As with any tool, once you've become accustomed to a certain feel and/or perceived level of quality, it's hard to go back. I'm guilty of this in certain specific tools that I keep in the shop. After using a $200.00 jigsaw, it's hard to go back to a $20.00 B&D, for instance. (Well, this is a bad example, until quick change blades are available on a $20.00 saw!)
For now, I have been using harbor freight calipers. When the battery gets low, they start acting screwy. And the on/off button stopped working after a couple of years, but it works fine after a detail cleaning. I don't know how far "off" the accuracy is, but it's not by much. I use it for CAD, as well, and it has never steered me wrong. As far as precision/repeatability, I find no fault with the device.
I was prompted to buy calipers for reloading, and now I don't know how I ever lived without them. It's been a long while since I last reloaded, and most of my gear is in storage. But I use the calipers quite frequently.
As for batteries, I don't see this as an issue, at all. When the LR44 alkaline battery dies, replace it with an LR44 silver oxide and you're set for a long time. Modern microcontrollers have truly tiny sleep current draw, basically insignificant. Today, even the cheapest of mass-produced Chinese battery-op electronics are usually implementing this technology, properly.