Sam1,
Some comments (my own $0.02 based on my personal experience):
- I'm not sure how much the Electrajet costs... but the Pico Quad kit from Autonerdz comes with everything you need to immediately get waveforms from any part of your vehicle or most other electronics... you pretty much don't need to buy anything else... the Autonerdz version of this kit contains extras over the Pico company's version of the kit... even if the Pico Quad kit costs more (which I don't know if it does), it is well worth it.
- Autonerdz provides the best support I have seen anyway... Autonerdz even supports me (a hobbyist car wannabe)... Tom has helped me with a few issues with one of my laptops, and the forum members have guided me on interpreting some of my ignition waveforms... if car repair is your career, then support is vital, and the quality of support is even more vital... the Electrajet site and software pictures look outdated, like nothing has been updated in a long while.
- Keep your scope, scantool, data/info systems separate and independent... if one of them breaks down the others can still be used... and they can be upgraded separately as required... if you're professional then this will save you downtime... if you're a hobbyist it will save you downtime also (you have a limited time each nite to "play" before going to bed so you can go to your daytime job the next day)... a tool should do its function and do it well (as opposed to doing many functions half-arsedly).
- the Pico 3423/3223 have a pretty deep buffer, deeper than I have seen on many scopes... you can use a long time base to see the general repetition of a signal and then zoom in on any portion (this is a very important feature to have for automotive use... big picture and small picture).
- if you can afford 4 channels, then get 4 channels... you won't regret it at all.
I am an EE by career and I have used the Fluke 199C and other portable and non-portable Tektronics and Agilent scopes... I like the Pico way better anytime, no doubt about it.
(This must be the most I have ever written...)
Cheers and Regards
Joe