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(More customer reviews)We've been trying to find a good indoor/outdoor thermometer with indoor/outdoor humidity for ages!
We had a fantastic Radio Shack one years ago (63-867)-- with a wired sensor--and simple, easy to use interface. Alas, the wired connector eventually frayed. (It also didn't have outdoor humidity.) We also have a GE one (GE5805WS6) whose design is excellent, though its humidity readings are off and it loses connection to the outdoor sensor whenever the batteries drop a bit. Neither is made any more.
This summer, we tried one of the Oregon Scientific ones (BAR208HGA), but the display was essentially unreadable (see review elsewhere on Amazon).
Two main aspects of an indoor/door device are important: that it be accurate and the display readable. There are other things that matter, too-- easy to use interface (buttons, setting, set up), extra information you desire, and the layout of the display.
Plusses of the La Crosse WS-9057U-IT:
1. Good crisp display with solid blacks against a pale background.
2. Excellent user options-- including a contrast setting for the display!
3. Nice looking, with pseudo-wooden bezel. These things are usually cheap-looking plastic or metal with buttons. The buttons for min, max, and set up on this one are on the back.
4. Large, with large numbers, which helps readability, especially for those with aging eyes.
5. Unlike other ones we've seen, this smartly puts the decimals for the temperature in a smaller font, which means the brain can process it more quickly.
6. Versatility--can hang it or can fold out legs for standing (but there's an issue there--see cons below).
7. Excellent packaging-- no surrounding hard plastic covering.
8. Battery compartments are easy to open.
9. Unlike most devices out there, it has the barometric pressure-- the good old Hg stuff that one remembers from the dedicated wall devices with metal hands. (So, right now, this morning, it's 29.94 where we are.)
10. The min/max function is quite informative-- the best we've seen on the non-weather station devices. You not only get the mix or max, but the day and time it was recorded! Plus, it will continue to track that until you manually tell it to reset its tracking.
11. Very accurate! Unlike others we've had, when you put the sensor right next to the base unit, the temperature and humidity readings were virtually identical!We may still keep this, but there are some striking cons.
1. The display is constantly in motion and that's really distracting.
The pressure bars keep changing--there are 7 of them and they just keep showing up, one after the other. The wireless connected icon flashes. The forecast icon (rays off the Sun) keep blinking. It reminds me of what the famous American psychologist William James said about what the world must look like to infants: "A bloomin', buzzin' confusion".
2. The stand really is designed for a desktop, where you'd be sitting down.
With the legs out, the display is virtually perpendicular to the surface it's on--not an angle. That's the wrong angle for a table top where you'd be standing next to it or walking by-- or on a shelf next to a window or by the front door--where you'd want to read it before going outside. Now, this is solved by using one of those adjustable Tripar Medium Easels (a $2.99 buy from JoAnn Fabrics). We have a couple of those-- which are great for an iPad, by the way.
3. The device really is LARGE.
Though good-looking, this makes it inelegant and harder to find a place for. The bezel is, in fact, too big.
4. The outdoor sensor is basically unreadable.
It's good that it displays anything, but it continues the blinking theme, alternating between temp and humidity. The numbers are too small; in its stand, the sensor is vertical and the contrast miserable on the numbers.
5. Stability is an issue.
I had it on the dining room table as I was writing this review--when I moved it, I put it down on the edge of a placement-- it seemed stable, but it then fell over! (Just figured out that was due to the leg folding in on itself.)
6. Too much information on the display and that buries the temperature information.
It has time, day of the week, day of the month, forecast icon, millibar pressure bars (those repeating ones), etc. The time is in a bigger font size than the temperature! That may be an illusion of perspective, but with all these numbers, one starts to wonder whether one bought a clock or a calendar or a thermometer/hygrometer! (Also, does anyone really need the decimal on the temperature? I mean, do I care if it is 66.1 or 66.3. Plus, given the accuracy of the devices, that's an illusion in any case!)
7. It does NOT come with directions for using it.
Even though the box claims it does, it does not. There is a small booklet for set up, but to use the thing one needs to fetch the manual from online. No biggie, but just another sign of modern cost-cutting--and for anyone who lacks home internet, it could be a real problem.
8. The buttons being on the back is a problem.
You don't know where they are, you have to pick the device up to see which is which, etc. For anyone hanging this on a wall- you're stuck. And you could hit the alarm feature.
9. Forecast icons are limited and can confuse the uninitiated.
Just in case you're unaware of this, there are only three forecast icons-- sunny, partly sunny, and rainy. Furthermore, as the manual explains these are based on the air pressure and do NOT represent reality. We'd just as soon NOT have them if they are misrepresenting what's going on. A simple rising, falling, or stable word or icon would be more than sufficient.
10. There is a creepy frown/smiley face that shows up depending on the temperature.
It's pretty silly to have a despondent face just because the temp is below 68!
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Fundamentally, the issue is that our philosophy about these devices is different. We would like a simple device that displays, in big numbers, the indoor and outdoor temperature *and* humidity. We don't need a clock, calendar, flashing icons, etc. We don't need temperatures with decimals.
Unfortunately, the devices that fit our needs invariably either lack humidity entirely or don't have it for *both* indoors and outdoors. It seems that once these companies add the outdoor humidity to a product, they also add all this other "junk".One of the latest "features" is getting the time wirelessly via radio from Boulder Colorado, where there's an atomic clock. But who needs that?!
We'll see what happens--we always like to give these things time--but this one is likely being returned!
Click Here to see more reviews about: La Crosse Technology WS-9057U-IT Wireless Weather Station with Barometric Pressure
Be prepared for a wet weekend with cozy and this wireless forecast station. From La Crosse Technology, the WS-9057U wireless forecast station anticipates weather conditions with outdoor temperature and barometric pressure data. The forecast is depicted with three different weather icons and tendency arrows. For exact time, the forecast station\'s time and date reset daily via WWVB radio transmissions from the US Atomic Clock. The forecast station also illustrates the moon\'s phase and presents barometric pressure history for the past 24 hours in a bar graph.
The forecast station receiver wall mounts or stands alone and features a handsome wood-grain frame. In addition to moon, forecast, and barometric information, the LCD screen relays 12- or 24-hour time, date, day of week, alarm time, indoor comfort level icon, and outdoor and indoor temperatures and humidity levels. The forecast station measures indoor temperatures ranging from 14.2 to 139.8 degrees F, outdoor temperatures from -39.8 to +139.8 degrees F, and relative humidity from 1 to 99 percent. Located below the LCD on the receiver, five function buttons enable the user to select Fahrenheit or Celsius readings, choose the appropriate time zone, disable the auto DST, set the alarm, engage the ten-minute snooze function, and check the minimum and maximum temperatures. The provided TX29UDTH-IT wireless thermo-hygro sensor communicates at a 915 MHz frequency from up to 330 feet away. Up to three sensors work with this system. For accurate readings, mount the sensor out of direct rain or sunlight. The separate purchase of two AA and two C batteries is required. A limited one-year warranty covers this item. The forecast station receiver measures 7-1/2 inches wide by 1-1/2 inches deep by 7-1.2 inches high. The sensor measures 1-1/2 inches wide by 5/6 inch deep by 5 inches high.
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