VINCA IP54 Grade Digital Caliper, DCLA-0605 6 Inch/150mm, Inch/Millimeter/Fraction Conversion, Stainless Steel, Large LCD Screen

I have been using this a lot for close to a year now, and in all that time I have not found a single drawback with it. I mean SERIOUSLY - I even thought of the color of the plastic case, but it is a nice bright red, with substantial hinges and they work well. The well for the tool is even lined with foam inside. The batteries? Well there are two inside the box and one in the caliper when it came. As long as you remember to turn it off, or let the auto off do it's job, then I have not had to change the original battery in almost a year now.The caliper itself is a stainless steel, but it did become slightly magnetic when measuring the dimensions of an N52 super magnet. Even that magnet failed to interfere with the electronics and it behaved perfectly, keeping accurate readings throughout.I know some reviews say that it needs to keep being zeroed a lot. I was afraid of that, but I have had no such problems at all with mine. Even viciously sliding the scale in and out many times, it went back to 0.0000 inch perfectly. I did occasionally get an offset of perhaps 0.0005", but that proved to be a speck of dirt on the measuring faces every time. Perhaps that was the cause of the problems some were having? Just wipe the measuring surfaces with a clean, soft cloth and the problem was solved for me. Even so, we are talking about 0.0005" (1/2000"). It is "only" rated for an accuracy of +/- 0.001" (1/1000"), so that last digit might show a 0 or a 5 and still be well within it's rated accuracy. This is seriously good for a digital caliper.For me what was a real suprise was just how useful being able to measure in fractions of an inch really is. It reads out in 1/128", but automatically cancels down to the lowest common denominator. So it would not say 2/128", but 1/64" instead. This is astonishingly useful for quick "go" / "no go" measurements, and also it does away with the need for tables to know if that drill with the size missing, is 7/64" or not? Anything with a fractional inch measurement can be read directly, instead of looking up the decimal/fractional tables.It uses an LR44 (alkaline 1.5V) battery, which are also commonly sold as AG13, L1154. LR1154, or 157 batteries. The slightly more expensive Silver Oxide versions though might be better in the long run, as their voltage is more stable during the lifetime of the battery. Silver oxide equivalents are SR44, SR44SW, 303 and 357.Reading the reviews for this was disappointing. Certainly Vinca seem to read all the comments and replace faulty ones, but they also listen and update the design. Mine having an auto off feature is a good example, as earlier ones apparently did not have this. My auto off seems to put it into very deep suspended animation, as moving the scale does not wake it up, and even though I have left it in auto off for months, there is no sign of the original battery that was in it having run down.There seems to be a lot of confusion in the reviews about what digital calipers are, and what they do. That seems to be why a lot of people have only given four stars or less. I think a lot of mentions of them being "sharp", might be that they do not know that the beaks of the jaws need to be that sharp in order to measure accurately in confined spaces - such as the minor diameter of a thread. Also to reduce the parallax errors with some types of measurements. The points are sharp, so that they can be used to scribe a mark onto things at the precise distance you have set them to. Them not feeling "very good quality" might be as occasional reviewers have noticed, that the wheel is "wobbly". This is intentional, as it is meant to better control how tight you clamp them onto the workpiece - Much like the friction clutch you get on micrometers. Engineers know that with measurements this accurate, how tight you make it on the workpiece, can affect the reading. So the whole point of using the "wobbly wheel" is to try to standardise the amount of force that is used to close the jaws and so improve accuracy that way.Digital calipers of this quality ARE accurate scientific tools. Trying to check their accuracy with rulers as some have claimed to do, is not logical - The calipers would be telling you your ruler was inaccurate. Also, I doubt few people could judge by eye that the edge of the beak was in the middle of a rulers' marking to 1/2000". There should be NO free play in the depth gauge, or anywhere for that matter. When held to the light, the edges of the jaws should appear to meet perfectly with no light. The same should be true for the beak on the other side, used for measuring internal diameters. Mine were perfect out of the box in these respects. In fact, mine are broadly equivalent to my $200 6" Mitutoyo digital calipers - Which don't have fractional inches, as they are older. They are not quite as smooth as the Mitutoyo, but after the use they have had, they are not far off being that smooth now. Where there might be a difference is in (fairly esoteric things for most users) things like the co-efficient of expansion for the stainless steel they are made from? In warmer weather, the metal expands and affects their accuracy. This is why micrometers are held in the crook of one finger, to minimise heat transfer, as these are typically an order of magnitude more accurate than calipers. Most micrometers measure to 1/10,000", but only for a 2" diameter. I find it incredible that digital calipers can maintain 1/10 of that accuracy, but to much greater widths. Now I do know that temperature co-eff for my Mitutoyo, but I could not find one for the Vinca (only that the accuracy was taken at the standard 20 degrees centigrade.) I wonder if Vinca could respond with an actual figure, or is it not known / varies from batch to batch?

This comes with batteries already installed plus an extra set of batteries. It also comes with a solid case. The caliper is built great! Its made of metal, not plastic like some cheap calipers I have seen. It feels heavy and sturdy in the hand most important is that it takes great measurements! Very accurate and reliable! The caliper adjusts easily.

For my day-job, I inspect mechanical equipment with high-end Mitutoyo and Starrette calipers. I wanted to get something lower-cost, but good enough to use at home (where accuracy to 1/32" is more than I really need). I read several reviews on different calipers. If you're just starting this process looking for a good set of calipers for home/hobby/general machinist use - I'll be blunt and save you time. Stop reading and just buy these. You can pay several hundred more dollars to get the high-end models for near-perfection, but you will barely notice the difference if you don't need accuracy down to the mil. I'm a tool snob and I would have no shame putting this in my work bag for day use even without the name.I bought the 8 inch model (cause...its more than 6). These calipers are *excellent* value with really good build quality. I cleaned my new unit with a light oil (WD-40) and worked the slide a few times to break-in. After a few minutes, the vernier mechanism is surprisingly smooth and feels comparable to my Mit/Starrettes.The resolution is half mil or 1/128 of an inch, which is much more than I'll ever really need at home.The mechanism feels smooth returns to the zero point each time and appears to give consistent readings. The faces look parallel and clean, but I haven't checked their accuracy (don't think I need that kind of assurance for home/hobby use). The only thing two minor things I notice different about the VINCA 8" vs my work Mit/Stars. The first is that the metal faces of the metal calipers aren't polished on the measurement faces. The second minor difference is there is an ever-so-slight 'twist' or lateral offset that the sliding face can make relative to the stationary face normal to the direction of travel (out-of-plane direction). Its not in the direction that really affects accuracy for what I need, and if you don't push the faces in that direction, you will never notice it. For the cost savings - I'll take it!Display is large and in general easy to read. Note the number display uses two different size 'fonts':(1) Up to 3 large (full-size) digits on the left, and(2) Up to 3 small (half-size) digits on the right side (needed to fit the fraction display).The fractions and mm decimal outputs are easy to read. The 'fractional' measurements on these two settings are all the small size digits I have to be careful with inch decimal readings - the large font size for the inch decimal readings are whole number and tenths of an inch. The 3 smaller numbers with the inch-decimal output are actually hundreds of an inch down to half-mil precision. It would be a nice feature if the caliper display could adjust the precision so that the 3 smaller digits are all mils or fractions could round to a nearest 1/64th or 1/32nd (I will never need 1/128 precision). Minor preference note in an otherwise solid tool.

This tool feels high quality for the price and looks nice as well. The edges are flat and smooth for accurate measurements, which isn't the case with all of the calipers in this price range. It comes with an extra battery too which will save me a few dollars down the road. The digital display works well and has large enough numbers to easily read when working. All in all it's a really nice caliper. I would give it 5 stars but I don't like the fact that it doesn't have a full ruler on it. I couldn't find one with a ruler that I liked in this price range so I passed on that option. Normally I wouldn't deduct a star for a feature I knew wasn't included, but I have had to zero it once already and then I worried it wasn't accurate. I used a tape measure to check it on some measurements since I don't own any other calipers, but it appears to be accurate. Then today I received a part that is supposed to be 3/8in per the manufacturers drawing, and it measures 13/32 with my caliper. I contacted the manufacturer of the part and told them but I just hope it's not my caliper that is not accurate. A full size ruler with increments of at least 1/8 or 1/16 would have been nice to know if it my tool or the part that is off. If I find out it's my tool I will be shopping for another.