Fluke-289/FVF FlukeView Forms Combo Kit

First, the included bag is not the same as featured in the photos, it is all black with a much smaller yellow Fluke logo added. Second, the batteries were already installed, which is weird, but that's also the way my 87V arrived direct from Fluke. Third, I didn't receive the official Fluke product box, in fact it was shipped in a non-standard flimsy thin cardboard box that was falling open at both the top and bottom. This shouldn't be how premium $800+ electrical test equipment gets shipped. I like the 289 more than the 87V. I don't find the 2-3 second start-up to be a problem. The 87V, I have to waste that amount of time manually changing it to high resolution mode each time.

I've like most of Fluke DMM's I've touched, this one included.Upon registration of the included software, Fluke informed me the firmware on the device was outdated. A new firmware installation package was provided on the spot. However during the upgrade process the New Firmware was not newer than the one already on board, so I aborted the upgrade.Also the logging software provided on the accompanying disk, appears to outdated and upon examining Flukes website, There's no support or new ones being offered for the logging reports generator. This is a little upsetting, seeing I just purchased a very expensive Logging Multi Meter. Please note the logging samples on the disk are usable, just old looking.

Requería un multímetro para mis proyectos de electrónica y me decanté por el Fluke-289 por su precisión. Tengo muy buenas referencias de los equipos Fluke por su robustez y calidad.El 289 no me defraudó, es un instrumento muy elegante y de gran factura. Su acabado es excelente y deja la sensación de trabajar con un equipo realmente confiable.La interfaz es limpia con muchas opciones de medida y visualización de datos. Las puntas de prueba tienen buen agarre y sus cables son muy flexibles.La función de captura de datos es un valor agregado interesante para esta categoría de instrumento. Personalmente me hubiera gustado una frecuencia de muestreo mayor.El equipo incluye su certificado de calibración de fabrica, pero el distribuidor autorizado de Fluke en Colombia no ofrece este servicio para los equipos adquiridos fuera del país.Lo adquirí en el combo FVF FlukeView Forms que incluye una interfáz USB opto-aislada, un cómodo maletín, un par de caimanes, el sensor de temperatura y un imán para colgar el multímetro.Advierto que el imán es muy fuerte, ¡cuando desempacaba el pedido puse el imán por error sobre mi computador portátil y dejó inservible el disco duro!.

At the time of this review, the Fluke 289 seems to be the best overall digital multimeter (DMM) currently available from any vendor. In subtle ways, the meter seems to be very intelligently designed, yet in broad strokes it is craptacular. It is difficult to reconcile the two.The most obvious attribute is that the 289 looks and functions like the giant yellow offspring of a brick-sized 1980s cell phone and a 1990s personal digital assistant. The meter is also somewhat reminiscent of clumsy 1990s era graphing calculators. The human-machine interface is serviceable, but seems like a relic from another time, especially with the dubious "Info" button and fully-manual backlight control.In contrast to a rechargeable lithium-technology battery pack, I cannot decide whether the box of AA batteries required by the meter is a wise choice, or an outmoded one.The Fluke-289/FVF kit includes an odd and semi-useful combination of accessories, such as: a too-small nylon pouch, some mediocre software that only works on Microsoft Windows, an optically-isolated USB cable, positive and negative test leads with supplementary alligator-clips, a naked thermocouple probe, and a magnetic hanger (which is conceptually brilliant but not quite strong enough to prevent the heavy meter from gradually sliding/vibrating down whatever surface you stick it to).On a positive note: The included Fluke Rev. 2 IR-189 USB cable appears to be based on the widely-used FT-232R chipset. Fluke published a subset of the interactive command set for the meter. The battery chamber seems designed to shield the meter from the inevitable leaky AA batteries. The quality of the IR cable assembly and the probe leads seems very good; in particular: flexible. The meter itself has a pleasingly-broad range of capabilities, especially if you pair it with expensive accessories that you'll be purchasing separately; none of which will fit in that deity-confounded nylon bag which seems destined to clog a landfill somewhere on account of its inadequate storage capacity.Given the current price for this meter, it seems probable that someone innovative will eventually come along and rescue us with a sleeker and more convenient analytic/diagnostic system. In the meantime, the Fluke 289/FVF kit is a decent choice if you have the coin and use Microsoft Windows. Some real thought seems to have gone into the subtler aspects of this meter's design and its capabilities, even if that isn't apparent at first glance.UPDATE: The very first repair project I undertook after I received this meter involved a small motor driver with a .1F capacitor. The .1F capacitor (+80%/-20%) was beyond the meter's capacitor test capability. The circuit under test involved transient operation and I was disappointed in the 1-second temporal granularity of the voltage recording: the crude triangular spikes on the meter's graph caused me to worry that I might be seeing a misleading representation of the circuit. I know this is not a solid-state digital storage oscilloscope, and I'm not sure what else I would purchase instead of this meter, but this experience reinforced my mediocre rating for this product.

If you just want to check a voltage or continuity: this is not the meter for you. This is a solid piece of refined hardware which delivers consistently. Accuracy isn't in question, reliability isn't a question, although there is a learning curve to the uninitiated; but this isn't an apprentice meter. Some of the features I don't have a particular need for - capacitance, and high resolution resistance: I have a fairly high end LCR meter for such things. For data logging with high precision over a short time and the ability to send said information to a computer... you'd be hard pressed to find a better solution for under 4 grand.