With customers demanding improved performance and measurement, Tektronix is releasing the PowerUser package as an option for its TDS5000 series, a line that ranges from 300-MHz to 2-GHz scopes. The package expands memory support per channel to 2 megapoints, said Chris Martinez, oscilloscope portfolio marketing manager at Tektronix.

Additionally, the package increases analysis capabilities, doubles system RAM to 512 Mbytes and adds an internal printer and CD read-write (CD-RW) drive, according to the company.

Designers who tap the PowerUser package also gain a price advantage, Martinez said. Fitting a scope with the features enabled by the package would cost approximately $8,400, he said, but the bundled package can be purchased for less than $1,500.

"We owe it to our customers to keep raising the bar," said Colin Shepard, vice president and general manager of Tektronix's oscilloscope product line. "Things that were once in the ultrahigh-performance range now have to be in the mainstream scopes."

While Tektronix is improving the feature set for its midrange scopes, it's keeping the base price for those scopes intact. For example, the 1-GHz scope in the TDS5000 family will remain priced at around $16,000, Martinez said.

The decision to stick with its base unit pricing could open up competition from LeCroy Corp., which will also launch a new set of midrange scopes this week (see story, page 87).

LeCroy's WaveRunner 6000 series covers the 350-MHz to 2-GHz band and delivers a host of features, including an analog persistence mode, smart-trigger capabilities and a memory management system. The 1-GHz scope in LeCroy's 6000 series offers a 1-Mpoint-per-channel memory and a price point of $15,990, matching up closely with the price points of Tektronix's TDS5000 family.

But Tektronix hopes to win business on the cost of its upgrade options. Martinez said the package can be had at only a small premium over the price of the base instrument, making it an affordable and attractive option for users. According to numbers provided by LeCroy, adding an internal printer and CD-RW drive to the 1-GHz box will run approximately $1,000.

In conjunction with increasing performance in its midrange boxes, Tektronix is also offering a hardware/software bundle that will increase the analysis capabilities and portability of its lower-end TDS3014B, TDS3034B and TDS3054B oscilloscopes.

The BND bundle option provides more-detailed analysis capabilities, a communication module, a soft carrying case and a lithium-ion battery pack that can run the instrument. The bundle can be purchased for a TDS33000 series instrument for $495. If purchased separately, the features would cost $1,990, Martinez said.

Both the PowerUser package and BND bundle are available now.