My dream non-bench/portable multimeter has multiple displays:
You could show DC voltage on one display and AC on the other, so you could see if there’s any ripple in the DC voltage without reaching over to the meter and switching it. Some time ago, I found a Brunelle Instruments meter that had four displays. Nifty.
Back in university, I had to measure voltages for a physics class lab. All of the other students had to use cheap-but-tough analog instruments whose impedance, if I recall, was something like 1,000 ohms. You could tell when the VOM was measuring: the circuit’s power supply transformer’s hum would change pitch, under the VOM’s load. Me, I brought my own tools. Heh.
However, I agree with you, being able to watch the needle’s behaviour on a good VOM can give you valuable information.
