Ostrichsak
Well-known member
A recent thread with the name brand and well-reviewed Thermopen caught my eye. It was on sale for $70 (thread here for reference) which is a pretty good sale since those run about $100 normally and even on sale it's generally more like 10-20% off. Before I pulled the trigger I wanted to see what the options were. I know that I've done this exercise over the years on exactly this type of product and then lose interest and go on with life w/o one. If the cost is nearly $100 I just don't need one that bad. I've got a 20-year-old pend that doesn't fold, doesn't have a rotating readout and takes a bit to go from room temp to the higher temp range but the readings tend to be spot on when they get there and it was literally free after rebate. Even that one doesn't get used super frequently and meets my needs so it's hard for me to justify a c-note on something that won't have much of an affect on my daily life.
I want to consider lower cost alternatives. It seems as though there are now lots of sub-$20 options out there and many seem to have a solid track record and good reviews. I'm trying to get some input from those who have first-hand knowledge on any of them but would value those that supply input on this one specifically on this one for $16.99 on Amazon? I have no doubt the Thermopen is better in some way but I see no mention of a warranty on the Termopen website to say "well, this one is covered for life so it will be the last one I ever buy" or some other strong reason to pay 5x more. That's 5x more on this rare sale price on a specific color too. Normal price would be nearly 6x more. Is it really 5-6x better? Someone who has compared these two specifically please quantify why or why not.
I didn't want to derail that Thermopen thread any further than I already had and also figured that the eyes on that thread would probably also include a very small # of those who had bought a sub-$20 thermometer pen and were happy because there would be little to no motivation to buy a Thermopen even for half off.
Thanks!
I want to consider lower cost alternatives. It seems as though there are now lots of sub-$20 options out there and many seem to have a solid track record and good reviews. I'm trying to get some input from those who have first-hand knowledge on any of them but would value those that supply input on this one specifically on this one for $16.99 on Amazon? I have no doubt the Thermopen is better in some way but I see no mention of a warranty on the Termopen website to say "well, this one is covered for life so it will be the last one I ever buy" or some other strong reason to pay 5x more. That's 5x more on this rare sale price on a specific color too. Normal price would be nearly 6x more. Is it really 5-6x better? Someone who has compared these two specifically please quantify why or why not.
I didn't want to derail that Thermopen thread any further than I already had and also figured that the eyes on that thread would probably also include a very small # of those who had bought a sub-$20 thermometer pen and were happy because there would be little to no motivation to buy a Thermopen even for half off.
Thanks!