Lots of different things to comment upon here.
I use an analog Tek 7904A scope (best scope ever made).
First of all, I like the front panel differences and features the 7904 has over the newer (and short production run of) 7904A. Both 7904 and 7904A are 500MHz using a 7A19 vertical preamp (that's the "9" part of the 7904's model number). The 7800-series (e.g., 7834 or 7844) have a 400MHz bandwidth. Best scope depends upon the application, though. If you need storage, then the 7834 is the best scope; if you need true dual-beam operation, the 7844 is the best scope; if you need more than 500MHz bandwidth, the 7104 is better; if you need some digital capability, the 7854 is better; if you need super-portability, you have to drop down to a 475, 212, T935 or 335; if you need battery operation, it takes an Option 7 portable and 1106 battery pack or one of the 200- or 300 Sony/Tek-series. and on and on.
You can NEVER equate bandwidth and sampling rate. You can have a 10GS/s sampling rate and a 1MHz bandwidth; or a 500KS/s sampling rate and a 2GHz bandwidth. Either specification would be a horrid and/or wasteful combination -- not unlike using a Peterbuilt road tractor to pull your pop-up tent camper or a VW Rabbit to pull a 12-bottom plow.
Digital devices, by their very nature, including DSOs, have an inherent ±1 digit bobble which means that even the quietest signal you measure is going to "look funny" if you're used to the straight-line trace of an analog scope. Analog folks find that objectionable. On the other hand, high-bandwidth scopes such as Tek's 465, 475, 485 or the 7000-series have an internal scan expansion mesh inside the CRT to help with geometry and trace brightness with the down-side of making the trace fuzzy as compared to their older scopes (e.g., 453, 454 or the 500-series) which had fine, sharp traces. We had customers who sent in their scopes for warranty repair for a "thick trace" (it was still well-within specifications) and we'd swap out the CRT just to make them happy (and save the offending CRT as a new replacement part).
This is why an 8-bit DSO is a pretty crappy "instrument". Only 128 points on the screen allows for some pretty "thick" bobble. 9 bits would be 256 points; 10 bits would be 512 points; 11 bits is 1024 points. By the time you're at 10 and 11 bits, the bobble is about as noticeable as trace width -- i.e., you don't really see it.
I have a TEK TDS 210 60MHz digital scope that I've had for a few years. It has a 1GS/s sample rate
I would have sworn the TDS 210 (60MHz) and TDS 220 (100MHz) had 2GS/s sample rates.
everybody laughed at the huge 7904A,
The other upisde of owning a 7904A is that you have to be a REAL man to even lift it,
I thought the 7904A was light. Compare with a 7704 (not 7704A). It had a non-switching supply and was easily twice the weight of a 7904. the 7000-series overall lightened up the Tektronix product line over the older 500-series. If you wanted a workout for the gonads, you tried lugging a 556 around the shop. It was portable because it had handles.
Dean