Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Pro's: Nice looking display unit (at first glance, read further).Con's: Outdoor sensor quality chintzy, accuracy, customer service, limited history data without hooking up to a computer, set up time, no energy storage for solar, update frequency.I purchased this weather station to replace 3 separate aging weather units to enable all weather data on a single unit.
Upon unpacking the 200WMRa I noticed all of the outdoor sensor units feel like they could break just handling them. After setting everything up indoors to test connectivity, I could not get a reading from the outside temp/humidity. The first time I called customer service they had me run through a battery of tests and instead of sending me just the one sensor (none available), I had to pack up the entire unit and send it back. Two weeks later, I again have everything set up indoors as a test; again no outdoor temp or humidity. This time I order a second unit online so that I can have it quicker and the third sensor was bad as well. Second call to customer service "please send back the entire unit...". I waited an hour and called again and luckily got someone on the phone who let me know that they did have a problem with the sensor (now discontinued) and that they could send me the redesigned sensor. This replacement sensor worked fine, but didn't have solar hookup which defeats one of the advantages of this system.
A note on the solar power on this system; it doesn't have any means of storage, so any time it's cloudy or at night you are running on batteries.
The main console unit looks nice at first glance, but really gives very little data without hooking to a computer via some VERY outdated and glitchy software. The unit's graph is only usable for pressure, rain and wind history. For instance, you cannot see the temp trend for the last few days, only highs or lows from when you first powered up the unit.
Accuracy: At one point I had purchased two systems and had them both set up indoors at the same time trying to work the bugs out of the sensors. Every bit of data was different from both units and not by just 1 degree or 1 percent, it was off by as much as 5 degrees/percent in each field. Sure enough if you read the published specifications, it states about that much as far as accuracy. To me, if you are going to spend this much money on knowing whats happening outside, you might as well have REAL DATA to go by.
Update frequency: If you hear a really big wind gust outside, you may be standing there a minute or two before seeing how high it actually was.
I didn't initially want to spend another hundred on the Davis unit; after my experience thus far I figured I could sell this on ebay and put the extra toward the Davis.
BY CONTRAST: The biggest differences on the Davis unit is that all the outdoor sensors are mounted in one reasonably sized very sturdy unit; that utilizes true solar with storage that only resorts to batteries if it hasn't seen light in 3-4 days. The main display is built like a tank in comparison; the graph can be used to watch any data you choose over whatever time period you choose, such as: last 24 hours, 24 days, 24 minutes (rain) or even 24 years. Highs and lows can also be seen for ALL DATA for any time you choose: Daily, hourly, monthly or even yearly. Now you can see at a glance "What was the coldest day last year?" or "What was the highest wind gust last year?", etc.
The Davis units update every 2-10 seconds depending on data; basically real time. Published accuracy is 0.6 of a degree!!
I went with the Davis ISS (integrated sensors) with the ProVantage 2 console/display. These together cost $360.
Save the time & frustration and buy any one of the Davis units the first time, it is money well spent.
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Oregon Scientific WMR200 Professional Weather CenterThe local meteorologist has nothing on this highly sensitive professional weather center from Oregon Scientific. Equipped with a temperature/humidity sensor, a wind sensor, a rain gauge, and a solar panel—and with the ability to communicate with six additional remote sensors—the weather center assesses a host of weather conditions to help the user better prepare for the outdoors. The weather center's LCD touch panel screen displays icons and indicators to relay: time of day via the US atomic clock; weather forecast; current moon phase; indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity readings; wind chill, speed, and direction; barometric pressure; rainfall rate; dew point; heat index; and optional UV index. Several weather alert alarms notify of more problematic weather conditions.
The weather center wall-mounts or stands on a tabletop. A 6-volt DC AC adapter powers the base. With five language options (English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Dutch), the weather center also offers 12-hour or military time display, and temperature readings in Celsius or Fahrenheit. The centermeasures indoor temperatures ranging from 32 to 122 degrees F, and outdoor temperatures from –58 to 158 degrees F. The outdoor sensors transmit data to the base at a 433 MHz frequency from up to 325 feet away. To track weather trends, the center features a data logger function and data can be uploaded to a computer using free PC software and provided 6-foot USB cable. Ten included AA batteries power the sensors and the base; the user benefits from separate low battery indicators for the base and each sensor. For mounting, a host of poles, attachment brackets, and screws accompany the weather center. A limited one-year guarantee covers this item. The weather center base measures 5-9/10 inches long by 7-8/10 inches wide by 1-9/10 inches high.
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