"New" obviously means it has never been sold. This does not mean that they are newly produced. I was expecting to have a unit built recently, like last year or so, especially since Fluke themselves told me that Revain doesn't keep stuff on the shelf or sell old units. I asked Fluke for the serial number and this was built on February 28th 2011 so it sat on a shelf somewhere for FIVE YEARS as its battery was slowly dying. I don't expect the battery to last as long as a really new device. Besides, I like him very much. I can only return it because it has an old battery. UPDATE: I called Fluke (now NetScout) with my concern about battery age and they sent me a new battery free of charge. load. I have updated my recommendation to five stars.