Is a logic analyzer worth buying?

Depends how cheap and how many boards you'd have to repair to break even on it vs. just shotgunning problems.
 
I haven't used it for reparing any games yet, but I have used it for when I was doing development work on the Quantum reproduction PCB. There was no way I would have completed those PCB blanks if I hadn't had one.
 
You should own both, but a logic analyzer with only 4 channels sounds like it's old or a piece of garbage. They're typically 8-16 channels so you can watch an entire address or data bus plus related signals.

That being said, the logic analyzer is such a PITA to hookup (with 8-16 wires) that I almost never use it. There are a lot of other tools that are a better investment for this hobby.
 
By "4 probes" do you mean 4 channels, or 4 pods? 4 channels wouldn't be very useful. I got my HP 1630D for $20 off eBay, so for that price it was totally worth it. It does come in really handy occasionally. I'd probably start off with an oscilloscope though.
 
If you have to choose, go for the scope first. The LA will come in very handy for logic problems on boards, but it's useless for dealing with power supply issues. Honestly a lot of logic issues can be diagnosed quite well with just a scope or logic probe. You only need the LA when you have to see all the data on a bus or something - if you just need to know all the lines are moving, the scope or logic probe will give you that info.

That said, if it's cheap enough I sure wouldn't be able to turn it down.
 
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