Hello tmntr,
It's been 3 weeks since I received my Siglent SDS1204X-E to replace the DS1102Z-E that I sent back to Rigol.
I bought it from an authorized Siglent dealer not far from my home, unlike the Rigol which came from Germany. This proximity seems important to me following my bad experience with the DS1102Z-E.
It is difficult to compare these 2 scopes, 4 channels against 2, 200MHz against 100, and other functions that do not exist on the Rigol (hence the significant price difference).
With the Siglent, there is no loss of luminosity, even during the displacement of the traces on the screen and even with the time base at 5ns unlike the Rigol. This is normal operation.
The action on the buttons and encoders is immediate. The Siglent encoders have a normal sensitivity unlike those of the Rigol and mainly the one that adjusts the brightness of the screen on the Rigol. Since the years that this scope exists, Rigol could have improved it even if some defects can never be solved.
Having used a digital Tektro for many years, the faults of the Rigol DS1102Z-E bothered me a lot.
The Siglent has an integrated http server which allows it to be controlled and to export the traces. It saved me from developing software in C# as I had been able to do for my Rigol and my Tektro.
I recognize that this Rigol DS1102Z-E has an interesting performance/price ratio and should be suitable for many amateurs who are not too demanding.
So why this Siglent? How can you be sure that it corresponds to what is expected of this device?
The best is to know a user to have his objective opinion. And in case of acquisition, to have a period (normally 15 days) to try it and in case of dissatisfaction to send it back and get a refund.
In short, I am delighted with the purchase of this SIglent SDS1204X-E scope, I do not regret this change of oscilloscope, even with a price difference of almost 3 times.