On the subject of weird readings on a Fluke when the batteries get low.
I worked for a company where the maintenance electricians old el-cheapo moving coil meters were all replaced with Fluke.
I had an electrician come to me with a puzzle, he was out in the shop measuring what was essentially a 120vac control circuit and his meter was showing 240vac.
I told him to change the batteries and cured his problem!.
Max.

 

I have a 30 year old Beckman 310 and a Radio Shack something that is 20 years old. Both still working fine. I usually just grab which ever one is closest. If I were looking to buy new it would likely be a Fluke as Beckman is no longer making meters.

My first DMM was an obscure Chinese make that I fished out the bin where I worked at the time - the Ohms & AC ranges were dead, when I opened it up there was a large LSI chip and a socketed 8Dil op-amp, I took the easy option and replaced that - to my surprise the Ohms & AC ranges were back. Luckily I was able to borrow a recently calibrated instrument to set it up by.

For professional standard work; Fluke is a good bet - if you've got deep pockets.

I've found that Maplin is good for run of the mill quality at Fluke like prices!

Generally speaking; any DMM that looks like decent build quality - is probably good for general work.

 

I walked into a TV shop in Warsaw Indiana ...

Small world. My neighbor grew up there and my daughter recently moved there. Odd for town of 14,000 on the edge of nowhere.

 

Ask one of them if Frauheiger is still a big name in that town.
His name was all over the place in 1972. The TV shop, the car wash, the laundromat.
Which meant I ended up replacing hoses in clothes washers and car wash pumps.

 

I like Fluke 87's... I prefer the first running ones... their resistance measurements only test at 0.7ish volts... the newer 87V's put out up to 8 volts... this is so that LED's illuminate. I don't need that... and higher voltages can damage parts these days... better to keep it low voltage.

 

I like Fluke 87's... I prefer the first running ones... their resistance measurements only test at 0.7ish volts... the newer 87V's put out up to 8 volts... this is so that LED's illuminate. I don't need that... and higher voltages can damage parts these days... better to keep it low voltage.

Hence why I suggest Fluke meters cause if you watch ebay and have time to wait.. You can get a really nice fluke for about $50 or so which beats out any cheap chinese meter that would cost about the fluke ande the fluke will last a lifetime. Also the safe design of the fluke will save your life incase of any accident and most likly be still usable after you change the fuses... Dont believe me just check out Dave jones destroying multimeters..I got my fluke 77 Series II for about $40 shipped and got my Fluke 87 series I or II for about $67shipped..

 

@Dr.killjoy - I got my Fluke 87 - new in box - with original leads - mint condition for $80 about 6 months ago. I'm not sure it had ever been used. I'm looking for a couple more deals like that... I'm a EE with a home lab on a budget.