Glad it helped...
CT magazine and Cisco (both on-line) have great archived articles and Webinars.
There are a few great meters; I prefer the DSAM 6300, we provide this meter for all our employees. There is no one meter or tool that will find any problem, you must use multiple tools. MSO's have great tools to monitor and record system performance; access to these tools are critical in identifying and solving system problems.
G