GDS-2000A series New economic oscilloscope by GW Instek comes to market

[Chalky]

Is it a real issue beyond looking ugly? For accurate readings you have to use the cursors anyway, trying to count pixels doesn't really work. The display issues could be solved by using anti-aliasing, but the used chipsets may not be up for that.

Yep, agree 100% - it is exactly a display issue.  Enough to put me off buying though - I'm upgrading from typical 320x240.  Agree, you wouldn't pixel count!  Cheers.

[marmad]

Yep, agree 100% - it is exactly a display issue.  Enough to put me off buying though - I'm upgrading from typical 320x240.  Agree, you wouldn't pixel count!  Cheers.

But displays on oscilloscopes (both digital AND analog) are always imperfect devices. There is always 'interpolation' between the real sampled signal and the output. On the Rigol Ultravision series, the actual screen area used for waveform display is 700x400 pixels - so you can imagine what happens with 8-bit data translated for full-screen output. Honestly, I would never rely on the displayed data for the best precision - if you want the most accurate data your DSO can produce, you need to stop it running and save/read the actual voltage levels in the sample memory for processing.

[Chalky]

First of all you can't simply take a unknown pictures from unknown setups and compare them.

Attached pictures from Tekway/Hantek, screen_1.png shows a typical screenshot, here with avg. wave. We can perfectly see
the 2x2 pixels when we zoom (screen_1_zoomed).png <- i've made a small scale so you can count pixels, one DIV is 50pix high.
But simply let snap that what the DSO is capable to do -> screen_1.png which is a noisy waveform. Can you see the diff
in the zoomed picture ? So yes, Tekway/Hantek can do 1x1 pixels on the screen.

Thanks Tinhead, that's really good to see - shame they didn't choose to draw all the waveforms in 1x1 or 2x2, would have looked a lot cleaner!  Good stuff, thank you.

[marmad]

Well, do you think that Rigol is better than GW Instek?

Hard to say. The Instek 'looks' very nice (on paper) but I'd want to get my hands on one to test it. The Rigol DS2000, while it does have bugs in the firmware which need to be fixed, is a powerful, feature-laden DSO which I've actualy used.

[marmad]

There will be a trade fair in my city... http://www.amper.cz/ The Micronix company will probably display GW Instek products there.

You should definitely go check it out if you can. IF you do go, check the following: with the 3000 series, it appears (in some photos and videos) as if there is plastic installed in front of the LCD which causes bad reflections at certain angles or lighting conditions - check if the 2000A has the same thing.

One other point: as bad as Rigol seems to be sometimes in terms of customer support, etc. it appears as if GW-Instek is even more inept. So whichever DSO you end up buying, make sure you get it through a dealer who you trust to handle any problems. If you do decide to go with Rigol, I recommend www.silcon.cz . Maybe he can offer you a special rate as EEVBlog member 

[Hydrawerk]

Well, the GDS-3000 series has a protective plastic installed in front of the LCD, I saw it personally on an expo a few years ago. It is not bad... But this scope is too expensive for me, it has what the hell only 25kpts per channel and unspecified waveform update rate...

Then, there is a scope shop 30 minutes from my house... And it has been there for a long time. http://www.elexbrno.cz/detail.php?proId=710&secId=182 Not sure if I would buy from silcon.cz...

[marmad]

Well, the GDS-3000 series has a protective plastic installed in front of the LCD, I saw it personally on an expo a few years ago. It is not bad... But this scope is too expensive for me, it has what the hell only 25kpts per channel and unspecified waveform update rate...

My point was, based on the images I've seen,  the 2000A looks like the same case design - probably has the same plastic. If so, I don't like it.

Then, there is a scope shop 30 minutes from my house... And it has been there for a long time. Not sure if I would buy from silcon.cz...

Your decision, of course. I bought from silcon - not because of the distance from my house (I live in NL) - but because I believe the owner is the foremost expert on all things Rigol on this forum - and considering the breadth and depth of the knowledge on this board - that's saying a lot. Plus I got a good deal from him

[marmad]

In case it wasn't clear what a faster waveform update rate means, it's simple: the concept is similar to the movie player   

[Hydrawerk]

According to the manual, this GW scope doesn't have the Hi-res mode, it is always 8-bit. The Rigol DS2000 series is 12-bit when timebase > 5us/div.

[Hydrawerk]

It seems that GDS-2000A has no fine vertical resolution setting, no "Vernier".

[EEVblog]

It seems that GDS-2000A has no fine vertical resolution setting, no "Vernier".

Seriously? 

Dave.

[Hydrawerk]

Yes, Vernier is probably not there. I have read the manual.

[Hydrawerk]

Instek makes nice oscilloscopes, and everything is fine as long as they work. They let us badly down when we needed to get one repaired. (...)

We scraped the oscilloscope and blacklisted Instek.

Well, please, what was the exact type of the Instek oscilloscope? And who was your reseller? Do you live in USA, or Europe?

[cybergibbons]

I wonder if this GW Instek is better made and if it has less bugs than Rigol DS2000... Who knows?
GW Instek is a company founded in 1975 with quite good raputation... http://www.gwinstek.com/en/Brandorigin_0.aspx

Instek makes nice oscilloscopes, and everything is fine as long as they work. They let us badly down when we needed to get one repaired. They pointed to the distributor we bought from (authorized and all that), who wasn't at all equipped to service the oscilloscope and shipped the oscilloscope to yet another distributor who also failed to service it. From there it went to a third distributor, still not a real repair workshop. The couldn't even come up with a cost estimate. Month later it was returned unrepaired to the first distributor who returned it unrepaired to us. And in the end we were blamed for dareing we asked to get it repaired, and the first distributor had the galls to bill the shipping costs for that desaster to us.

During all this Instek "support" in Taiwan couldn't care less. The showed the typical Asian attitude, going into stelth mode the moment there was a problem.

We scraped the oscilloscope and blacklisted Instek.

Who was your distributor? I used Aspen Electronics and they have been fine.

[Hydrawerk]

Well, if GW Instek sent Dave a GDS-2000A scope for teardown & review, they would sell more new units... Just like Rigol does. Does anybody here work at GW Instek?

[Hydrawerk]

I found a comparison picture.

[Hydrawerk]

There are some GDS-2000 videos, probably made by the manufacturer... https://www.youtube.com/user/gwinstek1975
But I miss an complete overview of all functions. They should learn from Dave. 

[offrds2]

When can we expect Dave to to a review or tear down the GDS-2000A scope. I'd like to know whats inside and the built quality. I have seen scopes look good on paper, but look and feel like toy (hantek/owon....).
It does not have to be a 40 minute review, maybe Dave can make a list or speadsheet of product reviews. It would also be interesting for Dave to teardown his own ucurrent. I am looking at getting a GDS-2204A if the quality/reviews are thumbs up.

[Hydrawerk]

Well, GW Instek should sent Dave one scope, that's for sure. 

[shadowcomputer]

Does anybody know if all models have the 80,000 waveform update rate? I read through the manual and didn't see where it says. I did notice however that the logic analyzer comes with I2C, SPI, and UART decoding only. Nothing else.

[Hydrawerk]

80,000 waveforms/s update rate seems too high, who knows what is reality. 

[offrds2]

I Guess this model is just to new for anyone to review or make comments on. What about the gds-3000 series should be the same build quality as the 2000 series. The quality of the boards, display, accuracy, switches, plastic housing. There got to be someone out there that has them right?

[Hydrawerk]

Well, the GDS-3000 series was released in 2011. It probably was not popular among hobbyists. The GDS-3000 was very expensive and had only 25kpoints per channel! It had unspecified waveform update rate. There are a few videos on youtube. Many of them might have been made by GW Instek employees or sellers. No owner video probably. youtube

And there is already a thread, but no review yet. https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/looking-for-a-instek-gds-3000-series-scope-review/15/

[Hydrawerk]

I went to a trade fair to see the GDS-2000A in action. Now just briefly. The scope looks really good, the LCD is bright and has wide viewing angle. Photos and screenshots here: https://plus.google.com/photos/106264218831814439783/albums/5857196858625060337
It has many useful features. It can perform 8 automatic measurements and cursors at the same time. The scope is easy to use.

Two minor bugs, maybe??
The set/clear button often does not work. The scope displays "Not supported under this mode."
It was not possible to measure the waveform update rate. There might have been an internal problem in the GDS-2000A.
The guys at the stall could not solve these two problems. They said that a new firmware might fix these problems.
Anyway, I think that GDS-2000A is a well made product. It is normal to have a few bugs, when the instrument is brand new. I hope that it will be fixed soon.
(It is possible that I did something wrong, but I don't think so.)

[Hydrawerk]

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