Expert: Mike Evans - 1/9/2010

Question
can you tell me if these digital multimeters are good? what do you recommend? i know nothing about electricity but would like to test my own battery and alternator for my 2000 ford taurus LX.  see links below

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200424034587&ssPageName=ADME:...

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180444900017

thank you.

Answer
    These are both OK, but I wonder how durable they are.  In my experience a decent quality DVOM will cost around $20.  If you aren't worried about it working for longer than a few uses, either of these would be fine.  Of course, if you buy one at a local store you might have a chance of getting it replaced if it fails.