I wanted to buy the Fluke 87 but ended buying ut71d.
I was in the same situation. I wanted a 87V but couldn't justify the price at the time. I bought a UT71D, and more recently needed a second meter with similar accuracy so I finally bought an 87V.
My 2c about the UT71D:
Pros:
-Out of the box DC accuracy is excellent. Within 3 counts of a Fluke 87V (@20000 count).
-AC accuracy is not too bad either.
-AC bandwidth is excellent (100khz+)
-Peak function is far more useful than an 87V due to the higher AC bandwidth.
-Frequency counter shits on the 87V..., counts higher on the same voltage as the 87V. 60Mhz @ 1Vrms is no problem.
-Capable of AC+DC rms measurement.
-Backlight is very bright and even.
-Datalogging. Implementation is basic but does the job.
-Look and feel is decent for the price.
Cons:
-Backlight can only be enabled for 30seconds at a time.
-No touch hold.
-No averaging capability.
-There seems to be an issue with frequency response flatness when measuring AC. Mine takes a ~3% dip around 25-40khz then over-reads slightly as it approaches 100khz.
-The display update rate in 40000 count is slow (2 updates per second). Autoranging on AC is dog slow and it takes a long time to settle on DC mV and AC.
-You can put it into 4000 count mode via a power-on option which makes it super fast (~7-10 updates per second) however it does nothing to speed up the auto ranging or settling time.
-It displays garbage readings on the display while autoranging
-The resistance measurement must not use the dynamic range of the ADC effectively because only has about 4000 counts of real resolution. This is undocumented and a major trap if you are unaware of it.
-Capacitance measurement is affected by parasitics. And slow.
-Continuity is hopelessly slow.
-It beeps every time you press a button or rotate the selector. Beeping can only be disabled globally (through a menu, about 10 button presses) which silences the continuity beeper and lead/jack alerts as well. I don't like how the 87V beeps on button presses either but at least they give you a power on option to shut it up.
-Flimsy split jacks for voltage/common. Current jacks are a beefier split type which are acceptable.
-Very power hungry. 9mA~ on most ranges = poor life out of a 9V battery.
-Abysmal input protection.
-Calibrated by a myriad of trim pots, so long term stability is going to be worse than a digitally calibrated meter like a Fluke.
It is really like a $50 meter with better resolution/accuracy on voltage/current modes and data logging. All the other functionality (resistance, continuity, capacitance, etc) is poor. It makes a good secondary meter if you already have an 87V or similar, but it will piss you off as your main meter. If you want a serious 40000+ count meter look for a second hand Fluke 187/189.