I was doing the exact same research last night as my current manual range DMM was confusing the heck out of me (I was getting very different numbers switching between the 10A and mA). I ended up going with the Extech EX330. Seemed to be very well reviewed, especially from Adafruit (they are electronic wizards in my eyes). I'll let you know what I think of it when it arrives on Tuesday.
Widely regarded by many hobbyists is the Equus 3320 Auto-Ranging Digital Multimeter. Best bang for the price. Just google the model and you’ll find literally hundreds of positive reviews. Several BLF’rs have them as well. Among many other things, it also has a function to load-test batteries.
+1 I just received this meter. Must admit I was put off initialy by a few negative reviews over at Amazon…but it turns out it’s a great meter thus far. Spot on.
As for the negative reviews, I guess there’s lemons in all manufactured goods and you hear them the loudest. I know I’d bitch if mine came DOA.
I was looking at the Equus, but I could not find out the current resolution. It seemed like it would only read in the 10's of milli-amps. I want to be able to measure in the micro-amps, such as the power being used by a microprocessor.
EDIT: Just found the datasheet, looks like it can read down to 10µA. Not a super accurate reading (1% + 5 digits), but not bad. Hmm, maybe I should have given that a shot.
I have the 3320 but I never get very high readings, even with better leads. I’ve thought of getting another just to see. One that can measure pwm cheap would be cool.
I don’t necessarily think that you made a poor choice with the ExTech. I’ve never used one, but I’ve heard good things about their value. Just offering up another suggestion for future browsers of this thread…
That dude from EVBlog gives me such a headache. Over Dramatic doesn’t even begin to describe him. His reviews usually aren’t terrible though if you turn the volume WAY down…
This is super great for less than $30 bucks if it can really measure sound level, luminance, humidity and temperature, apart from the usual DMM / multimeter functions. Really makes it a MULTI-meter!
It goes on sale commonly… Perhaps every month or two I notice it at the sale price.
The reason you can’t find anyone else selling it is because Harbor Freight re-badges and re-model-numbers it. It’s made by Mastech and it’s real part number is MS8229. It’s also available as the Protek 6300 and probably several other makes/models.