On the budget LA: Kingst LA1010 vs DSLogic U2basic

[VSV_electron]

Hello, for my upcoming legacy 8bit MCU adventures (AT89C51, PIC16F887) I'm thinking of getting a simple but relatively reliable (in overall performance and quality) LA on a budget.
I've narrowed my choice down to these two basic models:

DSLogic U2basic https://aliexpress.com/item/4000386257930.html
Kingst LA1010 https://aliexpress.com/item/32780046572.html

Being completely new to the LA stuff (apart from watching a bunch of reviews on YT and reading some threads here on EEVBlog) I can't go deep into the analysis of their features so please advise which one would be more favorable in terms of overall performance and possibly reliability.

What I noticed is that while the Kingst LA1010 is fully supported on the official Kingst website the DS Logic U2Basic on the other hand is absent from the current models lineup of DSLogic. Are the ones still sold counterfeit or are they rather Old Stock units?

I understand that from the overall performance point of view the DSLogic U2basic is a more desirable device because it has 64Mbit RAM on board while the Kingst LA1010 is RAM-less.
I'm not sure whether that difference alone can steer me towards the DSLogic U2basic instead of Kingst LA1010 though.

Lastly, what I'm losing if I get an 8$ Saleae clone instead of either 60-80$ of the two above? Is ~10x the price difference worth it?

Please advise.

[RoGeorge]

If you must have one, then buy the cheap Saleae clone.

The others are OK, DSLogic is better AFAIK, just that in practice you'll almost never need a LA, you'll see.  I have a DSLogic and never use it. 

[ataradov]

Is ~10x the price difference worth it?

IMO, no. I have DSLogic U2basic and I never use it. There are probably cases when you absolutely want the fastest sampling rate and a lot of channels. But in most cases I much prefer simple continuous capture at a slower sample rate. Dealing with trigger setups is annoying for quick tests.

I would just start with $8 one and get a better unit once you know what you are actually missing. Especially for AT89C51 and PIC16F887 you are not going to need high sample rates.

[VSV_electron]

If you must have one, then buy the cheap Saleae clone.

The others are OK, DSLogic is better AFAIK, just that in practice you'll almost never need a LA, you'll see.  I have a DSLogic and never use it.

The question is really whether I must have one? That's a good question indeed. Could you please elaborate on your statement about having the DSLogic and never using it? I've got a decent low end digital scope, the Rigol DS1102Z-E. Would you suggest that adding a cheapo Saleae clone or a slightly more advanced DSLogic LA will not give me any advantage over a 2 channel digital scope?
Actually I've read between the lines in some posts that yes, it won't which is in line with what you say but since so many people buy these lower end LAs and express their happiness about owning and using them there must be something to it?

[VSV_electron]

Is ~10x the price difference worth it?

IMO, no. I have DSLogic U2basic and I never use it. There are probably cases when you absolutely want the fastest sampling rate and a lot of channels. But in most cases I much prefer simple continuous capture at a slower sample rate. Dealing with trigger setups is annoying for quick tests.

I would just start with $8 one and get a better unit once you know what you are actually missing. Especially for AT89C51 and PIC16F887 you are not going to need high sample rates.

Thanks, I alrready asked it above but anyway - will a cheapo $8 Saleae clone give me any benefits as compared to my digital Rigol DS1102Z-E scope?

[mwb1100]

OpenTechLab on youtube has several videos discussing inexpensive LAs and how to use them with the open source sigrok pulseview software:

  - General info on inexpensive LAs:
  - A teardown of a DSLogic Plus:
  - Using the DSLogic with sigrok:

What I noticed is that while the Kingst LA1010 is fully supported on the official Kingst website the DS Logic U2Basic on the other hand is absent from the current models lineup of DSLogic. Are the ones still sold counterfeit or are they rather Old Stock units?

Certainly knockoffs.

DSLogic no longer sell the U2Basic (though I think they continue to support it).

Like the others have posted, starting off with the $8 Saleae clone is probably your best bet.  It's a good chance to be everything you need for 8-bitters (unless you want to capture  non-TTL RS232 since the voltages might exceed what the $8 device can handle).  If not, $8 isn't much to worry about putting behind you when you decide to move up - plus you'll know what's important to you then.

[RoGeorge]

Could you please elaborate

My point was to not buy an LA at all, because they are needed only in very rare situations.  But if you want one then buy the cheap $8 one, because it's an item destined to lay around unused anyway.

I think you only want one because you've seen it in a video, not because you need it.  Give 3 examples where you want to use the LA, or where you think an LA will make the difference.  For me the oscilloscope was always more than enough, though maybe you deal with different types of application, that's why I'm asking what for do you plan to use it.

[VSV_electron]

...
Like the others have posted, starting off with the $8 Saleae clone is probably your best bet.  It's a good chance to be everything you need for 8-bitters (unless you want to capture  non-TTL RS232 since the voltages might exceed what the $8 device can handle).  If not, $8 isn't much to worry about putting behind you when you decide to move up - plus you'll know what's important to you then.

To you it may sound strange but trust me on this: If I don't get one of the Kingst or DSLogic units now I may have very hard time getting one in the future. There are some reasons for that but again trust me, I'm not going to delve into irrelevang details of my personal situation.
I feel in that case you might suggest me to stretch my budget and possibly get something of a more advanced level perhaps LA2016 or DSLogic Plus but I wouldn't like to make any assumptions.
I indeed was planning to get into some RS232 scanning but again, would my digital Rigol scope give me all I need for that task?

[VSV_electron]

...
I think you only want one because you've seen it in a video, not because you need it.  Give 3 examples where you want to use the LA, or where you think an LA will make the difference.  For me the oscilloscope was always more than enough, though maybe you deal with different types of application, that's why I'm asking what for do you plan to use it.

The sole reason for getting one was the idea that examining mroe than just 2 channels at a time provided by the scope would be of some benefit but since I have so little experince in the MCU area I cannot say for sure how useful that is.

[ataradov]

Thanks, I alrready asked it above but anyway - will a cheapo $8 Saleae clone give me any benefits as compared to my digital Rigol DS1102Z-E scope?

Yes, 100%. Logic analyzers in the scope are useless for real prolonged work. Especially if you are not doing mixed signal stuff.

[mwb1100]

I indeed was planning to get into some RS232 scanning but again, would my digital Rigol scope give me all I need for that task?

Both the units you are considering spec that they tolerate +/-50V inputs (though the trigger level only goes to +/-4V).  So they will handle true RS232 levels.

Your scope will probably be fine.  Your scope has 2 channels, which is fine for decoding UART/RS232 and I2C (I assume your scope has decoders?  I haven't looked to see if they are included or an option with that scope).  If you need to look at SPI you might have to think about what you need to look at.  You might get by with just the clock and MISO or MOSI depending on what you're looking for.  But sometimes you may need to look at all 4 signals.

I have also found that if I need to sift through a lot of data for some reason, it's easier to do with an LA and PC resident software.  But a lot of times you can trigger on the packet of interest on the scope so there won't be a need to grovel through data.

Also the one thing that scope will do that the LAs won't is tell you if there is a problem with the signal itself.

I have a knockoff DSLogic Plus and I'm happy with it.  But I do use the scope more (but I'm actually a software guy - so even the scope isn't an everyday thing for me).