In that vein the Saleae Logic[1] are really awesome, the prices went up recently but they're the real deal, next step up from them gets into the $X,000/$XX,000 range very quickly.
I don't know if they still have a hobbyist discount, but when I bought mine they knocked a good chunk off the price after I emailed them and told them my plans for it as a tinkerer.
No disrespect to Saleae's Logic as even their 1st gen product was indeed outstanding value (and may still be at the current price point; software front end is well executed). But to be sure, there's still a significant hardware gap that sets it apart from "the real deal".