impedance is already around 60 Ohms, and most circuits will not work properly with that kind of load.

[BillyGo]

The Siglent's 70Mhz prob might look cheap but surprisingly could handle around 250Mhz

Also unlock higher bandwidth will unlock the 100M memory from 50M. I noticed the waveform update rate was reduced under 100M compared with 10M in setting, not sure if it's less affected when it used to be 50M

[KungFuJosh]

It's not a 70MHz scope being magically pushed to 200MHz. It's a 200MHz scope that was locked down to 70MHz. Quality will not be degraded, but you may see more HF noise as a result of the higher bandwidth. That's what the channel filters are for (for example, 20M).

Upgrading with the script keys shouldn't effect your warranty since it generates valid keys for the device. Just don't go advertising how that came about.

[coromonadalix]

just need to get higher bandwidth probes   ... i upgraded siglents ... all was fine 100 to 200Mhz,  but i ordered 200Mhz probes

[EvgenyG]

The Siglent's 70Mhz prob might look cheap but surprisingly could handle around 250Mhz

I've done some tests with Leo Bodnar GPSDO, the frequency counter works easily at 500Mhz and roughly up until 650Mhz , and scope triggers up to 780 Mhz, with significant signal degradation, but it triggers and counts!!! Proof attached.