Tablet Oscilloscope-tbook, a new kind DSO.

[Micsig]

Funny how everyone is volunteering Dave's time . Dave would probably do a teardown and maybe a first impressions video, Mike might do a review and teardown. Both have enough experience and credibility to do a good job, in my opinion. If I were a manufacturer, I would offer to send a scope to both.

Good idea

[Fsck]

hmm, cat 3 300V, hello 4kV impulses?

[Micsig]

Three things I have found difficulty in with using touchscreens (Ipad) :

As said , they are difficult to use if your hands are larger .
Often your hand obscures your view when placed over the target area .
Any material on the hands is smeared over the screen , not good in a workshop environment (although a filthy front panel is not so good it doesn't generally affect use on normal physical interface DSO) .

the pity you did not come tho Hong Kong fair, or you will find it is different from your imagination

[madshaman]

Knobs and buttons are really needed.

Not really. IMHO a touchscreen has much more possibilities of offering a good interface than knobs.

Tell that to my aching wrist.  I think it's an individual thing; I've seriously messed my wrist wrestling with Reason (music production software) when I haven't had my MIDI controllers with me (so I'm tweaking virtual knobs and sliders on my laptop's trackpad instead of real ones).

You really can't compare a trackpad with a touchscreen. Apples and oranges... Trackpads suck so bad I always have a mouse with a laptop.

I see some of your point, but also disagree.  I make the same motions on my iPad as I do on the trackpad to do knob twiddling, it's that I'm holding my hand in an awkward position and moving only my finger and wrist which causes the strain; other's mileage may vary, but I'll personally take a physical knob or slider any day over a touch interface, otherwise I wouldn't spend my money on MIDI controllers, I'd use my iPads for that.

[Kjelt]

Maybe I am the only one but I am seriously wondering what/who the target audience is? 

1) It is handheld/portable
2) If set on its stand it is at an inversed angle that makes no sense to have on a bench so still for portable use on the floor/ground.
3) The price will be probably much higer then for instance a Rigol 2000 since it has a multitouch lcd display and batteries

So adding those, it looks to me that the target audience is the professional mobile installer/service person?
So for a hobbyist as myself it has little interest, I probably need a few days a year a portable scope and then a Rigol is portable enough as long as there is mains in the vicinity.
What am I missing, where would you as a hobbyist use it for and find the higher price worthwhile?

[mikeselectricstuff]

Maybe I am the only one but I am seriously wondering what/who the target audience is? 

Good question - if marketed as a portable, it needs to have something like a rubber boot for ruggedness, as well as being able to use handheld.
If it's primarily aimed at bench use, it has to be either cheaper or better than the competition, i.e. Rigol x000 series.
Just being a tablet with a touchscreen is not a useful benefit in itself, in fact in many ways it is a disadvantage.
The  scope market is not as easily persuaded by fancy features as the general phone & computing market - if Apple made a scope I doubt many people would  buy it.


 

[Stonent]

Maybe I am the only one but I am seriously wondering what/who the target audience is? 

Good question - if marketed as a portable, it needs to have something like a rubber boot for ruggedness, as well as being able to use handheld.
If it's primarily aimed at bench use, it has to be either cheaper or better than the competition, i.e. Rigol x000 series.
Just being a tablet with a touchscreen is not a useful benefit in itself, in fact in many ways it is a disadvantage.
The  scope market is not as easily persuaded by fancy features as the general phone & computing market - if Apple made a scope I doubt many people would  buy it.

MILLIONS would buy it. And they'd all be under 25, most under 18. 

"Mummy! Daddy! Lisa said her parents were getting her an iScilloscope for Christmas! Why can't I have one too?!"

[EEVblog]

Just being a tablet with a touchscreen is not a useful benefit in itself, in fact in many ways it is a disadvantage.

A 10" 1024*600 screen can be compelling for some people, if they use all the real-estate of course, but I see no evidence of that. In fact aI see a fair bit of wasted space. Even if it can be expanded full screen you must lose some of that screen again to pop up the controls every time you need them. That would get old real quick.
It might be handy for those who like the move the scope around the bench/lab a lot? 

[Stonent]

our name is from Micro and Signal, is there any problem? do your mean the font  is simliar?

Both appear to be Nimbus Sans L Black Italic or Helvetica Italic.
http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/urw/nimbus-sans/l-black-italic/

[Carrington]

why dont they send to someone like dave to have it reviewed? it would be a good DSO if it meet its specs. well it could hit the market if it could compete to other manufacturers.. how about the price range? if it cost much cheaper than leading manufacturers it would be attractive to entry level like me...how i wish to have one on my bench....

thanks for your advice. i will provide you a big discount.

Hey, I also want a great discount, please! 

[Attorney]

hello, here i would like to introduce a new kind DSO to you. Tablet Oscilloscope-tbook series.

first, see the appearence.  10.1 inches, full touch. no knobs and button. 4 channels.

MicSig,

Where can we find pricing, availability, and ordering detail?  Thanks!

Paul

[Jay_Diddy_B]

MicSig,

Are there any videos that show this scope working?

Jay_Diddy_B

[madshaman]

If you send me a 1GHz model I can keep, I'll do a review in Canadian English :-)

Good luck with the product launch, you folk must have put a lot of work into this.

[Lightages]

I will up the offer to do a Spanish, Canadian English, and Chilean review!

[Carrington]

I will up the offer to do a Spanish, Canadian English, and Chilean review!

This guy takes advantage... 
Saludos Lightages. 

[cavlovic]

I will up the offer to do a Spanish, Canadian English, and Chilean review!

I will "down" the offer, to do no review and keep it.

Even if I got one I wouldn't know how to do a review

[tszaboo]

I don't see probe compensation on it. Is it there?
Also, ruggedness. This will be moved around, dropped and stuff.
To be honest I'm with knobs and buttons. Sometimes you just cannot look what you are pushing, because you keep your probe on the 0.5mm pin of that IC, making a trigger with your other hand, and with your third hand you stop the screen update.

[cavlovic]

I don't see probe compensation on it. Is it there?
Also, ruggedness. This will be moved around, dropped and stuff.
To be honest I'm with knobs and buttons. Sometimes you just cannot look what you are pushing, because you keep your probe on the 0.5mm pin of that IC, making a trigger with your other hand, and with your third hand you stop the screen update.

That's why it's not a replacement for bench scopes, though it can be 95% of the time.

[TMM]

70MHZ,100MHz,150MHz,200MHz,300MHz,350MHz,500MHz,600MHz,1GMHz. 
 

That's a stupid number of different options - half that number would make more sense

Could this simply be the result of "binning" finished scopes based on testing results?  e.g. their 200MHz scope only tests to 200MHz 5/10 times, the rest can be sold cheaper.

edit: fix quoting; need better mobile app

I really doubt it, unless they are overclocking the ADCs to the bleeding edge.

[nctnico]

I'd love to try and see how the touchscreen works. I have high expectations of it. Whether its a bench or portable scope doesn't seem like much an issue to me. It seems to have all the features a proper scope has nowadays.

I could do the review in Dutch. Good for the Netherlands, the west half of Belgium, Suriname and not to forget some small islands near the coast of Venezuela. 

[free_electron]

if the touchscreen is done right this could be very handy.
Multifinger zoom , drag traces around. if you scroll it should have that apple scroll feel where it starts fast and decays slowly , hitting the end springs back.

you dont really need hard buttons or knobs. but, the touchscreen interface needs ot be done right.

[pickle9000]

So given that this is a first time product, I hope MicSig (if they send one out for review) take the critical parts of the review as a way to improve the unit.

As for ruggedness take any of the Rigols, Agilents, Teks and drop from a meter onto a cement floor. Even if designed for it (like the handhelds) and get a friend to take a picture of your face while doing it, it must belong to you and not your boss. These are delicate instruments by any standard.   

[Hydrawerk]

Add a front panel with buttons and knobs and you will get a good scope. 

[Kjelt]

Oh man this topic is turning into a "all freeloaders gather" topic, how can I unsubscribe this topic 

[KD0CAC John]

I think anytime there is a push to sell , but almost no answers to direct questions , its going to go down hill fast .
Very selective / limited answers to 1 or 2 questions , leave us lots of room for negative comments .
This being my 1 comment since the beginning of thread , still waiting for price , availability & spec's ?
They may not have been ready with a video demonstration etc. BUT