Author Topic: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?  (Read 3904 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline pcprogrammer

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 4669
  • Country: nl
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #25 on: February 17, 2023, 07:36:24 am »
I don't recall seeing any repair threads on this forum where users had to fix a broken Hantek, Owon, Siglent, or Rigol scope. Firmware hacking, modifications (e.g. encoder upgrades, quiet fans), sure -- but no repairs needed, it seems.

That is due to the fact that they mostly ask these questions in the hacking threads instead of starting new ones  :)

At least I have seen this happen for the FNIRSI scopes, but these are the bottom of the barrel ones.

Offline 2N3055

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7462
  • Country: hr
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #26 on: February 17, 2023, 08:35:41 am »

The scopes coming from the far east seem to be fine. Are they as reliable as a Keysight or a Tek? Of course not, but that's what you get for $500. As a guess, I'd expect 10 years of hobby use, or maybe 5 years of constant lab use.

Odds are the fault will be an encoder, PSU or display issue, and if you're so inclined, any of these is likely to be pretty fixable even without schematics. 


Odds are that, today, it will be more likely that big brand products will have problems and even built in planned obsolescence.    There are many threads from people repairing Keysight scope PSUs, FLASH data roth in Megazoom scopes etc..
Lecroy suitcase scopes had pretty bad reliability at one point...
Many big brands scopes had bad reliability, but that is usually forgotten because companies usually have maintenance contracts and it gets shrugged off as all is well that ends well...

And, funny enough, simple devices are going to be more reliable.

And also: Far East? Does that include Japan, that designed and made most reliable devices for HP in legendary days?
My brother had bad experience with his Peugeot.. All of them European cars are shit... Is that the reasoning..?

Truth is, China, for example, has better functioning space program than the rest of the world combined. And many other examples of premium quality industries. But it is a country that is larger in population than USA and EU combined. They have some manufacturers that established world class product lines and some small local companies that make cheap, questionable stuff that is just cringy. Like any other country. Generalization is not wrong here because it is not PC. It is simply factually wrong and not applicable.

Example of Chinese origin manufacturers that make good products and are global players are Siglent and Rigol. They both have global presence, HQ and support on all continents etc. They are real T&M manufacturers. They are world companies in truest sense.
If you buy something like Finrsi that comes from some unknown company from somewhere, it is not fact that it is from China that defines the quality. It is the manufacturer that is what it is.
"Just hard work is not enough - it must be applied sensibly."
Dr. Richard W. Hamming
 
The following users thanked this post: TomKatt

Offline Fungus

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 17518
  • Country: 00
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #27 on: February 17, 2023, 09:31:35 am »
Price/brand is no indicator of reliability, eg. Mercedes Benz make some of the least reliable cars.
 

Offline TomKatt

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 529
  • Country: us
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #28 on: February 17, 2023, 11:43:37 am »
My brother had bad experience with his Peugeot.. All of them European cars are shit... Is that the reasoning..?
Not sure that's the best example lol  :P

Quote from: Fungus
Price/brand is no indicator of reliability, eg. Mercedes Benz make some of the least reliable cars.

But I'd probably trust a European model over a Chrysler.  Oh, wait...  :-DD

Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a PICt
 

Offline 2N3055

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7462
  • Country: hr
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #29 on: February 17, 2023, 12:04:38 pm »
My brother had bad experience with his Peugeot.. All of them European cars are shit... Is that the reasoning..?
Not sure that's the best example lol  :P


That is exactly the example. People try and find cheapest shit from China and then complain about quality and say everything Chinese is bad..

It is about good or bad brands. Not countries.

Xiaomi phone I have is superb. Next one will be also be Xiaomi.. I couldn't care less if it is Chinese or not...
"Just hard work is not enough - it must be applied sensibly."
Dr. Richard W. Hamming
 

Offline TomKatt

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 529
  • Country: us
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #30 on: February 17, 2023, 12:08:03 pm »
I agree you have a valid point.

I guess I was trying to say I'd trust a good Chinese product over the average European car  :P

Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a PICt
 
The following users thanked this post: 2N3055

Offline 2N3055

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7462
  • Country: hr
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #31 on: February 17, 2023, 12:09:45 pm »
I agree you have a valid point.

I guess I was trying to say I'd trust a good Chinese product over the average European car  :P

Exactly my point  :-+
"Just hard work is not enough - it must be applied sensibly."
Dr. Richard W. Hamming
 

Offline BillyO

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1847
  • Country: ca
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #32 on: February 17, 2023, 12:38:19 pm »
All of them European cars are shit...
Pretty much.   :-DD
Bill  (Currently a Siglent fanboy)
--------------------------------------------------
 

Offline pcprogrammer

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 4669
  • Country: nl
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #33 on: February 17, 2023, 02:25:51 pm »
All of them European cars are shit...
Pretty much.   :-DD

Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Spyker, ....

Offline TomKatt

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 529
  • Country: us
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #34 on: February 17, 2023, 02:43:11 pm »
Traded in my 13 year old Honda with 335K miles a few years ago...  Ran like a champ except muffler was shot.  Got $3,700.

Seems like I've seen a few year old BMW's, Jags etc with 100K or less miles go for less  :P   Germany seems to be a bit better, but all you hear is their electronics are rubbish.

Most of our CNC equipment is Italian...  Actually fairly reliable but a PITA to service because all the diagnostic stuff is in Italian and you need Google translate to understand it.
Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a PICt
 

Offline BillyO

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1847
  • Country: ca
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #35 on: February 17, 2023, 04:12:03 pm »
Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Spyker, ....
Ahh yes, the poster boys of reliability and longevity!  I think you can actually get 2000km on the average Lamborghini before it needs a $175,000 re-build.  Oil changes cost about $1,800 and you need them weekly ..

Great cars!

(I am exaggerating, but no by much..)
Bill  (Currently a Siglent fanboy)
--------------------------------------------------
 

Offline pcprogrammer

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 4669
  • Country: nl
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #36 on: February 17, 2023, 04:14:59 pm »
Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Spyker, ....
Ahh yes, the poster boys of reliability and longevity!  I think you can actually get 2000km on the average Lamborghini before it needs a $175,000 re-build.  Oil changes cost about $1,800 and you need them weekly ..

Great cars!

(I am exaggerating, but no by much..)

Best to buy a Volvo then  :-DD

Offline TomKatt

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 529
  • Country: us
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #37 on: February 17, 2023, 04:20:03 pm »
Circling back on topic a bit, I'll go out on a limb and predict that a cheap Owon scope will outlast any of the car brands recently mentioned  :P
Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a PICt
 

Offline pcprogrammer

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 4669
  • Country: nl
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #38 on: February 17, 2023, 04:42:50 pm »
I have my doubts. 14-20 years is a long time for cheap electronics.

These cheap scopes can arrive broken at your doorstep for that matter. Happened with the first FNIRSI 1013D I bought. There was an issue with the touch screen. Basically the reason I landed on this forum  >:D

But for only 25 euro (35 after replacing the touchscreen and glass panel I broke) it brought me many hours of fun.  :-+

Offline mikeselectricstuff

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 14117
  • Country: gb
    • Mike's Electric Stuff
Re: Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
« Reply #39 on: February 17, 2023, 04:47:05 pm »
Once out of warranty, power supply is probablty the most likely failure, and that will usually be dried caps, so a simple fix, so I wouldn't have many concerns about longevity
Youtube channel:Taking wierd stuff apart. Very apart.
Mike's Electric Stuff: High voltage, vintage electronics etc.
Day Job: Mostly LEDs
 


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf