DVM Recommendations

[gutsofgold]

So my Radio Shack multimeter hit the dust. It no longer can measure resistors over 1M (it measures the correct value for a split second and then it keeps dropping in value) and the current feature is dead.

What do you recommend in the $40 area? I'd like transistor gain measurements and current readings, but thats about it.

[gutsofgold]

No one has a multimeter to recommend!? 

[petemoore]

  $40...I can find 10 new ones for that...I think 5'd do it though. I like my spares, basement, 1rst floor, second floor, all have DMMs, also one half way down the stairs and in the gigbag...I just leave 'em layin' around [in cupboard or...] and they pop up sooner or later...I can always find one.
  er...circuit specialists...harbour freight...pick your poison and compare with what google finds..read the reviews.
  I like 'em cheep, that way I have a good 'ballpark comparator', even the $4 ones I have seem to hold up as well as anything..it's the connectors that mess up anyway..battery connect or the DMM wires [they are a worst case scenario for a wire]
  ...more expensive DMM's may have a little better switch contacts?...I believe they tend to get exposed to the same contact 'tarnishers'.
  Bang for bukk, because of the wires/wire posts, switch contacts and battery holders, I like the cheep-o-est meter possible...but you maybe should go the other route and invest in a more expensive one...hopefully you can take better care of that than I do the cheep ones..
  And might be a touch more accurate...I wouldn't know..I prefer to drop the cheep-o ones...and it'll get dropped morgan likely if it's not secured..those wires tend to pull it off the table or bench occasionally.