This little meter is outstanding! I own a Fluke DMM 179 and of course that meter is top of the line. But would you believe this Equus 3320 is 99% spot on with its readings when compared to a recently calibrated Fluke 179!! I compared measurements with the Equus 3320 and the Fluke 179, in AC Voltage, DC Voltage, Resistance, and DC voltage for the Equus in the Battery test modes. It had literally almost identical readings to the Fluke! The circuit board appears to use mostly prime spec electrical components, so I suspect it will remain accurate for a long time as long as it's not abused. This meter sells on Amazon for less than $20, and has auto ranging. This means instead of having to dial in the max value manually the meter figures out what DCV range to use (if you were measuring DC voltage for example). It's the same deal for other measurements like resistance, AC Voltage, etc, just set to that measurement type and the meter figures out the correct max range. Most auto ranging meters below $99 have slow auto ranging acquisition speed (this is the time it takes for the meter to figure out what range to use). Many of the cheaper auto ranging meters take several seconds to figure out the correct range and then display the measurement. Not the $19 Equus 3320, it was just as fast as the Fluke 179, which is a second or less in the voltage measurements, and under 2 seconds for resistance (resistance auto ranging takes slightly longer on all meters because the meter must send a small amount of current across the device under test first before trying to acquire the range). The battery test function (which my Fluke 179 does not have) is the main reason I purchased this meter. The battery test goes beyond just measuring the voltage of the battery any cheap meter can do that all day long. The battery test function in the 3320 puts the battery under a current load (10 Milliamps for both 1.5v and 9v batteries) and then measures the voltage. This gives you a much better idea of if the battery is really good or not and will really perform in your devices. Some batteries on a bare voltage test show good voltage, but that good voltage will quickly drop to unusable levels once the battery is put under load. So testing batteries with a meter that has a battery test function is far superior to just checking its voltage. This feature alone makes the $19 price for this meter well worth it! As a few other reviewers have said, it can only measure 200 Milliamps of current in AC (whereas DC can measure up to 10 Amps). Most other multimeters can measure 10 amps of DC or AC current. So if you are looking to measure any substantial AC current this is the wrong meter. In fact for any current measurements I recommend a current clamp like the ExTech 623 or ExTech 380942 since you can clamp right over a live insulated wire (while the circuit is operating) and take your measurement. With any standard multimeter (like the 3320) you have to wire it in line with the circuit first (with the circuit powered off) and then you can take your measurement. But if you are looking for a compact, accurate multimeter for your garage or home (where you will not need AC current measurements) then look no further you cannot beat the accuracy, auto ranging speed, and the price of the Equus 3320. ----------------------------------------------------- UPDATE 11-19-2015: A couple of reviewers wanted a testing update now that I've owned this meter almost 5 years. It's still pretty accurate in almost everything I tested (except AC volts below 50). This time around I setup a pretty extensive test; testing the Innova / Equus 3320 against 2 different Fluke meters (the Fluke 179 as before and the Fluke 87-5). Both of the Fluke meters are top of the line in quality and well known for maintaining accurate readings over long periods of time. So I wanted to test the 3320 against 2 top of the line meters to make sure 1 of the Fluke meters wasn't out of spec giving inaccurate readings. The readings on both Fluke meters were identical (or almost identical) in all tests below. Also this time around, I tested a lot more ranges and values. The 3320 did pretty well against the 2 Fluke meters. The only noticeable variance the 3320 showed was when measuring lower AC voltages (below the standard household 120 volts). One other thing to note is the range switch on the 3320 seemed a bit looser than when I originally purchased the meter. If I played with it when it was on a range (especially the AC volts range), the readings on the meter would change and then re-stabilize after I stopped messing with it. That's definitely something to watch for on your meter, especially if you use it often. For me I've only occasionally used this meter since I purchased it in early 2011. I keep it in my small network installation tool bag that I use when doing office network installations. It's small, and comes in handy for continuity testing, and basic voltage testing, as well as battery testing (as mentioned in my original review). However, as you'll see in the test results below, Fluke is absolutely the way to go if you want accurate readings you can count on year after year (the Fluke 179 & 87-5 are almost bang on, after many years of continuous use). So I use the Fluke meters most of the time when I am: 1) Troubleshooting auto electrical systems, 2) Doing electrician work around the house or, 3) Electronics bench work. But again for a $20 meter, the 3320 sure gives you a lot. Below are all the values and ranges I tested. The values shown in each meter's column, is what that meter was displaying during the test. In all tests except resistance, all 3 meters were hooked up to the same setup on my electronics bench, and tested simultaneously to ensure the most accurate readings I can create outside of a NIST certified lab. I used a couple of stable bench power supplies I have for most of the testing, and then a standard AA and 9volt battery for the battery test range on the 3320. For the resistance tests, I used several resisters (the same resistor for each value was used on all 3 meters). More accurate and controlled testing can be done, but you would really need expensive laboratory test equipment that is too expensive for most home electronics benches. The tests below however, give us a reasonable idea of how the 3320 is doing 5 years later. All values shown in the rows are in the same measurement range as shown in the left most column for that row. For example if the left most column says mA for milliamps, then all values in that row are also in mA. If the left most column is KO (for Kilohms) then all the values in that row are also Kilohms. Abbreviations are as follows: V = Volts mA = Milliamps A = Amps O = Ohms KO = Kilohms MO = Megaohms Now on to the test results! DC_Volts_____Fluke_87-5_____Fluke_179_____Innova_3320 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.5__________1.500__________1.500_________1.494 16___________16.00__________16.00_________15.95 30___________30.01__________30.01_________29.9 50___________50.02__________50.02_________49.9 Battery_Test________Fluke_87-5_____Fluke_179_____Innova_3320 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.5_volt_AA_________1.577__________1.577_________1.570 9_volt______________9.45___________9.45___________9.41 AC_Volts_____Fluke_87-5_____Fluke_179_____Innova_3320 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30___________30.53__________30.54_________22.8 45___________45.00__________45.00_________41.9 122__________122.0__________122.1_________121.4 DC_Current_____Fluke_87-5_____Fluke_179_____Innova_3320 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 90_mA__________90.0___________90.0__________89.9 190_mA________189.9__________189.9__________190.3 1_A____________1.019__________1.019___
