New Siglent SDS1104X-E with 4 Year Old Build Date

[2XL]

Edit:
I just realized that the calibration date that I cited in my OP was just an "example date" shown on the back of the certificate for demonstating how to determine when the unit should be calibrated next.  This was not the actual date that my unit was calibrated!  My unit was actually calibrated in October 2022 as shown on the other side of the certicicate. This explains everthing.  Perhaps they could make this a little clearer by not putting your unit's serial number next to the example data.  Oh well.  Mystery solved.    


Original Post:
Hi,
After much deliberations I finally purchased the Siglent SDS1104X-E as recommened by many people on this forum.  I purchased it brand new on Amazon in the US.  Amazon was the seller and shipper and the box looked like had never been opened.  Inside the box the unit looked factory wrapped and there was a calibration paper saying the unit was calibrated on 2019-06-17.  Today is 2023-02-24.  That means this scope is almost 4 years old! 

I'm wondering if I should be concerned that this scope has been sitting in a warhouse for this long?  Caps dry dry out, the design may have been updated since then, unknown storage conditions for this long, etc...? 

Should I keep this unit or send it back?  At the very least the unit needs to be recalibrated (accoring to the claibrations sheet), and I dont know how/where to do that.  What do you guys think?

Thank you.

[JeremyC]

Hi,
After much deliberations I finally purchased the Siglent SDS1104X-E as recommened by many people on this forum.  I purchased it brand new on Amazon in the US.  Amazon was the seller and shipper and the box looked like had never been opened.  Inside the box the unit looked factory wrapped and there was a calibration paper saying the unit was calibrated on 2019-06-17.  Today is 2023-02-24.  That means this scope is almost 4 years old! 

I'm wondering if I should be concerned that this scope has been sitting in a warhouse for this long?  Caps dry dry out, the design may have been updated since then, unknown storage conditions for this long, etc...? 

Should I keep this unit or send it back?  At the very least the unit needs to be recalibrated (accoring to the claibrations sheet), and I dont know how/where to do that.  What do you guys think?

Thank you.

I would send the scope back to Amazon and order from Siglent authorized reseller in the US.
You may ask @Tautech for discount code and if you purchase from Saelig you may get 6% off.

[2XL]

I just realized that the calibration date that I cited in my OP was just an "example date" shown on the back of the certificate for demonstating how to determine when the unit should be calibrated next.  This was not the actual date that my unit was calibrated!  My unit was actually calibrated in October 2022 as shown on the other side of the certicicate. This explains everthing.  Perhaps they could make this a little clearer by not putting your unit's serial number next to the example data.  Oh well.  Mystery solved.    

[argile_tile]

It's not unusual.  Every brand you will see "new units" who's initial release date was years ago.

Scope makers don't "refresh" their stock continually like PC makers do.  And even PC makers don't have new releases yearly.

[TomKatt]

I would send the scope back to Amazon and order from Siglent authorized reseller in the US.
You may ask @Tautech for discount code and if you purchase from Saelig you may get 6% off.

I personally prefer to purchase from authorized distributors whenever possible for support, but like the OP I didn't know better at the time and purchased from Amazon US.  The unit I received seemed recent manufacture and I've had no problems with it.

It seems that somehow Amazon is typically a few $ less than the prevailing price offered by other retailers, I'd estimate that is pretty near the 6% discount code.  So in the end the discount just levels the playing field. EDIT - I note Amazon is selling with a 7% discount including free shipping (currently $464.57)

Question - even if the scope was purchased through Amazon, wouldn't official Siglent warranty and support still apply?  I can appreciate you're likely to get a bit more 'personal' service if you purchased the scope through 'official' channels, but you'd think Siglent would still support products distributed through Amazon?

[2N3055]

It's not unusual.  Every brand you will see "new units" who's initial release date was years ago.

Scope makers don't "refresh" their stock continually like PC makers do.  And even PC makers don't have new releases yearly.

Wrong.
And read what OP wrote, it was a false alarm. He misread dates...

If you buy Siglent from authorized dealer you won't get 4 year old scope. Period...
They sell all the stuff quickly and work hard to keep up with demand.

If they had old or used or demo scope they would sell it through their outlet and much lower price and with full disclosure..

I believe Rigol would be same.

These are not some small companies in garage. They are multimillion dollar global companies with global HQ in EU and USA. In these markets they provide support and warranty for their products on par with A brands..

And go complaint to Keysight and Tektronix, they are still selling new scopes that are based on designed released more than 10 years ago..
And that is not even a bad thing. Scopes are not gaming PCs. Good scope last year is still good scope. It is not like laws of physics about electricity changed in meantime.

[TomKatt]

And go complaint to Keysight and Tektronix, they are still selling new scopes that are based on designed released more than 10 years ago..

If I understand correctly from a few posts on the forums here, Keysight doesn't offer support to individual consumers - only to commercial businesses.   So you pay the premium for their name, and they won't even assist you after the sale unless you can prove you are a commercial entity...