Siglent Technologies SDS1104X-E 100Mhz Digital Oscilloscope 4 Channels Standard Decoder, Grey

This is my first scope. This is the most useful tool! I'm an electronics hobbyist coming from the computer science side of things. I've learned so much about my circuits using this scope, and it's helping me design them better.I first tried a $12 logic analyzer for a problem that I was having with some PWM signals, but I was getting garbage output. This scope helped me understand what was going on. It has been incredibly useful in other scenarios, too.I got this scope over the Rigol DS1054Z for these reasons:* I read reviews that the Siglent was a bit easier to navigate and the interface was more responsive.* I wanted serial decoding.* I didn't want to pay for extra licenses (or to deal with hacking it) to unlock higher frequencies or serial decoding.* The web server seemed useful.* The possibility to add MSO and waveform generator seemed useful to let me grow into new features.My afterthoughts on my original reasoning above:* I figured out the basics like scale, position, and triggers within 30 minutes of poking around. All other features like cursors and measurements just take a minute or two to figure out. Having never used a scope before, I'd say that it's easy to navigate, but I don't have anything to compare it to.* The serial decoding is nice to have (I've only tried I2C so far). It does feel a bit slow to respond for triggers, and when displaying decoded data of messages sent at 1Hz it only refreshes every few seconds. They may all be available in history, but I can't seem to get a real time updates to work. A $12 logic analyzer picks them all up perfectly fine, and that interface (PulseView) is easier to navigate. The best part about serial decoding on the scope is triggering on decoded events, e.g. I2C start/stop signals. Otherwise, I feel like the logic analyzer is better suited for decoding.* The web server is neat, but I prefer the physical buttons and knobs to control the scope. Having a larger display may be nice, but it's more convenient to just look at the scope's screen as you're adjusting the knobs (it's large enough). The web server could be invaluable for something like a video chat screen share or screen recording.* The MSO expansion costs nearly as much as the scope itself. Given my thoughts on the serial decoding, I don't think it's worth it. A $12 logic analyzer works well enough for low frequency signals, and a Digilent Digital Discovery can apparently go up to 800Ksa/sec, just shy of the 1Gsa/sec of this scope, plus it's only half the cost of the MSO expansion.* The waveform generator expansion costs nearly as much as a discrete waveform generator. I think I'd prefer to have a dedicated unit, if I ever need a waveform generator. For now my needs are met with some $3 PWM generators.In retrospect, I'm not sure if I would make the same decision to get the Siglent over the Rigol. Don't get me wrong - I love this thing! But maybe saving $150 on the Rigol would be more cost effective. You could use that money to get a decent digital logic analyzer. I'd say that the web server is probably the deciding factor. If you want to do screen shares/recordings then the Siglent wins, otherwise just get the Rigol.A potential killer feature that I think they missed out on is a screenshot tool built into the web server. Screenshot onto USB works fine, but doing this via the web server would bypass the USB storage device. Maybe Siglent could add this in a future firmware update?

I purchased this as my entry level Oscilloscope and have used it with my self pace training on trying to understand electronics and basic repairs. It has been an invaluable tool so far and very easy to program, adjust and use. The 4 channels give me enough flexibility to handle a few working theories at once on 2 circuits. I am very pleased with all my Siglent gear and will continue to purchase the rest of their gear to build out my lab.

I used this scope for debugging some complex AC power issues and it was great. It's easy to use with many features, including a FFT for frequency analysis and using the AC power input as a trigger. It is well built and I would highly recommend it. The only thing to be aware of is that it's only an 8-bit scope so it doesn't have the dynamic range to look at very small signals right next to or within big ones. For most people the dynamic range will likely be more than fine though and this scope is perfect for many use cases.

I'm playing with circuits as a hobby. Programming PICs all the way from tiny MicroChip things up to the ESC32 recently. Building gadgets. It was time to retire the old DSO203 and move up to something better.I am not going to talk about the accuracy and functions of the SDS-1104X-E or stuff like that. There are plenty of folks here far more qualified than me to do that and if you got this far in the reviews, you had enough of that. I am just going to talk about it from a hobby user point of view.There has been a lot of talk (blog talk, that is) lately about USB based PC Oscilloscopes rivaling benchtop ones. It seems to make sense. Your laptop (or desktop) already has a very nice display and plenty of processing power. So why not save that money and divert it into better analog circuitry and ADCs, then use the PC to do the rest? Sounds good, but unfortunately that isn't how it seems to work. There wasn't a single USB Oscilloscope out there where people are really happy about the PC side software for it. Crashing here, incompatible with WinWhatever there, yadda, yadda. Analog input bandwidth and more so memory depth also seem to be lagging behind badly. And to make matters worse, I am an Open Source fanatic, preferring to do whatever I can on Linux or more exotic systems. Special Windows only USB what? Excuse me? So I said to myself "get over it and pay for that extra display and the knobs already!"Am I glad I did. Fun thing is, the SDS-1104X-E allows me to experience what I would have had, in case a USB scope had a really nicely working UI. Because it has that on top!The SDS-1104X-E has a built in HTTP server on it's LAN interface. The WEB UI looks almost like the physical thing, and I have to hand it to the developers, they did a fine job emulating that UI. But then again ...First impression about the UI: Physical knobs are better than clicking around with a mouse. You cannot look at the waveform and click virtual buttons the same as looking at the waveform and turning or pushing several physical knobs. You could if you were a Chameleon, using your two eyes to look at different things at the same time, but you aren't.Second impression: Man is that screen nice. Super Phosphor ... can I have one of those in 1920x1080 for my laptop please?Third: I am developing Microcontroller software ... so mostly I am somewhere editing source code, compiling it, uploading/flashing it to the device, now I have to flip back and forth between the O-Scope, the app controlling my gadget and my source code to figure out what went wrong this time? Wish I had a second screen ... wait, what?Right, that extra screen is what you want anyway. An Oscilloscope is not something running in the background. When you need it, you need it in the foreground "together" with whatever you are measuring.Disclaimer: I never owned a USB based PC Oscilloscope ... and I probably never will.Regards, Jan

PK, I have had this for almost 8 years now. I still love it. It i were to buy my first Oscilloscope, I may likely buy something more recent. That said, I am still delighted whenever I use this one. Best thing is before you buy an oscilloscope, or any other piece of test equipment, to to the EEVBlog forum and sign up. There you will find a lot of discussion of all the various models of test equipment.Another thing is this can be hacked to make it a 200NHz scope. The manufacturer is fine with that. They realize that ends up for them selling more of their products!So dated in 2024, yet still a great piece of test gear!