Advice on choosing a multimeter

[ehayashi300]

Hello Everyone

I am new here and would like to ask other forum members of their experiences with any of the following multimeter's:

This is the one I thought would be good for me:
http://www.newark.com/fluke/fluke-117/multimeter-digital-handheld/dp/83K1721


I think it does everything I would want, but thought it might be worth getting advice from other people who have used them in practice. I am going to be using it for tinkering with Arduino kits, audio amps etc.

I was originally trying to stick to a $200 budget… Is it worth spending more for a high precision device just in case I need one down line?

Fancier alternatives include:

Fluke 177
Fluke 87-5

Thanks
Edward

 

[alexan_e]

I have one of these
79999 reading, high accuracy and some nice features like duty, average/min/max and can also transfer the data to the pc using UART.

The cost is less than $150

 

[prestonee]

I have been using a fluke since my college days in engineering.
I will say fluke makes some of the best most reliable multimeters.
I highly recommend sticking with fluke brand. They are also true to their accuracy specs, so as long as you are happy with the accuracy reported on its spec sheet you wont be disappointed.
I used this model in college in the electronics lab, before graduating i bought a 179 and it still works great.
-Pb

 

[dick_freebird]

Fluke makes really good, really expensive meters.

If you can have only one, then you might prefer to look at
features beyond the usual. For example I got one on sale
at Radio Shack which adds frequency and thermocouple
to the usual modes (including the thermocouple adapter
in the kit); I've seen others with C and you might, these
days, find both L and C.

For home / garage / hobby use and a limited budget I
will pick features over pedigree any time. If I was doing
production work and needed to certify, that's another
matter (and if you're not up for cal-on-schedule-at-your-
expense, resign yourself to believing without knowing
in any case).