Quite favorably. It is a better instrument than any of the 170 series meters, in that the 170's tend to integrate (ie, display the measurement ) quite slowly. In fact, the 179 was involved in a recall because it displayed AC measurements so slowly. It also tends to perform better, and has better specs.
Now, the 180 series is a horse of quite a different color. The 189 has performance rivalling that of many older benchtop DMM's. (this model used to be called the 89IV if you are looking @ used stuff). It is also VERY rugged. It's also ~$400 new. <shrug> Ya get what ya pay for. If HAD to choose, I'd buy a 189. But, and 87III for $100 is hard to pass up. I have about 50 of them at work, and they are reliable, accurate machines. They tend to perform well inside their specifications.
The really interesting part is, that although the new machines have better specs, they tend to drift more, and perform barely whithin specs.
Also remember, if you wanna match resistors, these machines ain't gonna cut it. Measuring resistance with a handheld is like kissing your sister, pleasing only in an abstract sort of way that isn't liable to get you anywhere.....
For that, you need a machine that is capable of 4 wire measurements (for resistance @ DC) or an LCR (for resistance @ AC)