Best DMM you can get with a budget of max $300?

[grumpydoc]

If I was you buddy i'd look at getting 2 meters.

+1

Definitely.

I don't care how much you paid for a meter, if you don't regularly contrast/compare/crosscheck with another meter then you can't have true confidence in the numbers shown on screen.

More likely you will very quickly want to measure two voltages or voltage and current simultaneously.

Two meters to check each other is fine but remember the old proverb - A man with one watch knows what the time is, a man with two watches is never sure. You'll wind up buying a thrid, then a more accurate one and by then it will be too late....   

[Lightages]

I have said this before; the BM525 is probably a better overall meter than the BM869. Why? Well no one generally needs 50,000 counts, nor the 0.02% basic accuracy.

The BM525 has 10,000/6,000 counts, 0.08% basic accuracy, all the other features of the BM869 but also has internal logging. It can log up to 87000 measurements at up to 20 times per second. These can then be downloaded by the optional USB cable. The BM525 also has an autocheck feature which automatically determine if you are measuring voltage ac or dc or resistance. It can be useful sometimes.

The price for them BM525 is around $220 plus you need to buy the USB cable. The BM869 is around $260 plus you need the USB cable as well. IMHO, people would be better served by the BM525 as a general all round meter than the BM869.

[nctnico]

A bench top dmm could also be a option for me if they where a bit cheaper. 

Look at the Vichy VC8145. It is a very nice bench DMM for electronics work. Quick continuity, big backlit LCD and for your budget you can almost buy 2.

[DaJMasta]

I'm a fan of my Brymen BM867s - for the budget you can get the 869, but the 867 still does a great job and is quite accurate, though no data logging unless you get the cable.  If you can wait a couple months, the 121GW should be available outside of the kickstarter in that ballpark.


You could easily manage a 5.5 digit bench DMM in that pricerange used, and if you're lucky you may be able to find a 6.5 digit in the same range, and you'd be able to get data logging through GPIB or similar.

[HKJ]

You could easily manage a 5.5 digit bench DMM in that pricerange used, and if you're lucky you may be able to find a 6.5 digit in the same range, and you'd be able to get data logging through GPIB or similar.

How much do it cost to get a GPIB connection to the computer (Cable and GPIB interface)?

I avoid GPIB when looking for equipment, I fear it will be a lot of trouble and money to get a working setup, maybe I am wrong and just to lazy to find the right solution.

[stian]

If you can wait a couple months, the 121GW should be available outside of the kickstarter in that ballpark.

Thats a long waiting time.
What will the prizetag be for the 121GW?

I been watching some videos about misc dmm's and have to say im leaning towards the bm869 at the moment.

There is so many great sugestions in here that im almost more confused now than what i was before i started this thread. 
Also. i need to order a dmm from outside my contry. "Norway", because, well everything here is like 2-4x more expensive than what it should be.

https://www.welectron.com/Handheld-Multimeters  Seems to be a nice distributor located in Germany for the Brymen.
Any other ones i should know about aswell? "not only Brymen but distributor in general"

This suggested Vichy VC8145 also caught my eye.  but cant find any distributor. All my search ends up on ebay and im no big fan of ebay.
I have had to many bad experiance with them in the past.

[nctnico]

This suggested Vichy VC8145 also caught my eye.  but cant find any distributor. All my search ends up on ebay and im no big fan of ebay.
I have had to many bad experiance with them in the past.

You can also buy the VC8145 through Aliexpress.

[IanB]

Any other ones i should know about aswell? "not only Brymen but distributor in general"

TME.eu is another trustworthy vendor:

https://www.tme.eu/en/details/bm525/portable-digital-multimeters/brymen/bm525s/

Also bear in mind Lightages' suggestion about the BM525s.

[nidlaX]

If you can wait a couple months, the 121GW should be available outside of the kickstarter in that ballpark.

Thats a long waiting time.
What will the prizetag be for the 121GW?

I would not recommend getting the 121GW if it's going to be your only / primary meter. It's a beta product right now, and you can read all about the teething problems in the three stickied threads.

About the BM535 vs BM869s, I would still pick up a BM869s if it's going to be your primary meter. The extra resolution and accuracy are useful for checking the validity of other meters you may end up buying. That said, if you have to have datalogging, the BM535 is a good option.

[joeqsmith]

Hello.

I am new to this forum and this will be my 2nd post

I am sorry if this is the wrong place to post. 
Just merge this topic with the correct one if this is the wrong place to post.

Anywho, i have saved up 300 dollars for a new dmm.
Im no electrician. so i want a dmm suted for electronics. (high voltage/current inst my thingy)

I know many of you guys will just go. fluke fluke fluke fluke.
But yea. fluke is good. but verry expencive.  quality costs right?

I took a look at the bm869s brymen which seems to be a good dmm. but i like to hear what other have to say about variouse brands.
And i want a NEW dmm. Not a used one. even tho there are many nice ones on ebay.
I also took a look at the EEVblog BM235 Multimeter. maybe that is an option?

A dmm with datalogging would be nice though.
These dmm i currently have ( 2x cheep brandless chinees) are utterly useless, and one good old fluke 12B that was given to me that is somewhat usefull.

Please help me guide me in the right direction.

That's a big shift going from the 869s to the 235 in one post.  With that span, you may want to think about what you really need before buying something.   Download the manuals and start reading.   

[ChrisG]

Without a doubt the BM869s. A 5.5 digit 2nd hand bench dmm which is still in spec and of very good quality is not so
easy to get

[Someone]

For that kind of money you could buy at least 16 AN8008 multimeters 

Note the qualifier "best" in the title.

I though it was clear I was trying to make a funny comment, but I'll always recommend anyone to get at least 1 

There are some users on here using that emoticon as a inflammatory exclamation mark, so its not clear to anyone what it means.

[Oldnormanbates]

Hello.

I am new to this forum and this will be my 2nd post

I am sorry if this is the wrong place to post. 
Just merge this topic with the correct one if this is the wrong place to post.

Anywho, i have saved up 300 dollars for a new dmm.
Im no electrician. so i want a dmm suted for electronics. (high voltage/current inst my thingy)

I know many of you guys will just go. fluke fluke fluke fluke.
But yea. fluke is good. but verry expencive.  quality costs right?

I took a look at the bm869s brymen which seems to be a good dmm. but i like to hear what other have to say about variouse brands.
And i want a NEW dmm. Not a used one. even tho there are many nice ones on ebay.
I also took a look at the EEVblog BM235 Multimeter. maybe that is an option?

A dmm with datalogging would be nice though.
These dmm i currently have ( 2x cheep brandless chinees) are utterly useless, and one good old fluke 12B that was given to me that is somewhat usefull.

Please help me guide me in the right direction.

Go to Banggood and buy one for under $20 or even less, just look at overall specs and good ranges. Shoot, I haven't bought a fluke or even a main brand since being a Ham for over 50yrs. Now when I was Director of Engineering for Companies in Seattle, We would pick up Flukes, but typically because there was some crazy spec that required it or more over it had a Calibration Certificate. N7PB RememberTubes[emoji767] Paul OldNormanBates

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

[DougSpindler]

WAIT.......  I posted a similar question about a month ago.  I was login for.a meter which can also do data logging.  The $50 Dave did a review on is serial and no longer available.  So nice person suggested I look at the Mooshimeter.  I wound up buying one.  I’ts a different from the other DVMM in that it has two channels so one can measure voltage in one circuit an current in another at the same time and do data loggin at the same time. It was only $100.  What makes this a bit of a different animal is the display is on your smartphone which has it’s advantages and disadvantage. It is very well made and comes in a nice case.

May not be what you are looking for.....  But where can you buy a dual channel DVMM for $100?

[Robomeds]

If used is an option, the Fluke 187/189 is hard to beat.  So much of what is great about the 87 plus a lot more.  The 189 has logging and both have outputs though they are, to the best of my knowledge, via proprietary connectors and protocols.

[Candid]

https://www.welectron.com/Handheld-Multimeters  Seems to be a nice distributor located in Germany for the Brymen.
Any other ones i should know about aswell? "not only Brymen but distributor in general"

Welectron is a really good seller in germany and one of the Brymens surely will fit your needs. As Joe suggested you should have a look in the manuals. Getting a good dmm is one thing getting the right dmm for your needs another.

You may think about getting two dmms. For me personally I often use the more simple but extremely robust and small Fluke 107 as daily dmm when I am not at the bench or when I need a second one at the bench. At the bench I like the Brymen 235 or the Fluke 28II. I bought the EEVBlog Brymen 235 to support Dave otherwise I would have bought the BM869 as bench dmm. But this is my personal view.

[Deridex]

So far i can recommend the Keysight 1241C. We got a few of em at work. I can't remember any Problems with these.

Ps: The continuouty-beeper seems to be as fast as the fluke ones.

[rsjsouza]

At this price range I vote for the Brymen 867/869 and perhaps the 525 suggested by Lightages. I have a BM857 (previous generation) and I really like it, but it lacks the dual display feature of the 867/869.

I also have a U1273A that is quite good as well - this meter has the dual display, which shows AC/DC or AC/frequency simultaneously, as well as a few additional capabilities that I use frequently, such as Zlow and a very wide range resistance and capacitance meters (300M and 30000uF). The  LCD version (U1272A) is also cheaper.

BTW, Fluke is not alone in having good continuity tester. Brymens and Keysights have that as well.

[nctnico]

I see a lot of handhelds bein recommended and wonder how appearantly so few get fed up with changing batteries.

[Fungus]

I see a lot of handhelds bein recommended and wonder how appearantly so few get fed up with changing batteries.

Not everybody goes for an Agilent with OLED screen...?

My meter gets 1000 hours use from a 9V battery, that's years of use in reality.

[Mr. Scram]

I see a lot of handhelds bein recommended and wonder how appearantly so few get fed up with changing batteries.

That's because it's rarely needed. Other than second hand meters that came with spent batteries, I don't think I've changed any batteries.

Meanwhile, the Brymens suggested here are fairly solid kit, while the Vichy bench meter isn't something I would really rely on. It's fine as a guesstimeter, but that's about it.

[nctnico]

I see a lot of handhelds bein recommended and wonder how appearantly so few get fed up with changing batteries.

That's because it's rarely needed. Other than second hand meters that came with spent batteries, I don't think I've changed any batteries.
about it.

In my handheld the battery always died when I needed it the most. And how about auto-shutdown? That is pretty annoying too. I only have one handheld DMM which goes along to customers. The rest are bench DMMs. I'm not quite sure where you want to go with your remark about Brymen versus Vicy. Both are low end brands and I don't expect the inside to be better or lesser quality between the two. Last time I checked (using my Keysight 34461A) my VC8145s meet their specs.

[rsjsouza]

I see a lot of handhelds bein recommended and wonder how appearantly so few get fed up with changing batteries.

That's because it's rarely needed. Other than second hand meters that came with spent batteries, I don't think I've changed any batteries.
about it.

In my handheld the battery always died when I needed it the most. And how about auto-shutdown? That is pretty annoying too. I only have one handheld DMM which goes along to customers. The rest are bench DMMs. I'm not quite sure where you want to go with your remark about Brymen versus Vicy. Both are low end brands and I don't expect the inside to be better or lesser quality between the two. Last time I checked (using my Keysight 34461A) my VC8145s meet their specs.

Even with my U1273A with its shiny OLED display I really thought that battery was going to be a huge problem, but that didn't happen. Auto Power Off is something quite annoying at times but it can be easily disabled.

Despite your VC8145s are still in cal after all those years, Vici's offerings in the handheld market are light years behind Brymen! There is absolutely no comparison in robustness and build quality between a VC99 or a VC9807A and anything that Brymen has had in a long time.

[Mr. Scram]

In my handheld the battery always died when I needed it the most. And how about auto-shutdown? That is pretty annoying too. I only have one handheld DMM which goes along to customers. The rest are bench DMMs. I'm not quite sure where you want to go with your remark about Brymen versus Vicy. Both are low end brands and I don't expect the inside to be better or lesser quality between the two. Last time I checked (using my Keysight 34461A) my VC8145s meet their specs.

Decent handheld multimeters generally have a setting to turn off auto-shutdown. I checked the manual for the Brymen BM869s and it sports this option. Though even the cheap AN8008 can apparently do it too.

Although I'm not arguing against a bench meter. It's just that when the choice is between a top end Brymen or a Vichy the Brymen seems to be the obvious winner. I don't think Brymen and Vichy are in the same league. Brymen has proven itself for a while now and is tested quite thoroughly by a critical crowd.

[nctnico]

I see a lot of handhelds bein recommended and wonder how appearantly so few get fed up with changing batteries.

That's because it's rarely needed. Other than second hand meters that came with spent batteries, I don't think I've changed any batteries.
about it.

In my handheld the battery always died when I needed it the most. And how about auto-shutdown? That is pretty annoying too. I only have one handheld DMM which goes along to customers. The rest are bench DMMs. I'm not quite sure where you want to go with your remark about Brymen versus Vicy. Both are low end brands and I don't expect the inside to be better or lesser quality between the two. Last time I checked (using my Keysight 34461A) my VC8145s meet their specs.

Even with my U1273A with its shiny OLED display I really thought that battery was going to be a huge problem, but that didn't happen. Auto Power Off is something quite annoying at times but it can be easily disabled.

Despite your VC8145s are still in cal after all those years, Vici's offerings in the handheld market are light years behind Brymen! There is absolutely no comparison in robustness and build quality between a VC99 or a VC9807A and anything that Brymen has had in a long time.

But my point is not about Vici's handhelds but their very cost effective bench-top model which IMHO has excellent value for money (even for using in a business like I do). Brymen doesn't seem to have bench-top meters at all.