Choosing between Fluke 179/177 vs Keysight U1242C vs Fluke 87V?

[bd139]

179 is rather nice but missing uA range. If I was starting out again I’d have a 179 and 87V.

[paulbt]

I have a Fluke 179 at work and an Agilent u1272A at home for hobby use. IMHO the use case and target audience for those meters are different: When you need some really reliable multimeter for your toolbox that can also take some fall and rough handling in an industrial environment, go Fluke. My 179 is about >8 years old, inherited from a colleague before me, and recent calibration showed it still is very well within spec.
For electronic tinkering other brands like Agilent/Keysight or Brymen will offer more bang for buck. Comparing the build quality of my U1272A with a 179,  the 179 wins slightly.

Hi,

I usually do low voltage indoor electronics. You are right, U1272A may not be as happy with falls and rough handling as the Fluke may be. Now I'm wondering: is the U1241C (3m drop-proof and IP67) more physical robust than a Fluke 17x ?

In the meantime I'm still waiting for some opinions/corrections/additions on my comparison (page 3, reply #62)...

[Mr. Scram]

Hi,

I usually do low voltage indoor electronics. You are right, U1272A may not be as happy with falls and rough handling as the Fluke may be. Now I'm wondering: is the U1241C (3m drop-proof and IP67) more physical robust than a Fluke 17x ?

In the meantime I'm still waiting for some opinions/corrections/additions on my comparison (page 3, reply #62)...

See my post directly below yours.

[paulbt]

Hi,

I usually do low voltage indoor electronics. You are right, U1272A may not be as happy with falls and rough handling as the Fluke may be. Now I'm wondering: is the U1241C (3m drop-proof and IP67) more physical robust than a Fluke 17x ?

In the meantime I'm still waiting for some opinions/corrections/additions on my comparison (page 3, reply #62)...

See my post directly below yours.

Yup, I saw it yesterday, but it does not answer my question above. By "physical robustness" I mean case/display/internal assembly toughness  , not feature-wise robustness.

[nightfire]

Hi,

I usually do low voltage indoor electronics. You are right, U1272A may not be as happy with falls and rough handling as the Fluke may be. Now I'm wondering: is the U1241C (3m drop-proof and IP67) more physical robust than a Fluke 17x ?

In the meantime I'm still waiting for some opinions/corrections/additions on my comparison (page 3, reply #62)...

I never had a U1241C in my hand, but judging from the catalogue and pictures, the build quality should not be MUCH better than than of a Fluke 17x.

And: If you mostly work indoors (and not in an industrial environment), the build quality of a U1272 is more than sufficient for that task.

[paulbt]

Hi,

I usually do low voltage indoor electronics. You are right, U1272A may not be as happy with falls and rough handling as the Fluke may be. Now I'm wondering: is the U1241C (3m drop-proof and IP67) more physical robust than a Fluke 17x ?

In the meantime I'm still waiting for some opinions/corrections/additions on my comparison (page 3, reply #62)...

I never had a U1241C in my hand, but judging from the catalogue and pictures, the build quality should not be MUCH better than than of a Fluke 17x.

And: If you mostly work indoors (and not in an industrial environment), the build quality of a U1272 is more than sufficient for that task.

Hi,

You said it like "...should be a little (but not much) better than...", but I guess it's the other way round...
The U1272 is out of my expected budget, even if it is more suited for my intended use compared to the outdoor-ish U1241/2. For the extra money it also might have better specs and features than it's little brother, but to be honest I do not like the looks of it (reminds me of tall/slender women - not cute, not sexy).

[nightfire]

Lets say, I also would not buy a new U1272A because of lack of sufficient pocket money... I got mine used for a very good price. Otherwise I probably would have had a closer look at a german distributor that sells Brymen...

[Shock]

So have you looked at the Brymen BM869s yet?

[nightfire]

Well, yes- I got my U1272A at a similar price in a verrrry good condition ;-)
But: A BM829s would also very well answer my questions that i have, including datalogging...

[paulbt]

I have a 179 and 1241A.

One thing I can tell you is that I prefer the Fluke to two reasons.

1) The Voltage-->shift for DC really annoys me on the Agilent. I mean, I understand why AC is the first setting, but gee it drives me bonkers trying to test DC and keep battery life which isn't that great nor convenient (4 AAs). The fluke has AC or DC mode. The range button is easy to find.

2) The fluke has a better light. Since I use meters away from the bench more often, I travel with the fluke. I keep the other one at home as a spare in case I do the unthinkable to the Fluke.

I just read all the replies to this topic one more time and this just struck my eyes:

1) Only U1241A and U1241B have that annoying AC or DC volts range on the same position of the rotary switch. All the other Agilent/Keysight handhelds have separate VDC and VAC positions.
2) Some Keysights (including the U1241C that I wish to buy) have also illuminated keypad (which Fluke 177/179 does not have) and I think it could be more helpful in dark/low-light conditions.

I realized now that personal preference and usefulness plays a major role in choosing between a certain Fluke and a certain Keysight.

@Shock : Yup, I was looking for a Brymen a few months ago. The BM86x and BM82x are just too big for my table and have too many features that I do not need. I ended up picking the little BM235 which is more than enough for my needs and when I need extra digits and accuracy, I go for my bench dmm which is 238'000 counts.

[EEVblog]

@Shock : Yup, I was looking for a Brymen a few months ago. The BM86x and BM82x are just too big for my table and have too many features that I do not need. I ended up picking the little BM235 which is more than enough for my needs and when I need extra digits and accuracy, I go for my bench dmm which is 238'000 counts.

There is the new Brymen BM786 that is coming out shortly. Not as big as the BM869, but almost as accurate, 60,000 count, and extra features like AutoHold, BeepLit continuity and EF tester.