I have spent some time looking around at the various issues associated with
shopping for a 3458A and was wondering what the preference would be, old vs.
new.

The used ones on theBay that are more than ten years old and have options
ask anywhere from $6,500 to $7,500.  Without options, asking is from about
$5,000 to $6,000.  Perhaps with calibration and data, or not.

However, Agilent lists a new 3458A without options or calibration data at
$8,673.

That being the case, if the roughly $2,000 difference was not prohibitive,
what to choose?  Old vs. New?  A good 'vintage' or 'fresh'?

Thanks in advance.

Joe

It seems to me you can easily spend $2,000 repairing a used one (eBay being what it is) and you would still end up with an old voltmeter. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with an old voltmeter, but if it is going to cost as much as a new one, I would certainly prefer that new car smell :)

Didier KO4BB

Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless thingy while I do other things...

-----Original Message-----
From: "J. L. Trantham" jltran@att.net
Sender: volt-nuts-bounces@febo.com
Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2011 04:32:15
To: volt-nuts@febo.com
Reply-To: Discussion of precise voltage measurement volt-nuts@febo.com
Subject: [volt-nuts] 3458A - Old vs. New

I have spent some time looking around at the various issues associated with
shopping for a 3458A and was wondering what the preference would be, old vs.
new.

The used ones on theBay that are more than ten years old and have options
ask anywhere from $6,500 to $7,500.  Without options, asking is from about
$5,000 to $6,000.  Perhaps with calibration and data, or not.

However, Agilent lists a new 3458A without options or calibration data at
$8,673.

That being the case, if the roughly $2,000 difference was not prohibitive,
what to choose?  Old vs. New?  A good 'vintage' or 'fresh'?

Thanks in advance.

Joe

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