I recently bought a couple of these gizmos: ($19 bucks a pop) http://www.ebay.com/itm/261527017059?ru=http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?%3Cem%3Efrom%3DR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D261527017059%26_rdc%3D1 Stick in a semiconductor/r/l/c/etc, press the button, and it tells you what it is, the pinouts, and relevant parameters. Works amazingly well. They are based on an open-siource design discussed here. http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/$20-lcr-esr-transistor-checker-project/ It is well worth reading the documentation: http://www.avrtester.tode.cz/upload/ttester_en.pdf A very good example of what some VERY simple circuitry and VERY clever coding can do. The firmware is being constantly upgraded. The units with the cruder character mode LCD are lot more amenable to firmware upgrades than the graphics mode LCD ones that I bought.