Agilent 34461A Opinions

[apelly]

Cyber Monday approaches and I'm after some advice objective opinions.

I'm interested in an Agilent 34461A; It looks like the most bang for your buck in the sort of 1k price range. Has anyone got any comments on this front?

Also, any idea if Tequipment are allowed to ship this outside the US? I ask because I'm aware of the Fluke issue.

Edit: Here's a link http://www.tequipment.net/Agilent/34461A/

[VK5RC]

Very happy with mine,  especially the graphing and mathematical functions.  Very user friendly,  haven't had to look at the manual yet!  Some people seem to need faster sampling. 

[motocoder]

I love mine. My only complaint is the boot time.

[HighVoltage]

I am really happy with it too, but was annoyed by the fact that it only does 5k thermistor measurements and is not switchable to any other value.
Highly recommend this instrument.
 

[tautech]

Any chance you might like a demo of a Siglent SDM3055 in a couple of weeks when I get mine?

[LA7SJA]

  I am really happy with it too, the boot time is a bit long but the instrument needs at least 30 min to become accurate so it is not something you turn on for a quick measurement anyway (for that I use my 87-V). 4W resistance measurement is great for pinpointing shorts on multilayer PCB and to match low value resistors. I have had mine for 6 months now, and I have no issues or features that I miss from my HP344401 (who died/fried in a thunderstorm last spring ).
I highly recommend this instrument for most types of lab work. What bothers me the most with it is that I can only afford one.

Proud owner of Agilent 34461A

[DJ]

Would like one, but not enough of a need to pay full list price.

$1100  nope. $1K probably not. $900 yep.

[LabSpokane]

I really enjoy mine. 

[apelly]

Any chance you might like a demo of a Siglent SDM3055 in a couple of weeks when I get mine?

Thanks for the offer. I'll keep you in mind if I don't buy anything soon.

[EEVblog]

Cyber Monday approaches

Cyber Monday?

[EEVblog]

The 34461A is certainly the overall pick of the current bench meters, I don't think you'll ever regret it. Apart from the odd UI quirk, it's very nice to use.
Even the Fluke fanboys generally recommend the Agilent unless you are after every last ppm in drift.

[HighVoltage]

Cyber Monday approaches

Cyber Monday?

I just got an email today from an electronics supplier with a 20% off, because of a "Cyber Monday" sale.
Hmm... it is Wednesday here in Germany.
I wonder too, where that term comes from.

[apelly]

It's the online response to the Black Friday retail outlet sales in the states. Both days should have bargains.

[EEVblog]

Also, any idea if Tequipment are allowed to ship this outside the US? I ask because I'm aware of the Fluke issue.

The aussie dollar sucks at the moment :-(
You'll be hit with import duty + GST from the US.
Practically the same price here!
http://au.element14.com/jsp/displayProduct.jsp?sku=2311062&CMP=KNC-GOO-PLA&gross_price=true&mckv=mpExI7xE|pcrid|59148083448
http://www.triotest.com.au/shop/keysight-technologies/3126-keysight-34461a-digital-multimeter-6-digit-truevolt-dmm.html

[apelly]

Thanks for the links.

I'm in NZ. Our dollar is even worse. There isn't any duty on an item like this though. Only GST.

e14 wants 1,352+GST for it over here. Obviously I'll take this into account.

[robrenz]

The 34461A is certainly the overall pick of the current bench meters, I don't think you'll ever regret it. Apart from the odd UI quirk, it's very nice to use.
Even the Fluke fanboys generally recommend the Agilent unless you are after every last ppm in drift.

Are you talking about this fanboy? 

There is a $300.00 off or $800.00 in merchandise offer from Fluke going on. That makes the 8846A price much more attractive than usual if the slightly higher performance is needed/wanted

[LaurentR]

Anybody with better deals on the 34461A or the 8846A than the plain Tequipment.net price with the eevblog discount? I wouldn't mind scoring either of these for Black Friday or Cyber Monday...

[robrenz]

There is a $300.00 off or $800.00 in merchandise offer from Fluke going on. That makes the 8846A price much more attractive than usual if the slightly higher performance is needed/wanted

I saw this a week or two ago but I can't find it at all now.

[ManateeMafia]

Robrenz,

Do you mean this ?  http://us.flukecal.com/node/72322

[robrenz]

Thanks ManateeMafia that's the one. 

[apelly]

Thanks for the info guys. Just letting you know it wasn't for nothing:

Although I failed to get a good deal between Thanksgiving and Xmas, I finally ordered one from e14 yesterday. 5% off and a "free" crap soldering station. NZ$1284 + GST. I might be able to get $200 for the soldering station on Trademe. They have no stock however, and delivery looks to be late February. Such is life.

[tautech]

Thanks for the info guys. Just letting you know it wasn't for nothing:

Although I failed to get a good deal between Thanksgiving and Xmas, I finally ordered one from e14 yesterday. 5% off and a "free" crap soldering station. NZ$1284 + GST. I might be able to get $200 for the soldering station on Trademe. They have no stock however, and delivery looks to be late February. Such is life.

Hmmm shame you didn't consider the Siglent SDM3055 could do one for ~ 1/2 that money.
~ 2 weeks delivery and you could have had a test drive of mine.

[apelly]

Hmmm shame you didn't consider the Siglent SDM3055 could do one for ~ 1/2 that money.

No post purchase cognitive dissonance here! This rounds out my kit nicely. Now I have no excuses for not actually making stuff!

[LabSpokane]

The upshot is that the new meters still say Agilent, with a little Keysight logo stuck on the face as an afterthought.  I don't think you'll have buyers remorse on this.