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Comment by cushychicken | Hacker News Reader

The new Rigol DHO800 series are fabulous bargains for the money, and extremely well designed in a lot of ways:

- 12 bit ADC frontends

- Actually usable touchscreen inputs

- Super simple to drive remotely over a network connection (though getting the IP address with just the touchscreen is a little tricky)

- USB-C power input - you can run it from a battery pack if you like!

- All the essential decoders built in for free (I2C, SPI, UART)

- VESA Mountable - I got a monitor arm to gain back some desk space (awesome feature)

- Very, very easy to hack one of the budget models and upgrade it to a 250MHz model :D

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I got one recently, and it's been a pleasure to use. My only regret is not getting the 4 channel version, though I've only needed 2 channels so far. But at my workplace, I've found that an extra channel is the thing that helps me solve a problem, more frequently than higher performance does.

I'm an old timer so I'm familiar with the traditional scope front panel, but have come to like the touch screen for changing settings.

Perhaps my only gripe is how long it takes to boot.

I get around the long boot time by never turning mine off lol

I used to thing touch screens on scopes were a gimmick. Then I used one to name a signal quickly and easily for a trace capture. After that I was hooked.

Also - be sure to upgrade the firmware if you haven’t yet. They fixed that annoying bug where it doesn’t remember your probe settings between power cycles!

Awesome. I've cursed that bug. Thanks!

Edit: Updated the firmware. Works. First time I noticed the problem, it was at my desk, and I assumed it was because the scope was plugged into a switched power outlet, and I was habitually turning off the lights when I left the room. Only after a couple of tries did I discover that it was an actual bug.

HN: Come for the arcane programming topics that are over my head, stay for fixing my scope!

Dude me too. Such a goofy bug oversight. But, fortunately, an easy fix with a firmware upgrade.

That bug was my only complaint with the DHO924 as purchased. I was already extremely satisfied with it before that bugfix.

Hate to say it as a proud American and fanboy of HP’s legacy, but these folks are coming for Keysight on the low end.

I also got one last year. It's a hundred times better than the little ones discussed in this test.

I started out buying little cheapy toy scopes when I started tinkering with electronics and I wish I’d just waited and saved for a proper one.

Way more useable, especially having proper probes.

I get it - I’m in the first world, unlimited money and privilege, yada yada - but if you think you realistically can save $400 USD for a scope like this, you should.

These start from 450 euros.

Well worth the money if you work with electronics with any kind of regularity.

Maybe a bit pricy for the hobbyist.

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