Home of the BrewNosers

I want a ph meter, as always looking for bottom dollar.
I saw this....
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Brand-New-LCD-Mo ... 910wt_1026

Has anyone used it? looks like a P.O.S. but if it works it works.

the description is amusing...

1.100% brand new ,high quality ,excellent after-sale service
2.Pen Type Meter that can simultaneously measure & display pH
3.The electrode has been used(laid) for long time from the last calibration
4.The electrode has been used in particularly taxing conditions
5.The utmost accuracy is required

Points 1 and 4 seem to contradict each other. I'm guessing bad english.

Yeah I'm guessing they accidentally used the wrong verb tense in 3 and 4

No opinion on device itself, I know nothing about pH meters.

We use pH meters at work. You have to calibrate them regularly and keep the probes moist. Even then you should replace them every year or so. I would advise going with the really accurate strips and cutting each one in two. The probes are just too sensitive to order from a untrustworthy source, unless you know for sure these guys are good.

I have gone through 2 of that type and they really are a POS. You'll get a year out of it until the reading start to go ape.
I actually gave up on using a pH meter and just use strips.

I've tried those probes and found that they have a short shelf life and are unreliable. I use pH meters/probes in a lab and in the field on a regular basis. As Graham said, the pH papers are more reliable for the $ and less of a fuss and are well suited for your needs as a brewer. Probes are only worth the trouble if you need to measure differences in increments of hundredths of a pH point.