Well I am going through the specs and it really makes it a hard choice.
The 34465A seems to be more accurate apart from the low Ohm range, which in all honesty I do not care all that much, I do not build shunts every day and even when I use them
there are other ways to calibrate them.
Generally with their "truevolt" trademark, they got better DC and AC stability. And a big difference also comes from the AutoCal feature, especially for the long term stability.
The DMM6500 has the interface, "wow-factor" low Ohm, higher diode testing voltage and so on going for it. If I was comparing with the 34461A then the DMM6500 would clearly
be better, much better as a feature and performance ratio.
Of course the 34465A costs quite bit more but that ACAL... that ACAL really makes a difference long term. Do I really need it? Yeah, I guess kinda, yes.
The DMM6500 has also better programmability and scripting, but it would be yet another scripting language I got to learn and then I will forget.
Since both companies support labview then I would much prefer to set up a labview program given the need for automation. Also from some random comments
I saw that people tended to be more happy with BenchVue and it is provided for free from what I understood. A confirmation on this would be great.
One great thing that the 34465A has, is the low current range. Since I work with microcontrollers and have also done some IoT before, current draw datalogging seems really
possible.
It is a really hard choice really. Between the DMM6500 and the 34461A, I would have gone with the DMM6500 hands down. Now it´s much more tempting to go with
the 34465A after I have done the comparison, but it´s also tempting to keep the money difference and equip my lab with a function gen, or something similar that is still
missing.
Tough call really, if the dealership comes through with a good enough offer, I will go for the 34465A. Else most probably I will go with the DMM6500.
If there is something I absolutely have to know, speak now or else be silent forever!
Cheers!
Lefteris