Review of the DSO Nano from Seeed Studios

DSO Nano V2 from Seeed Studios

The DSO Nano (and the new DSO Nano v2) are neat prototyping and testing tools that are a boon to the hobbyest and maker communities. Previously, there were plenty of options for observing moving signals, but most were rather expensive, or involved hunting down something decent on eBay or Craigslist - which could be daunting to someone completely new.

Now, for about $100 you can get a handheld oscilloscope that will let you observe many signals that previously you'd be guessing at. While the DSO Nano is limited to 1 MHz analog bandwidth, (or, about 200 kHz effective bandwidth), and doesn't offer AC-coupling, it's still an awesome thing to have handy for rapid testing. For those of us (like me) who have limited workspace, this also beats having a bulky analog 'scope taking up important space on your desktop. 

The unboxing video above and the review below both focus on the DSO Nano v1, but not a whole lot has changed in the 2nd version - other than some cosmetic improvements and useful tweaks. So, if you're interested in buying one, all of my comments still apply. Basically if you want to look at signals that don't have a big DC bias, and are limited to less than about 200 kHz, you'll be golden.

The DSO Nano can be a bit difficult to work with right out of the box - the keys are a little small - after a bit of use, it becomes much easier and quite useful. 

For $100, the DSO Nano it's quite a steal. If you have the cash, and don't already have an oscilloscope, I'd highly recommend getting one.

Are there any users out there that want to chip in their opinions?