General > General Technical Chat
Do you guys have GAS or you buy only the gear you really need for your job?
ercapoccia:
I really want the DMM6500, it has been sitting on the cart with a nice probe master kit for few weeks, i could not find yet a valid reason to justify the purchase with myself.
I'd buy for my professional repair lab, that is about 10/20% of my company income but it would be really an overkill for my needs, i'd just like to play around with it. :o |O
I try to invest every year part of the revenue to buy new gear, last year i got a not too expensive AC/DC tig welder with few accessories. This year i was looking at a bench DMM.
How do you guys manage the budget for buying new equipment?
edy:
I would look at your return on investment. There is a video by Louis Rossmann who fixes iPhones, iMacs and other tech gear and he said it cost him a bundle for an ultrasonic cleaner, but it made him back the money multiple times over. At the time he was living in a crappy apartment and barely making any money, but it was one of the best investments he ever made.
Here is the video... it should start at the right time, but if not, fast forward to 5:33....
https://youtu.be/_LIz3pGYWek?t=333
You need to ask yourself if that particular piece of equipment is the best value proposition and will allow you to jump to the next level of work/experience or help you tackle more difficult jobs and ultimately make you more money. If I'm a carpenter and I blow through $20 hammers ever week (and risk injuring myself, others, or being inefficient)... maybe I should splurge for a $200 hammer that will last me a year and work flawlessly the entire time?
ercapoccia:
Thank you, i know Louis very well and i usually have the same mind set about equipment. I'm always very careful on what i buy.
In this case the answer is probably not, it won't give me any real benefit right now, maybe in the future who knows. That's why i'm asking.
jogri:
Get yourself the cheapest tool that can do the job reasonably well, if you manage to break it or reach the limits of what it can do repeatedly get yourself the high-end version.
In the case of your 6500: Why exactly do you need this device? Do you frequently need to view the data without a PC/laptop/tablet nearby? Probably not if you are working in a lab.
(The "cheapest tool" in your case would probably be something like a used 34401A if you need 6.5 digits (do you really need it, 4.5 and 5.5 digit meters are way cheaper?) or a 34970A if you need a good datalogger [~500 bucks incl. cards and way more usefull than a normal DMM].)
Before you buy anything expensive, make a list of when you absolutely need feature X that only the expensive product has and think about how to work around this, while keeping in mind how much time your workaround will cost you (how often do you have to use it before the cost of additional working hours outweights the initial saving?)
ercapoccia:
Those are very good suggestions, i agree that this is how business should be done and it is how (almost) always select what to buy.
What i'm really curious to know is if you guys always follow those wisdom rules.
Do you never get any tool just because it's cool?
My work is also one of my hobby, i love what i do and i'm always trying to improve. Playing with a new shiny toy would give me the opportunity to learn new things.
It always worked for me in the past.
I do need a second multimeter, and the best choice for me would be to get another Brymen 869s or maybe a Vici 8145 just to try something new.
The DMM6500 is 4x the brymen and it will give me only marginal benefit in my work flow but i'd be lots of fun.
Anyway the expense in the scheme of things it is not extreme, it's probably what i make when i work full time in the weekend.
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