makes no sense, you totaly misunderstand me.
No, read your comment, Mr. Sensible, nothing else. Read it yourself again ;-)
About sample rate, that is just what I was telling, so why the "no" ? For more details you want a higher sample rate, like why you need more BW for an analog scope. Just to see more details.
And? You argumented that sampe rate is reduced with a 4 channel scope against 2 channels - of course, and? As long as it is much higher than the bandwidth limit it don't care at all. 1 GS/s is still high enough even it would be for a 350MHz scope. So your argumentation against 4 channels is worthless.
I agree, buy Hameg or Agilent if you want a decade of use.
That was your initial statement and the one I'm related to. I've been in touch with Hameg in Germany many times during the last 4 years, a few bugfixes of the scope that have been made are the result of many error reports I've sent. I can tell you that neither Hameg nor Agilent or.... have less bugs than Rigol has (had/got). And you're comparing the low price units with mid price scopes - that's a fault. Especially the 8k Agilent at work has got a few bugs for years now - don't see that Agilent has fixed them. Where's the decade that you're talking about?
I had to sent my Hameg many times to the service since they had to fix some bugs and at last exchange some parts of the hardware to get the latest update running. I can guarantee that the DS4012 is much better regarding this issue than the HMO was - unfortunately! As a German I grew up with Hameg and I still appreciate their devices but as many other users I've also noticed that Rigol has made a giant step forward - and many users of their cheap models make the mistake to compare Agilent's or Hameg's of the mid price region with the cheap RIGOLs - that's a mistake. If you don't know the DS2000 or DS4000 series by using it than your initial statement is wrong - just that simple.
The new Rigols may be good, we will know in a few year. The problems on my Rigol started after 2 years. The knobs were flimsy hollow on a hollow shaft of aa encoder/potmeter. But mybe the Hameg is not durable too, i will tell you over a few year. Upto know I like it ( 2 channel HMO3522 350 MHz) one reason i took the 2 channel was i often need extern trigger and on the 2 channel that is on the front.
For that I don't need years. I study the device carefully and try to find bugs. Two of them I reported to their support in Munich and got an update the next day. Another bug I reported concerned the cursor measurement regarding long time signals where both cursors need more room than a display, i.e., measuring not only in display memory. It took a few month but suddendly I got a mail a few weeks ago - fixed the problem perfectly!
Concerning the quality of the hardware I would say that the knobs of the RIGOL are made from higher quality than the knobs of the HMOs. And again, you can't compare the DS2000/4000 series with the cheaper RIGOLs (1052/11xx).
By the way: the Rigol has got rubber foots and is absolutely skidproof opposed to my 5k HMO that I had to modify to protect it against skidding on my desk. Would say, the HMO has more details where they count, especially the bus decoding and better cursor measurement features, but even Hameg buys more or less the same parts for there scopes as RIGOL. Rather they try to use the cheaper parts to reduce costs in Europe.
And: I've also own the Rigol DSA815-TG and the DG1022A. I've bought the function generator after I've bought the expensive HMF from Hameg. The reason was fruststration about many firmware bugs of the HMF and bad signal quality of arbitrary signals at higher frequencies. I can guarantee that I was amazed when I checked the DG1022 for about 380,-€ against the HMF of more than 1000,-€. The HMI of the DG1022 is much better, the signal quality is much better, the built-in signals are more comprehensive - FOR LESS MONEY! Now buy a RIGOL of the 4000 series and compare what you get again for less money. On my desk at work I've got the Agilent 33220A arbitrary generator and even that device does not offer more or better features than the Rigols do.
I had to ship back the HMF a few times, at last because of burning effects of the display.
Yes, support is an issue. But what does the best support offer when firmware updates take too long? Then I'd rather buy a cheaper Chinese unit with less bugs from the beginning than waiting until I will retire! Or the more expensive manufacturers should try to solve there problems faster and more reliable.
Sorry, but quality is an issue of ANY device today. No reason against Rigol, and I wasn't always a friend of Chinese products - but of fair play.
And: I've understood very well what you've tried to explain, and I'm also not an Englishman.
As your neighbour from Germany I like Dutch people very much, so let's go on in a peaceful manner and restart without misunderstandings.
Kind regards
Gunb
So, calm down.