first time buyers oscilloscope analysis paralysis help!!!!!

[Fungus]

Question: Which of the two has the "slow" user interface? 

Both are slow. The GW Instek GDS1054B wins this contest hands down because it has the best from both: a fast CPU under the hood like the Siglent and two rows of buttons which make setting it up quick like the Rigol.

All roads still lead to GW-Instek, but nobody seems to own one. Riddle me that... 

OK, for a long time it was missing some "essential" features. Then somebody figured out a) The firmware is modular and b) you can copy the modules from high-end GW-Insteks onto low-end models and they'll work. Suddenly it had serial decoders, etc. It still doesn't seem to have gained much traction though.

Edit: Also separate controls for each channel...

[nctnico]

Question: Which of the two has the "slow" user interface? 

Both are slow. The GW Instek GDS1054B wins this contest hands down because it has the best from both: a fast CPU under the hood like the Siglent and two rows of buttons which make setting it up quick like the Rigol.

All roads still lead to GW-Instek, but nobody seems to own one. Riddle me that... 

There are quite a few forum members who own one. Even Dave2 has one on his bench. It is just that GW Instek doesn't seem to do much in terms of marketing so they are easely overlooked. They probably sell enough through their existing sales channels. Look at how much GW Instek gear got onto the market when a large school in the US went bankcrupt a couple of years ago.

[Fungus]

There are quite a few forum members who own one. Even Dave2 has one on his bench.

IIRC Dave2 has a mid-range model though.

If I had to replace my DS1054Z today I'd be looking at the GW-Instek.

[Fungus]

If I had to replace my DS1054Z today I'd be looking at the GW-Instek.

Although ... getting hold of one is a problem. TME wants 500 Euros, Batronix don't even do them.

Where would a European buy one at a sensible price?

[2N3055]

While GW Instek is a good brand and their little 1000 scope has better processor and therefore better performance of U/I, it still has only one 1GS/s converter (so same problems as DS1000Z), doesn't have segmented memory, and no decodes.
While you can hack it (they say), for 100€ less you get SDS1104X-E that has two 1GS/s converters, is 100MHz, and decoders included with no hacking needed. It also has FRA if you have a siggen from them. So no, little Instek is nice but not a great deal.

OTOH GW 2000E series are great scopes, but much more expensive..But I would buy them instead of Keysight 1000/2000 series in a heartbeat, on a merit of being better instruments..

[Fungus]

While GW Instek is a good brand and their little 1000 scope has better processor and therefore better performance of U/I,

Not just faster UI, better UI - separate channel controls, separate button for the twisty knob, better UI design overall

it still has only one 1GS/s converter (so same problems as DS1000Z), doesn't have segmented memory, and no decodes.

It's all about trade-offs. I'd happily trade the 2GS/s converter for the better UI, and as noted earlier, it's been hacked to add decodes, etc.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/possible-gw-instek-gds-1000b-hack/

[TK]

I had the GW-Instek GDS-1054B.  UI is responsive but I sold it because I did not like 2 things about it:

1) Serial decode and segmented memory is only available when hacked... no support whatsoever from GW-Instek because they are non-existent features for them.  When hacked, I was able to measure >200MHz

2) The graphics looks more like an OWON scope rather than the KS, Rigol or Siglent.  The trace and characters are coarse like inherited from a lower resolution LCD of the past.