USB Temperature Logger Review

This USB temperature logger review looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the standalone USB loggers.

The fact that it has a built-in USB port means it doesn’t require any additional hardware to program or retrieve results. This makes it ideal for shipping type applications.

It also reduces the overall price, especially when only one point is being monitored.

In terms of specifications, it is a decent unit as well. It has a good amount of memory and battery life. It has a display. It has the option for a push button start.

So far it’s all good.

The size is a bit neutral. It’s reasonably large but many people prefer something substantial.

The three things that let it down relate to the software. Firstly it still requires the user to install software. The software is supplied on CD and could easily be downloaded from a web site. The benefit of this approach is that the software can be upgraded at any time, but it does stop people from just plugging it into any computer to retrieve results.

The second problem is that the software is just sufficient. It will program the units, retrieve results and allow results to be saved for later. It has a graph and table, and the graph has zooming and panning. But you really need to read the pamphlet to work out how to do it. But that’s it. There’s no extra features. By extra features I mean the type found in eTemperature for the thermocrons, or the Logtag Analyser.

The final thing I didn’t like is how the unit could change which comm port it is mapped to, and how the user needs to check Device Manager to find out which port it is in. If that sentence doesn’t make any sense to you, then you can see the problem you will have.

Overall it’s a reasonable value for money unit, especially if you are only after a single logger and just need it to get some results.

But if you are using a number of loggers, or prefer easier to use or more powerful software then consider using Thermocrons or Logtags.