Products > Test Equipment

Best Multimeter for 600-700 USD?

(1/2) > >>

TDrew83:
Hey Guys...

Just a bit of advice required, what's the best multimeter for electronics and priced around 600-700 USD?. There seems to be a lot to choose from!

Tom

jabramo:
Ummm so are you looking for a bench or handheld??

I think once you get into the 600-700 dollar range there isn't a clear winner. They will all be rock solid. Why do you need such an expensive meter? For most people 600 dollars on a meter is a waste.

So that being said if you looking for a hand held meter you don't have too many options.

You could go for a Fluke 289 which has a suggest retail price of 599.99 but they go for cheaper. It's a 50,000 count meter

~400$ will get you a U1252B which is Agilents hand held. It's 50,000 count as well.

There are a few Metrahit meters in the 600-700 dollar range. You can check those out.

Bench Meters

~700 Fluke 8808A which is a 5.5 digit meter

~600 Agilent U3402A 5.5 digit meter

~700 Rigol DM3058 5.5 digit meter

~600 Keithly 2110 5.5 digit meter

Again there's no clear winner. All the meters will be top quality.

TDrew83:
Thanks for the detailed response.

To cut a long story short we have budgets we have to spend, don't spend em, you lose em!  So I was thinking I could do with a decent meter (handheld).

I purchased one years ago when I was first getting into electronics but because I was a noob I got something not very useful. A fluke 117, a electricians meter not for electronics! dow! (most diffidently a trap for young players!). I later followed it up with a UNI-T UT71D out of desperation but its a bit crap compared to fluke quality.

I had about 700 USD left over so, it seemed like the way to go. Its not like I get to keep the difference or anything.

I like the OLED's on the new Agilent's but I hear they are really horrible on battery life? My of my test/measurement equipment is fluke and its always been rock solid for me.

Tom

jabramo:
Pretty much all high resolution Agilent hand held meters have poor to average battery life.
If you look at their brochure http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/5989-7340EN.pdf

You'll see that their new OLED U1273AX meter has 50-100 hours of battery life. A lot better than the 8 hours on the U1253B.

The fluke 289 has a graphical display which some people dislike but I don't mind it that much. We had one at work and while it definitelywasn't as crisp as a regular segmented display it never bothered me. Anyways that gets 100-200 which isn't bad either. Keep in mind that the fluke takes 6 AA batteries, the U1273AX takes 4.

Also you can always go with a 87V which is always going to be rock solid in every aspect. You'll have some extra money left over for something else like maybe a new soldering station or what ever else you could think of.

FenderBender:
Unless you are sending something to the moon...or mars...I don't really see a point in getting a meter above $200-300. Even then, your price:performance ratio isn't all that great. Not sure your situation, but yeah, perhaps some other equipment? Even some hand tools? Not sure what exactly your job is. I've found one of the best investments I've made is a Panavise Jr! Or a new soldering iron? Hot air rework station? Power supply? I don't know. Can you think of anything else you might need...or do you literally have it all and now you just want to spend it?

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page