Products > Test Equipment
Brymen vs bench top multimeter
nctnico:
Buy the Vicy VC8145 and be done with it.
nightfire:
I also had the same thoughts, as I equipped my bench. Long story short, I have two bench meters, bought used on ebay in good condition.
Advantages of a bench meter, that mattered to me:
- no batteries could go bad, empty or leak
- no powersaving shutdown
- illuminated display, AND no powersaving 15 seconds or so for no illumination again
- higher precision for same price
- stackable
I ended up with a Fluke 8600a and Fluke 45, which are more than good enough for what I am measuring. Of course, with some drawbacks, like no autoranging on the 8600a, but when you know what you are doing, autoranging in lots of cases is not needed.
I personally would try not to get those fancy bench meters below 200 $/€ - in most cases they are simply handhelds fitted in a case and then sold as "bench", so you get only the better power supply.
nctnico:
--- Quote from: nightfire on April 06, 2023, 09:25:41 pm ---I personally would try not to get those fancy bench meters below 200 $/€ - in most cases they are simply handhelds fitted in a case and then sold as "bench", so you get only the better power supply.
--- End quote ---
Why not? Your reasoning makes absolutely no sense to me. In the end not having to swap batteries and being able to leave it on all day is a major comfort improvement well worth the money. For bench use I'd take any bench meter with a power cord over any handheld just for the comfort. I could not care less about what is inside; I want the bench functionality.
nightfire:
The value of those cheap bench meters is... IMHO not very good. Here some used buy for nearly the same money will probably provide better value.
I got my Fluke 45 (calibrated) for 250 Euros, and have a reliable instrument.
But yes, I agree- when bench function and lack of batteries is the prime aim, then those cheap bench meters will fit the bill.
But as a good quality DMM is available, I would consider it as a waste of money to buy for similar money some bench DMM with significantly poorer performance.
nctnico:
--- Quote from: nightfire on April 06, 2023, 09:44:48 pm ---The value of those cheap bench meters is... IMHO not very good. Here some used buy for nearly the same money will probably provide better value.
I got my Fluke 45 (calibrated) for 250 Euros, and have a reliable instrument.
But yes, I agree- when bench function and lack of batteries is the prime aim, then those cheap bench meters will fit the bill.
But as a good quality DMM is available, I would consider it as a waste of money to buy for similar money some bench DMM with significantly poorer performance.
--- End quote ---
But that is the kicker: the VC8145 has more features, better accuracy for AC true RMS compared to the Fluke 45. And after a decade of sitting on my bench it is still bang-on because it is built around a good quality voltage reference. It is a fallacy to think the old meters are somehow better. They are not. Extremely outdated is the term I'd use. I have fallen into the trap thinking that old equipment is somehow better one time too many and kept my eyes open since then. When I look for test equipment I dig deep into the specs & reviews and think long & hard about what actually brings me value for my money.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version