Frequency of Hardware Refreshes?

[Wil_Bloodworth]

I am considering buying a [new] Keithley DMM6500.  I noticed that it came out circa 2018 and since it's now 2024 and there hasn't been a firmware update since April of 2022.  Would you expect Keithley to be replacing it with, I dunno, a DMM6501 model that will have newer/faster everything?

Just trying to avoid plopping down $1400 to only find out in two months that it is now *old* so is there a "common" time frame or cycle that tools manufacturers live by?  I know everything is "relative" but Keithley considers the DMM6500 a "low cost" meter.

Thanks,

- Wil

[wasedadoc]

What are you doing, or going to be doing, that requires a 6.5 digit meter?  (And the regular sending to a calibration outfit to keep it at 6.5 digit performance.)

[Wil_Bloodworth]

What are you doing, or going to be doing, that requires a 6.5 digit meter?  (And the regular sending to a calibration outfit to keep it at 6.5 digit performance.)

What does *need* have to do with the question?  In addition, there are a ton of features of this meter that have nothing to do with the 6.5 digits of precision.

[ejeffrey]

It's not like the concept of voltmeters or the state of the art in ppm level voltage measurements have changed a lot in the last 10 years.  I wouldn't necessarily expect a new version soon, and even if one comes out I wouldn't expect it to have a ton of killer feature that make an older one "obsolete."

If it was my money Id look at an older used meter for exactly these reasons.  The last things that really made a difference were Ethernet and USB replacing GPIB and serial, and LCD display replacing VFD.

[Wil_Bloodworth]

It's not like the concept of voltmeters or the state of the art in ppm level voltage measurements have changed a lot in the last 10 years.  I wouldn't necessarily expect a new version soon, and even if one comes out I wouldn't expect it to have a ton of killer feature that make an older one "obsolete."

If it was my money Id look at an older used meter for exactly these reasons.  The last things that really made a difference were Ethernet and USB replacing GPIB and serial, and LCD display replacing VFD.

Thank you. This is exactly what I was looking for.

I'm not interested in anything "not brand new".  I'm looking for all the modern features like USB connectivity, Networking, HDMI out, web server built-in, etc.  I don't care about saving a couple of dollars and I would prefer to buy once and not have to buy again for another 15+ years.

And as wasedadoc eluded to, the 6.5 digits wasn't a deciding factor. Brand name and features are more important to me.

- Wil

[rcjoy]

There are probably fewer firmware updates since they have now gotten most of the bugs out.

Consider it to be the in the goldilocks zone: modern and current, yet stable and reliable.

The 6.5 digits is also really useful to track small changes, as opposed to the absolute accuracy.

[Wil_Bloodworth]

There are probably fewer firmware updates since they have now gotten most of the bugs out.

Consider it to be the in the goldilocks zone: modern and current, yet stable and reliable.

The 6.5 digits is also really useful to track small changes, as opposed to the absolute accuracy.

The things that are most important to me are:

• Keithley
• Built-in Web Server so I can share/stream the UI directly from one or more more devices
• Rear Inputs
• Touch Screen / Beautiful UI
• Charting / Monitoring over time
• Expandable via rear expansion slots
• Remote controllable
• Programmable / Scriptable
• Save/Load setup directly on the UI
• FAST FAST FAST

The 6.5 digit part was not really important but was more of a "I don't know what I don't know right now... so get 6.5 instead of 5.5".

- Wil