National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes Reviews

Our primary use case is for control units, user interfaces, and machine controls.

I am using multiple types of this product: RF, digital, and analog.

The application space that the solution targets is military.

The customer support is its most valuable feature.

The user interface is absolutely great. It creates an easy working environment because it has well-integrated hardware and software. So, it is easy to use.

I would like to have more RF. They're going that way, but still there is some work that they have to do.

We are utilizing the full bandwidth of the product.

The technical support is superior and excellent. We have used them mostly in Europe.

I have saved almost 50 percent of my total budget for a project by using their products. 

The learning curve was really fast, which was also the reason for saving a lot on the budget.

It's a bit expensive. However, you get the entire package, not just the box. It's a box which supports older releases. 

They have an initial investment cost, which is quite high. But, along the way, there is so much behind it that the product is really invaluable.

I did a market survey before I start to use this solution, comparing it other vendors. I also did demos of all the solution. Doing the demos, I learned the competitors were difficult to use and there was no real good customer support.

I have a positive experience with National Instruments during my trial with them, which made a difference.

The use of this solution does require a specific mindset. Some people are not tailored for it. 

Try it. The learning curve is really fast, so it's easy to use.

We are measuring RF signals, one-sided analog signals, and control loops for system controls.

We are not using this product to support connected devices nor are we planning to going forward.

The primary use case is laboratory instrumentation.

We are measuring low voltage signals.

It makes programming simpler.

• Connectivity
• User-friendliness
• Extendability

• While the user interface is easy to understand, there's always room for improvement.
• The software has room for improvement.
• I would like to see other instruments added in the next release.

We use the full bandwidth for the product. 

I think it is field upgradable.

I haven't needed technical support.

When I did have an experience with them, they were very quick to determine the problem.

The cost of the equipment has room for improvement. The pricing could improve.

I chose this solution because it integrates a lot of functionality in one piece of equipment.

I did get a demo of the product before purchasing. It learned the product has advantages over its competitors.

Make sure that you look at the competition before you make a decision to buy.

It takes a couple of weeks to become acclimated to the solution.

We are not using this product to support connected devices nor are we planning to going forward.

The primary use case is it is an integral board to our system.

The application space that we are using the solution to target is high-speed.

Speed and reliability.

There was no learning curve. We could use their board right away.

The user interface is very good. Their boards are reliable. We buy boards from them, they are reliable, and we don't have problems with them.

I would like more speed and a reduction in size. 

We are utilizing the full bandwidth of the product.

We are continuously checking their new products. If their new products can be integrated into our boards, then we sample them.

The technical support has been pretty good. They've been very supportive. While I have not used them recently, when I used them before they normally came back within 48 hours.

I would like more competitive pricing.

We evaluated a few vendors and did demos with them.

They are good on delivery and their boards are reliable, but their pricing is not that competitive.

We are using this product to support connect devices.

We are using NetVue, which is a tool for developers. It is same tool for communication between the computer and Internet. The instrument can be used for TTR and scopes.

The application space that we are using the solution to target is high-speed digital design.

Because their view is a graphical user interface (GUI), it's very easy to program the tool.

It is easy to use and most of the functions are useful.

There is a learning curve. It takes one to two months to get acclimated to the tool.

I would recommend the tool to a colleague.

We are not using this product to support connected devices nor do we have plans to do so going forward.

We use it for the automation of testing.

I just started at the company, so I haven't been doing a lot of development on LabVIEW lately. However, it will go into our high-speed serial, PCIe, and DVR 5 automation.

I can automate a lot of testing very quickly. With just a push of a button, I can test hundreds of different scenarios without having to do all that manual testing myself.

The whole core thing of the program with its automation.

I like the new version of the user interface. It's pretty simple and easy to jump into, so it is good.

It took a good year until I felt proficient using the product, as It is a complex program. Their newest version has a less steep learning curve, but back closer to 15 years ago, it was a lot less user-friendly.

I switch back and forth between the old version and the next generation. Therefore, I would like to see more integration of the old program's features into the next generation, because the next generation is not as feature-packed as the old version.

I've had issues with getting different vendors' drivers working with LabVIEW. Some VISA drivers work better than others from different companies. I would like more plug and play,

it's just software, so it can be upgraded. So, we will install new updates when they become available.

We are using the full bandwidth. Though, the software is not the primary instrument for measuring these signals. It just tells the other high-speed devices what to do and what settings to use.

I have always had good experiences talking with their tech support. Thumbs up.

That was the first automation software I have used.

It saves me a lot of time. You can click a button and walk away, basically doing a week's worth of work in 20 minutes, it's a pretty good time saver.

It's reasonably priced for what we spend our money on in the lab. It's one of the lower-end purchases.

We are not using this product to support connected devices for IoT development.

We are measuring high-speed, differential, and DVR signals.

I say, "Go ahead and purchase LabVIEW. I give it two thumbs up. It's very reasonably priced for the amount of time that it saves you."

We design test hardware using the STS system by National Instruments.

It's for testing IoT products.

These products are a very low-cost, effective alternative to traditional Big Iron ATE hardware.

It took us less than a week to get integrated into the solution, which is very fast.

The user interface is very good. National Instruments has been developing their software interface for over 20 years, so it's fairly refined at this point.

National Instruments needs to be focusing on its 5G RF applications. They are aware of this, and that's where most of their R&D is going. These products aren't out to market yet, so it is difficult to evaluate them.

It is very easy to upgrade. You just order the new cards, they ship them to you, you plug them into their systems, then you send the old cards back.

We are utilizing the full bandwidth of the product. That's why we're using the National Instruments systems.

National Instruments has an excellent website with volumes of information for everyone of this system. So, that's the first place to go. If that doesn't work, you can always contact National Instruments' app support in Austin, Texas.

We switched due to cost. In our industry (the test industry), the two big players are incredibly expensive. I came in with a low cost solution.

It's the low-cost alternative, so it's good.

Advantest and Teledyne, but we went with National Instruments due to price.

We did receive a demo before purchasing. National Instruments has conferences every year. We attend their conferences.

The product is good and mature.

Know your end product and what you need to do before you invest in the system. You need to be sure that it will work for you because it is a low-cost alternative.

The application space that this solution targets is semi-conductor tests. This is a system for testing computer chips.

We use it to measure the following signals: RF, analog, and digital. The signals enable IoT and RF products, and also MEMS sensor devices.

I have used a couple of National Instruments products. I use them for probing high-speed signals. For us, the product targets high-speed serial applications, such as PAN4 signaling. We are measuring NRZ signals for high-speed internet. We are not utilizing the full bandwidth.

It helps to debug things faster. You know what the signal quality is going into the device and coming out of it.

The user interface is pretty nice, pretty intuitive.

Another valuable feature is automatically resetting everything. That helps a new user to start off. And most of the features are on the screen itself. The naming convention makes it very easy to understand what is needed. In that way, it's easier.

I would like to see more of a tasking user base and documentation inside the instrument itself, rather than having to go online for it.

I usually don't go to technical support. There are groups in our team that do that. I will tell them, "Hey, there's a problem," and they will go look into it. I don't have to actually ask for the technical support. But usually, you get pretty good technical support.

We have been using the same product for a long time.

If we thought the new products were better we would switch. If the scope probe cannot handle the speed anymore, the newer ones will be better able to handle that. It basically comes down to high-speed signaling.

Using this product is helpful, so I would recommend it to people at any other company.

There is not much of a learning curve; maybe a few days.

I, myself, have not used the device for the connection of IoT devices, but we do have plans to do so.

I would rate the product at eight out of ten. Better documentation and a touchscreen display would be nice.

We use it to QA the hardware.

It helps us to save on our investment with a lot of the stuff that we buy, as we can find defects quickly.

• Ease of use.
• There are no setup costs.
• It has turnkey operations. Just turn on a machine, put your stuff in, and you can test right away.

We just watch the website all the time to make sure we have the most recent updates.

We do not use the full bandwidth, though we sometimes overclock the bandwidth by a little bit.

We don't need a not of technical support, as they have a website to download their software where we can refresh their software once in a while, but not that often. 

It's sort of self-running. We don't need to maintain anything on any machine, which is a nice feature.

The price is a little steep. A lot of people, like our customers, use a different machine because of the price. The price has to come down a bit so we can do other tests without paying the equipment's high costs.

Consider the cost of the capital investment before purchasing.

It does not take that long to learn. A high school graduate can learn how to operate the machine. It is not that hard.

The application space that this solution targets is mostly data centers and module servers.

We are using it to measure speed and capacity.

We are not using this product to support connected devices for IoT development nor are we planning to going forward.

We don't really utilize the user interface.

I used different models, either the multifunctional testers or the scopes. I used them for testing of PCBs and finish goods; mainly for the design of the PCBs, motherboards, and for communication. I measured communication signals, the timings, whatever goes into a motherboard. I utilized the full bandwidth.

It was easy to use, user-friendly. The user interface is very good, easy to understand, and easy to operate.

I would like to see them increase the productivity and auxiliary functions.

Technical support was very good. They had the phone number we could call and we also had a local guy who was always coming to the factory and helping us.

We chose this product because of the reputation of the company and because we were familiar with their other products. We didn't do a demo. We went with it because of the familiarity with their previous products, so we just bought the equipment.

The pricing was good. Compared to the others, it was very good.

Go with their products. They are reliable, the price is good, and you get good service.

There was no learning curve. It was easy to use. It took a day to learn it.

The solution was also field-upgradable.

With the advance of technology, with 5G coming to the market, there's a need for more speed and more complex types of testing.

I would rate the product at nine out of ten because it is top-of-the-line as far as the service and product go.

The primary use case is automated production testing. We also use it for lateral pretesting before we go for qualification. We do extensive testing to check if there are any problems with it.

We use a modular box where you can slot in your cuts or combine it with your National Instruments software to run automated programs to test systems.

It speeds up the process to develop test software. It's all graphical, which is easier to use rather than seeing it in syntax. There are cases where syntax is easier to use than graphical form. According to my colleague, the graphical helps to do things faster and debug more quickly.

The integrated lateral view makes it easier to develop your test systems and test software flow. That's the beauty of it.

There is a learning curve. It might take a year if you're not well-versed with it. It's pretty easy though. It depends on what field that you're from. If you're in an automated field, it's quite easy. But if you're not, then it's going to take some time.

It is upgradable because it is a PXI system. You can just take it out and put it back in. Therefore, you can upgrade your systems any time, including your software.

We haven't need technical support yet because all documentation is well done and there.

The application space that this solution targets is 5G and high-speed systems. 5G is where we are developing some chips to test whether it prequalifies for a necessary requirement before we embed it into our box. Then, in high-speed systems, we're still figuring out how exactly we're going to test this out, but it should be also on prequalification.

We are not using this product to support connected devices for IoT development nor are we planning to going forward.

We are measuring millimeter wave signals.

My colleague deals with the automation of the test systems.

The user interface is okay.