Opinion on best LCR meter for $200 or less?

[MatCat]

I am looking to get an LCR meter with a budget of $200, what is everyone's recommendation?

[DaJMasta]

The default recommendation is the DER DE-5000, and it's a good one.  About half your price with no extras and comparable performance to meters for the next hundred or two above your budget.

[MatCat]

Awesome, that looks like a great meter and meets my needs!  Anyone know of any US distributors?

[NoisyBoy]

Nothing on their website, I just got mine from Amazon last week.  Just look for a seller with good review, and ideally Amazon fulfillment.  Meter arrived a week after order.

[TWMIV]

I purchased one about a year and a half ago from a Japanese seller on eBay. I just looked again and there are quite a few still from Japanese eBay vendors and only one available in the USA with a significant price increase. Shipping took about 2 weeks.

[NoisyBoy]

Beware of what's included.  I did look at ebay as well, most of the lower cost seller only sells the meter, you need the cable kits for it to be functional.  When you look at the pricing for the kit, the ebay price is only a couple dollars lower. 

Consider the long ship time, as well as potential custom duties, I decided that I'd rather pay a couple bucks more to get it from Amazon, especially when Amazon handles the fulfillment itself.

[DaJMasta]

Definitely worth getting some attachments, but it is perfectly usable without cables if you just stick through hole parts into the terminals on the front.  I'd get the alligator leads and the tweezers for sure, probably don't need the battery adapter since the battery life is pretty good.

[NoisyBoy]

Agree on the 9V power supply, I thought it was way over-priced for what you get, most of the kits I saw does not include that.

I still have to get used to the super short lead on the alligator clips, and I am starting to really like the idea to upgrade it to the longer Kelvin clips.