Yep, it seems to come down to the 115 and 257s. I really hate to become a test case but maybe I'll give the 257s a try. If it doesn't turn out to be a good meter I can dig a conservative hole and just stay there
If it's for a present then:
a) Maybe 'big and yellow' trumps 'features' when you're at college (17B+ way cooler than BM257).
b) Maybe TRMS isn't as important to him as the engineers here are imagining.
The 17B+ is a pretty good multimeter for a student
(In fact, it's a pretty good multimeter, period. I certainly wouldn't turn one down...)