Agilent U1242B First Impressions

[ndzied1]

Been over 15 years since I got a new meter and wasn't trusting the old one which is a really bad feeling.

Watched a lot of reviews, mostly from Dave and had a certain budget to stay within.  I zeroed in on Agilent U1242B for a few reasons:

• Wanted something new and Fluke 87V was out of my budget
• Use 4-20mA quite a bit and liked the thought of the 0-100% display for 4-20mA
• Thought the switch count function sounded neat
• Liked the idea of the serial interface although didn't purchase the USB or Bluetooth adapter yet
• Liked the internal temperature display even if it isn't very accurate
• Don't care about "slow" response on the continuity check

I purchased the unit from Newark.com (Element 14) and it arrived in a few days. 

In the box is the meter, basic insulated lead set, quick start guide, calibration certificate and...
  the required plastic adapter to use the USB or Bluetooth serial interfaces.  I read several places that people had to purchase this separately and so it was nice to see it there.

So far everything is as expected except for two things:

• When you turn off the beep via the setup menu, the thing makes a very wanky noise when you turn it on.  Not sure if anything is being damaged but it just sounds wrong.
• A big thumbs down for the flip down portion of the tilting bale.  The normal bale operation folds out and back just fine.  There is a short piece on the end of the bale that is supposed to fold down for a lower sitting angle.  This thing falls off 75% of the time when I try to bend it over.    a true piece of ****!

I tried to attache a picture of the part of the bale I'm talking about but this is my first post here so not sure how it will come through.

[nanofrog]

Contact Agilent.

They'll likely send you a new tilting bale for it instead of having to ship the entire unit back (I have a U1252B, and the bale stays on <both parts>; it uses the same dk. gray & orange meter enclosure as yours).

[tszaboo]

I also got my hands on one not long ago, with BT. The BT reach is a bit short, it was failing 5m long or so. And the feeling of the meter is definitely different from Fluke. But to be honest I prefer this over the flukes in the same price range at the moment. The long term will tell if it is worth it or not.
BTW the title has too many 1-s.