In message
Zak wrote:

... Today I can buy a regularly stocked item like the super-cheapo
single-chip digital multimeter from a UK shop like Maplins for £8
($8) and that includes the battery. Although Maplins call it a
"domestic tester" it is more than just that:

600V-200V-20V-2000mV-200mV plus 600VAC-200VAC
10A-200mA-20mA-2000uA-200uA
2000kO-200kO-20kO-2000O-200O
transistor and functions
overall accuracy approx +/-0.5% to +/-1.0%

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=37279&doy=26m6

How does something as ridiculously cheap as this meter compare, in
terms of measurement accuracy, to an old stye AVOmeter?

At least as well (within their more limited ranges), plus being
quicker/easier to read, or listen-to for continuity-checks: perfectly
adequate for most purposes.

I've three of these (I couldn't resist the last two - 'buy one, get one
free' for, at the time, £4.99 IIRC), and use them far more than either
my 'upmarket' digital meter or venerable Avo 8, still needed for
measuring DC kilovolts, AC current or signal-voltages), and the
fluctuating values for which 'analogue' beats 'digital'.

The mechanical construction of the switching-arrangements is the main
weak point, but (as so many products nowadays) they're a constant
reminder of how hard the Chinese have to work to scratch a living, and
how difficult it is for the affluent West to retain/regain our
competitiveness ...

--
Peter Duck