Mastech MS8268 Digital AC/DC Auto/Manual Range Digital Multimeter Meter

After doing a LOT of internet research I decided on this DMM since it had the most features for the best price, and the reviews were consistently good, except for a few very negative ones.First let me say that nearly every DMM on Amazon has at least some very negative reviews. It seems that no matter how well made a DMM is, there will always be some that are defective, or some users who don't know what they're doing and fly off the handle in rage in their review. Reading some of the negative reviews for this Mastech MS8268, it seems very likely to me that many of those reviewers didn't know how to properly use this particular DMM. Every DMM is slightly different, and even if you have experience with another brand and model, you may still have to read the directions for this one.Also because this one is so inexpensive many people may assume it is broken when actually they just aren't operating it correctly. If they spent $300 on an expensive model and it didn't work, they would be much more likely to read the manual better and assume they were doing something wrong. So there can be selection bias at work, especially if we've already read some negative reviews on the item.For instance, I initially thought the continuity function was broken because I'd read some reviews where others had that problem and mine wasn't giving the alert sound when I turned the dial to continuity and placed the leads together. Then I read the manual and found that I also had to press the select button to test for continuity. I did that and it worked perfectly.Also, the digital display will fluctuate wildly when the leads are not touching anything. This is normal.Also, when testing voltage be aware that this meter is auto-ranging, so it will automatically display a reading anywhere from volts to millivolts. In other words, you may test a 9v battery and get a reading of 300.21 You may wonder how a 9v battery could possibly have 300 volts! But if you look more closely you will notice that the volts has changed to millivolts. In other words the battery is so dead that there isn't even a single full volt left in it and the meter is only picking up 300 millivots left in the cell.Basically what I'm saying here is you may want to be careful and patient and educate yourself on using DMMs in general and this one in particular before you create and unnecessary hassle for yourself by returning this one as a piece of junk.There are lots of good video tutorials on Youtube for learning how to use a DMM. I recommend taking some time with them and also reading the manual for this one if you run into problems. If all of that fails, then maybe you truly do have a defective one. Mine however is working perfectly for testing continuity and voltage in both AC and DC. Build quality seems indistinguishable from other professional quality tools I have used.I'm very pleased with this purchase and recommend it to others.

I have had a digital Radio Shack Multimeter for many years and it works ok. What interested me in this meter is that it has extra functions like capacitance and hfe. In the past, I haven't really had much of a need for these functions but, over time, it has become harder to obtain parts like capacitors and transistors. Sure, you can order online for a dollar or two, but then you have to pay 6 to 8 dollars postage and wait. So, this meter could help me use some of the parts I've collected over 30 plus years. I don't think you can beat the price, not much more than a bottle of Jack Daniels.The quality is good, everything looks solid, and I'm very pleased so far with the functionality. It comes with batteries but just toss these and put in Duracells. I've had too many problems with off brand and "bunny" brand batteries leaking.The included test leads are pretty good and there is a test lead storage feature on the back that keeps the leads from just dangling when not in use. Interestingly, and perhaps helpful for us who are drinking Jack Daniels while testing, when you switch to a specific mode, the applicable "jacks" light up to make sure you're using the correct ones. The negative test lead was a little "loose". That is, you would have to "jiggle" it to get things to read correctly sometimes. The fix for this is pretty easy, just insert a small blade into the lead to "spread" the connector. Any good tech knows that you have to prove that the measurement equipment is working before you fault the test item.If there is one nit, it is the capacitance range, shown as "nfarads" or nanofarads. Most of us geeks use "microfards" or "picofarads". So, you have to mentally move the decimal point 3 places but not a big deal. I tested a few caps and they seemed to read ok. I don't have a need for absolute accuracy so precision is not a problem. I just want to know if the cap is good or bad and about the value expected.The meter does take a few seconds for the measurement to stabilize but this was not really a problem for me. The "stand" holds the meter at a convenient viewing angle.