) writes:

At least with a cheap one, you can throw it in the garbage without
worrying about it being a big loss.

Then, you just buy what's cheap and available. If you are only spending
$10 or $20, you can also toss it in the garbage if it's not suitable.

It's when you are spending big bucks that you need recommendations.

I have a twenty year old Radio Shack that's still running, though I
took it out of regular use for other reasons. The replacement, in 1996,
was a Radio Shack too (I lusted after a bigger readout, and more functions,
so I splurged), and it too keeps running. I suspect that is the case
for most DMMs, unless someone is really careless. There are other issues
when buying a DMM, but most of those come into play when spending hundreds
of dollars, because you are going to an expensive meter for reasons of
good calibration or something else that's not there at the cheap end.

Have you actually checked to make sure that you have good batteries in
the Flukes?

Michael