notbob wrote:
On 2012-01-09, Home Guy wrote:

A $40 or $50 meter will be fine for a moderately advanced home engineer
/ hobbyist.

The botton line is regularity of use and ruggedness of construction.
If you're only gonna use it a few times per year, get a cheapo at
Radio Shack. If you are going to start building electical kits or
trouble shooting your car/motorcycle, house wiring, etc, and end up
using it every day or several times per week, spend the money on one
that can take the repeated use/abuse.

It's not about accuracy or the most features, it's about reliability.
Cheapo meters will not last. The connectors will fail, the switches
will short out, the display will become iffy. I know, as I used to
maintain production floor tools, including multi-meters, at two high
tech mfg companies.

Cheap meters fall apart sooner than more expensive meters. It's that
simple. You decide which is most suited to your application and
wallet.

nb

Cheaper are easier to replace, but if your in the field, you need
reliability.

I did one of those things once where you go to a place to have a discussion
group, and you get paid for participating. Easy money. It was all about
discussing multimeters. Big table in room with chairs around, some
moderator, and a glass window with secret people behind. I was not suppose
to tell, but it's been some time, it was fluke behind the window. I think I
was the only electronic technician. They were wanting to know what
technicians wanted and how they used the meters. I think the biggest point
was meters and leads. Wanted more automatic setups.

Greg