$3k USD 4CH Scopes

[wavy]

Hi,

Had an old DPO2004B kick the bucket at work. Replacement/repair was quoted for ~3k USD so I think it’s best to get a more modern offering. Looking for any recommendations (4CH, min 70MHz).

I’ve peeked around the forums and some product lines, I came to these four offerings so far:

R&S RTB2004
KS DSOX2014A
Siglent SDS2354X Plus/SDS2104X HD
Rigol HDO series

From my understanding the Siglent/Rigol are the newer offerings and may have bugs, whereas the R&S/KS are more established.

[Martin72]

Ah,  time...

Welcome to the forum!

From my understanding the Siglent/Rigol are the newer offerings and may have bugs, whereas the R&S/KS are more established.

They are the very new offerings as they are coming up in june/september this year..
Sure they aren´t free of bugs, never get a total bug free scope in it´s first time of appearance.
But they may have things you´ll need the other two doesn´t have.
It´s always a matter of what you need and which model comes more closer to this.

[nctnico]

Tektronix has a new 2 series as well that could be interesting.

What is suitable really depends on what kind of usage so without knowing that, it is hard to tell. My personal experience is to stick with the A-brands for demanding use cases.

[2N3055]

Keysight 2000A series is seriously less capable even compared to many scopes from 1000 series.
It is not even close to the rest of mentioned scopes.
But it has stability because it is more than 10 years old platform. Very stable but seriously outdated.
I would skip that personally. Too much money for weak scope with big brand on it.

R&S RTB 2000 is platform that is also quite new and it has no more or less bugs than Siglent SDS2354X Plus/SDS2104X HD series.
Siglent SDS2354X Plus is 8bit(but less noise than RTB2000), RTB2000 is 10 bits, SDS2104X HD is 12 bits and lowest noise of the group.
Some people like RTB2000 GUI better, some like Siglent's just fine.

Rigol new HDO series seems to have respectable noise and resolution (for a change) but is literally just released. It still seems not to be feature complete and stability is anybody's guess. Probably will take at least few months to get stable, because even R&S needed almost a year before you could say RTB2000 was production quality. Maybe Rigol will get there sooner? I don't know.

If you can try using them before making decision. Come back here and ask specific targeted questions. Make a list of priorities and make a decision.

[tautech]

Hi,

Had an old DPO2004B kick the bucket at work. Replacement/repair was quoted for ~3k USD so I think it’s best to get a more modern offering.
Siglent SDS2354X Plus/SDS2104X HD

If you had all $3k available 2 units SDS2104X Plus would be a darn fine choice.
Dual 2 GSa/s ADC's each with 200 MPts mem depth, 10" touch and mouse capable display and right now there's a MSO promotion on these for just $219 that includes FG, LA options and the SPL2016 LA probe HW.
https://siglentna.com/news-article/save-up-to-538-with-a-new-sds2000x-plus-oscilloscope-and-option-bundle/

If you selected just 1 unit to uptake the promo you'd go just $20 over the $3k.

[bdunham7]

If you are just looking to get the same work done wihout any fuss or learning curve and are not interested in bang-for-buck, the Tek TBS2000B series are actually pretty nice IMO.  Nowhere hear the feature set of something like the Siglent SDS2104X+ (which is half the price) but that's not all that matters in many contexts.  So it depends a lot on what you are doing and who is doing it.  I personally have the Siglent because I'm the only user, I'm willing to deal with any issues it may have (which have been minimal for me) to get the greatly expanded abilities.  But also have a Tek TPS-series and it is definitely easier and quicker to use, mostly because it is so basic.

[tv84]

If you had all $3k available 2 units SDS2104X Plus would be a darn fine choice.

Damn! I hadn't seen tautech bet on quantities... That's a new angle!!   

I wonder if he had $6k... 

[Fungus]

If it's for "at work" then the new Tektronix 2 series makes a lot of sense.

https://www.tek.com/en/products/oscilloscopes/2-series-mso

There's a 70MHz, 4-channel version that fits the budget.

(unless you need a lot of extras)

[2N3055]

If it's for "at work" then the new Tektronix 2 series makes a lot of sense.

There's a 70MHz, 4-channel version that fits the budget.

(unless you need a lot of extras)

Yes because we all know that for work people should buy scopes with least capability and lowest possible BW form a big brand because for work scope is not really needed, it's there to look cool..
Hobby users on the other hand should buy advanced analytic scopes with multi gigahertz bandwidth because they really need that... 

Jokes on the side, big brand is no guarantee of anything these days.

Despite saying Tek on the case, new Tek 2 is as different to his old scope as Siglent SDS2000X+ or R&S RTB2000.
And it is scope that was released a month ago in state less finished than new Rigol released a week ago. At least Rigol looks feature complete..

But I wouldn't recommend nor new Rigol nor new Tek 2 to someone for work at this time. Especially based on not even seeing one in person but based on what, a video from Dave? Not a critique of videos, they are fine. It's just not enough to give someone recommendation. There are too much unknowns. How would you know they are fine and will fit OP purpose?

[Fungus]

How would you know they are fine and will fit OP purpose?

How would you know they aren't?

Maybe his boss only buys "Made in the USA". 

[bdunham7]

Despite saying Tek on the case, new Tek 2 is as different to his old scope as Siglent SDS2000X+ or R&S RTB2000.
And it is scope that was released a month ago in state less finished than new Rigol released a week ago. At least Rigol looks feature complete..

The worst thing that could happen to Tek would be for a long-time Tek user to buy a Tek 2, not like it or need some feature that it doesn't have (yet) and then buy a Siglent and have it work fine.  The TBS2000B series is a known quantity, has VPITek and looks conventional and professional.  I recommended it because I'm quite sure that the OP and crew won't be disappointed, even if they miss out on all the features they could have for $3K spent elsewhere.

How would you know they aren't?

Maybe his boss only buys "Made in the USA". 

I believe that the reviews from Dave and Shahriar both mention some features not being included or complete yet.  I don't remember the details, but I think the logic channels were one example.

Are they made in the USA?  Other scopes, like the $6K TPS series, are made in China.  TEquipment lists the country of origin as China. 

[Fungus]

I believe that the reviews from Dave and Shahriar both mention some features not being included or complete yet.

That was months ago. Maybe they're there now.

It's all going to depend on the size of the company, how many 'Teks they already own, their relationship (or not) with a Tek rep., all sorts of other factors.

You can't possibly argue that Tek is the wrong choice without that info.

[bdunham7]

You can't possibly argue that Tek is the wrong choice without that info.

I can (and should) avoid making recommendations without that information and more.  The Tek that I did recommend is a well established model that I've seen in person and even used a bit. 

[nctnico]

The TBS2000B series is a known quantity, has VPITek and looks conventional and professional.  I recommended it because I'm quite sure that the OP and crew won't be disappointed, even if they miss out on all the features they could have for $3K spent elsewhere.

Really, your pulling our tit aren’t you ?
My now busted TDS2102B gets it arse kicked by a $ 500 SDS1104X-E !

Who on earth would consider such an outdated and overpriced instrument today ? 

The Tektronix TBS2000 series are very nice oscilloscopes to use. And you can be sure that it actually works as advertised and thus be confident with the measurement results even in the hands of less experienced people. The latter is extremely important in a commercial settings. Having people chasing their own tails because the measurement results don't make sense can add up to huge costs due to lost hours.

[nctnico]

You are not reading careful enough. It is about TBS2k series not TDS2k series!

[2N3055]

I believe that the reviews from Dave and Shahriar both mention some features not being included or complete yet.

That was months ago. Maybe they're there now.

It's all going to depend on the size of the company, how many 'Teks they already own, their relationship (or not) with a Tek rep., all sorts of other factors.

You can't possibly argue that Tek is the wrong choice without that info.

Maybe they didn't do squat.. You don't know squat either. You give recommendations for something you have no information about.
You never tried it and you think maybe it is or not. That is not responsible way to do. Just saying.
I wouldn't do that. Not if I can't personally vouch for it. You must be more brave than me.

Again, the new Tek 2 series scope Dave recently tested is so different to scope OP used that he can buy any other brand touchscreen scope whatsoever. Learning curve is going to be same. If he really insists it has to be big brand then R&S RTB2000 is tons of more scope than that new Tek2. For similar money.

Also I see you didn't understand Nico. Nico suggested TBS2000B series to OP, not that new touchscreen.

And what he said makes kinda sense: that is an old school scope that will be functional replacement for OPs old one. OP will have to do minimal learning because that scope is very old school and it will be instantly familiar. And most importantly Nico has one. Uses it on daily basis. He said many times it is very basic scope but drives well and is very solid.  Thinking about it more, I think that might be the best recommendation to OP, unless OP wants to grow and get something more powerful. In which case Tek is not on the list... Nor Keysight. Not in that price range.

Thinking about it even more, from fancy name crew, only R&S has something remotely competitive to Rigol and Siglent lately in that segment, after they (R&S) dropped prices a bit in last few years..

[BillyO]

Maybe his boss only buys "Made in the USA". 

That would effectively eliminate anything from Tek, Agillent, R&S, etc..

If I had $3K to spend on a new scope for work I'd get a Siglent SDS2104X Plus and "improve" it.  With the extra cash I'd get 4 good quality 500Mhz probes, as a back-up I'd get a Siglent SDS1104X-E and improve it too, then follow up with a SDG1032X-E (also improved).  Then with the $500 left over I'd throw a nice little team building event for the guys or if that was not an option go with a Siglent SDM3055.

An alternative plan would be the SDS2104X +, the 4 probes, an SDG2042X and a SDM3065X (improvements where applicable).

[2N3055]

Maybe his boss only buys "Made in the USA". 

That would effectively eliminate anything from Tek, Agillent, R&S, etc..

If I had $3K to spend on a new scope for work I'd get a Siglent SDS2104X Plus and "improve" it.  With the extra cash I'd get 4 good quality 500Mhz probes, as a back-up I'd get a Siglent SDS1104X-E and improve it too, then follow up with a SDG1032X-E (also improved).  Then with the $500 left over I'd throw a nice little team building event for the guys or if that was not an option go with a Siglent SDM3055.

An alternative plan would be the SDS2104X +, the 4 probes, an SDG2042X and a SDM3065X (improvements where applicable).

Scratch R&S from the list. Made in EU...

[tautech]

You are not reading careful enough. It is about TBS2k series not TDS2k series!

Thanks, tided posts up some.....

[Grandchuck]

Just ran across this and thought I'd ask if anyone (tautech?) has a feeling about a possible good (significant) sale price coming up for the SDS2000X HD?

[Martin72]

The price has already been significantly reduced, it is hard to imagine that it will fall even lower.

https://www.tequipment.net/Siglent/SDS2104X-HD/Digital-Oscilloscopes/

[tautech]

Just ran across this and thought I'd ask if anyone (tautech?) has a feeling about a possible good (significant) sale price coming up for the SDS2000X HD?

There has been a price reduction and these are also on promo

[roy_eedreku]

Hi. I have been eyeing this scope for a while. Just wondering how much has the price reduced? I have been seeing it for $2625 for a while. Is that still the reduced price? Also, do you know how long the promo is going to last? Thank you!

[tautech]

Hi. I have been eyeing this scope for a while. Just wondering how much has the price reduced? I have been seeing it for $2625 for a while. Is that still the reduced price? Also, do you know how long the promo is going to last? Thank you!

Old price list not available on holiday.
Promos extended
https://int.siglent.com/info/detail-74.html