Everybody Staze...

When I first picked up the electronics hobby, I asked a simple question on the EEVBlog forum: Should I save for a month and buy the Rigol DS1052e (a good, albeit older, scope), or save for 3 and buy the DS2072. Answers were mixed, but most said to buy the DS2072. Then there was Dave (eevblog owner) that posted a video specifically covering the differences. I took all this, and proceeded to ignore it and got the DS1052e. It was a good scope. I used it for several months. But, the opportunity to buy the DS2072 came up, and I took it. Do I regret the first purchase? No. Do I like the DS2072 better, hell yes ((though, I will say, it’s a bit less intuitive, and far more complex. The DS1052e was cake to use, and just worked. I still struggle with doing some basic things on the DS2072, but I haven’t used it as much as the DS1052e)).

So, the real question becomes, what was a big selling point? The fact that someone on the EEVblog forums finally figured out how to hack the DS2072 up to the 200mhz version, and unlock all the options (making an $800 scope into a $2000 scope). I know the scope is miles ahead of my previous scope, but like I said, at this point in my hobby, a lot of it is bells and whistles. The screen is very nice. The 500µV/div setting is very nice. The display persistence is very nice. The LAN functionality, along with the huge memory depth is extremely nice. But for just looking at noise on a voltage rail, or on a CMOS/TTL line, there is very little difference in functionality. Sure, I haven’t found a really intermittent glitch yet that the new scope would catch with it’s 50,000 waveforms/sec update rate… but I’m not sure those are THAT common in repairs.

All and all, I really do like the scope. I think it will serve for several years, and using the trigger out, I could easily slave my old DS1052e off it, and get two more channels.

Would I recommend the scope? Yes, and no. I do like the scope, and I would buy it again in similar situations, but for someone just needing a scope, I would still suggest either the DS1052e for ~$300, or for less than $600, you can get the DS1074z, a 4 channel scope that has almost all the same features of the DS2000 series, AND two extra channels. And for a little more, you can add a 2 channel arbitrary waveform generator (AWG). Totally worth it! Only complaint about the DS2000 is really the seemingly unnecessary complexity.

Special thanks to tequipment.net for the amazing EEVblog discount they offer, excellent customer service, and overall, wonderful experience. Thanks!

[xrr rating=4.75/5]