My DMM arrived today from Amazon. First surprise -- I came in a blister pack. The good nice is that it is an easy open blister pack. Remove the lone staple at the top and pull open the pack top to bottom. The bilingual (English/Spanish) user manual is tugged inside the backing paper sheet.
The meter comes with a temperature "probe" and a pair of test leads. The test leads are actually of good quality. Flexible lead. both ends of the tips are covered with a reusable plug. The unit ships with batteries installed. Since it is under a screw, I did not open the battery compartment to see what's inside. The meter itself sits inside a orange soft plastic "holster" which is more of a protective outer skin. I have to take the meter out of the "skin" to get to the back of the meter for the compartment. The "stand" is actually a hinged piece of hard plastic that is pivoted on the back of the "skin", not on the meter. It has only one "open" position, standing the meter at a 45 degrees angle. It seems to work well although not very stable.
The center function select dial works fairly well. It has a plastic click sound that is indicative of a not very high quality switch. Switching from OFF to other modes, it sometimes does not come on. I have to wiggle it a little or switch it back and forth between modes or back to OFF to make it work. I suspect after using for a while I can figure out exactly what is the issue. The five rubber push buttons at the top under the LCD area feels like typical calculator keys, but with a soft rubber coating.
The "MODE" key is use to select the actual function after using the dial to select a major function. For example, the diode test, continuity test, resistance and capacity tests are all under the same dial selection. You have to press the "Mode" switch and look at the LCD to switch between the diode, continuity modes.
The "RANGE" key is used to exit auto range. Auto range is on by default when you switch the DMM on. THe range key will turn the auto ranging mode off, taking the "Auto" display off the LCD. Once off, you use the "RANGE" key to step thru each range. However, to go back to auto range, you have to hold the "RANGE" button down for 2 seconds. It is not simply one of the range selection as you cycle thru the different ranges.
How does it perform? I cannot tell you !! I don't have anything to compare it to, but it seems to do all the basic measurements ok. I cannot say anything about it's accuracy. So, for fifty odd dollars, it's not a bad investment.
