i owned a ds1054z and it took me years to learn that:

the scope is slow when using the knobs, however
it is really powerful (although i have not tested personally)
with its scripting / automation capability. so to me
the 1054z is all about connecting it via usb or ethernet
and using it via python or whatever.

i would probably not use it as a general use scope. only for
scripting (which it seems to excel at).

(as an aside, if you look at some products, they also seem to 
fall into this unspoken realm of 'good for automation, not
good for general use'. i.e. the digital calipers you can get
online or at harbor freight. i don't like the idea of the
battery dying on me after a couple years, so i prefer analog
calipers. BUT, if you consider using them in some form of
automation, then digital calipers are perfect. then it makes 
sense, why they are everywhere.)


electronics_projects
test ideas with 1054z scope
=====================
strictly logging:
  solar panel, test battery, solar levels, 
  measure voltage differentials or resistance of
    meat as it is ageing (would need to be in a fridge).
as a vna:
  characterize RC or other filter performance see: https://github.com/jp3141/Vector-Network-Analyzer
  not really something you'd automate over time i don't think.
take a signal you see, output waveform to csv
  reoutput on a signal gen


possibly i could enable all measurements 
https://nathankjer.com/ds1054z/
and then record all these values.
deep dive into timing errors with a micro:
https://elexperiment.nl/2019/05/automating-measurements-with-the-rigol-ds1054z/
can measure fft as well, see nathankjer link.
can do 'mask testing' or give alert if signal goes out of a specified range.
there's probably some other stuff, watch the eevblog video which goes over the 
features.

as another option the analog discovery might do some of the above as well.
no idea which is better / easier. would have to use both and do a review.

guessing: the rigol would have better performance but larger footprint

with the usb type logic analyzer scopes you have something you can
stick with a beagleboard on a customers site and do some potentially
easy but still powerful logging. basically you get the software and the
dacs of the usb boxes with the linux of the sbc. so no need to mess with
the pru or c, can just use the usb scope's software via api