Hi All I must say I don't agree with the majority who think that the cobolt tape measure is poor quality. I have had mine for many years and have used it in my workshop quite frequently. Admitidally if you keep dropping the thing, then obviously it's quite a fragile device and will be easily broken. I'm sure if you kept dropping your mobile phone or watch etc they would stop working as well. Obviously the key thing is to take care of your gadgets.
anyway enough of that. There is indeed an alternative to the cobolt tape. It's called the Vox tape, and the info and where to buy it from are at the following link: http://www.emptech.info/product_details.php?ID=2326 I bought one last year and find it excellent. I must admit I prefer it to the cobolt measure as it's not as bulky and only requires a single AA battery. Also it only tells you a measurement when you press a button. One button will tell you the actual measurement, another will tell you including case. It can switch between imperial and metric. Has memory and you can ad measurements together. You can also alter the volume by holding down one of the buttons. It is slightly more expensive than the cobolt model, but I think it's worth it. Darren. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
