From your response it seems like the Owon is not a good choice and that you suggest paying more money for the sds1102x+. I was trying to spend <$500 because this is a beginner scope. If its absolutely worth it, I can stretch my budget a bit.
Am I understanding your response?
Not entirely.
I'm pointing out the MSO (X+) version in case you weren't aware of it.
Actually I think its more accurate to say - I want to spend close to the price of the Rigol 1054Z @ $399 and will expand the budget to get a better oscilloscope especially with holiday deals.
OK, you're budget constrained, just make sure the unit you buy has the Decode option for free as per the current promotion.
So I am sort-of budget constrained. Its my first everything and I have no real experience yet in electronics, so I artificially budgeted myself to a beginner scope that will have practical applications. I don't understand the difference between the 1102X and the 1102X+ models to make a call between them. My simple view of the world involved higher bandwidth generally means better as long as the sample rate supports it. Also having a warranty sounds awesome, so i wanted to avoid hacking, so i was steering of the Rigol DS1054Z.
I just purchased a saelae logic 8 to fill my logic analyzer curiosity from some help i received in the #eevblog IRC channel.
I also purchased a Rigol DS1054Z and I am in progress of purchasing a SDS1102X so I can compare them side by side. I've watched
where the final choice is possibly DS1054Z depending on the reason you want one. Im totally new so I don't actually know what I will need it for. From that video it seems like the SDS1202X is the rival of the higher quality Rigol 2000 series so i made the assuption that the 100MHz was also higher quality. I know the siglent is double the wfms of the rigol after hacking (siglent can go up to 400000 for easier capture of anomalies?). Also it has a better screen. The rigol after hacking (not 100% opposed to it) has deeper memory depth and will be 100MHz for about $25 cheaper with current deals.
So to me, the choice between the rigol and the siglent came down to "Do I need 4 channels?" and "Do I want to hack my scope?" and "Should i just buy higher quality because its $25 dollars away?". The answers were in order, "not sure, "probably not unless i have to", and "screw it, $25 bucks...". So I arrived at the SDS1012X.
After talking in the IRC channel last night, I arrived at the conclusion that I need to research a bit more and just make a call, so I am just buying both because either way I will have a scope that I can deal with.
So between the SDS1102X and the X+, it seems like its just the waveform generator @ 25MHz. Is a 25MHz generator worth the extra money? I have an idea of what they do but don't know that I will need it. Right now I have an arduino, some schematics, now a logic analyzer, and some project ideas. Will I use a AWG?
I am trying to use this oscilloscope to help me debug electronics and further learning. Also to understand the domain of parameters to learn how electronics work (instead of taking university classes @ n x $1000).