Monday 30 November 2009

American Weigh - pocket scale, coffee


I recently purchased this scale and I completely love it. First off, let me say that I was very hesitant about buying this based on the "Two thumbs down" guy's review. I said heck with it and bought it anyways because it was exactly what I was looking for and in my price range. However, right out of the box I had the same problems. Scale was all over the map, sometimes even going negative. I scoured the manual for troubleshooting tips but to no avail.



Finally it dawned on me and sure enough, there were two pieces of cardboard in between the scale and the base for shipping purposes. I removed those and the scale works perfectly. Another thing is that the manufacturers website says there must be a 1g minimum in order to weigh. This isn't true. It weighs from .1g up with no problems.



It really is a beautiful scale. Very accurate, I reweighed several objects and they were dead nuts. The weighing platform is 4"x4". It's not the least bit chintzy and in fact has a very pleasant display. Moreover it comes with a hard plastic case that double as weighing trays!

I recently purchased this scale to help me in my coin and precious metal collecting. The scale is small and easy to use, while it is not the most accurate scale in the world it is accurate to 0.1 gram which is more than accurate enough for my use.



ONE MAJOR COMMENT TO ANYONE BUYING THIS SCALE, AS NOTED IN OTHER REVIEWS, THIS SCALE COMES WITH 2 PIECES OF PACKING CARDBOARD THAT IS WEDGED BETWEEN THE SCALE PLATE AND THE BODY OF THE SCALE. IF YOU DO NOT REMOVE THESE THE SCALE WILL GIVE MAJOR MISS-READS. THE CARDBOARD PIECES ARE ALMOST UN-NOTICEABLE UNLESS YOU LOOK FOR THEM. THERE IS NO MENTION OF THESES PIECES OF CARDBOARD IN THE LITERATURE THAT COMES WITH THE SCALE.



All in all I like this scale and it suits my needs at an affordable price. I'm Pleased!

So far so good. I'm happy with the product though I've had it for but a single day. I am curious about the battery life but I'll see about that later as time goes by.



It works as is advertised. I placed a calibration weight on it and that was at 200g. I did a 100g and the 200g and that too was accurate. The trick is to keep it on a stable surface and to keep other electronic devices away from it at the same time.



There was/is a crack in the smaller of the two trays that come with it. (I've decided that the bottom case portion is to be used as a tray.) I didn't mind that much at all and it doesn't impact the accuracy or efficacy of the product either way.

good scale, auto shutoff (in about 60 seconds) makes it nearly unuseable. If you have to weigh multiple items precisely, like mixing paints, which is what I bought it for. You need everything out and open and ready to go and hopefully you can get it done in time... annoying.

I bought three of these scales for use in a coffee and espresso lab. The oldest of the three is still going strong, even though it has had water splashed on it, and has been in continuous use for two years now.



A new trend in coffee and espresso preparation is weighing everything - your whole beans, your ground coffee, your water, even the shot of espresso you're brewing. Weighing gives a much more accurate measurement than visual ml/oz viewing in a measuring cup or shot glass. This is especially true with espresso, given that crema can be large in volume, thus screwing up a visual measurement of the amount of liquid brewed.



This scale fits the bill, by virtue of the 2kg max weight while still resolving to 0.1g. It's not without its problems, but the price earns it 4 stars from me.



The large weight allowance allows you to put portafilters on it (then tare them out, and weigh the amount of ground coffee in the portafilter). It even allows you to brew a big 8 or 10 cup press pot right on the scale, accurately measuring the water used in grams instead of in mls (1g water = 1ml water).



The display is easy to read; blue with black letters that are readable from most normally used angles.



The tray is wide enough to hold most items I use on it, from press pots to cupping cups; it's a bit small for portafilters, but you can balance them on the scale.



TAREing the scale is very quick; startup is a bit slower, but not bad.



The price is fantastic, and earns an extra star from me just on that basis. If it were $35 or more, it would only get three stars.



Very accurate. I have some calibrated weights and it was bang on, right out of the box.



What's preventing this from being five stars?

- time out is too short. It's 60 seconds, but honestly, that needs to be longer, or at least user-adjustable.

- I had to put non-slip rubber bumpers on the bottom of it - otherwise it slid around too much

- there is a bit of a delay when you add or subtract items from the scale - it's not instant (takes about half a second sometimes to update)



Overall a great scale at the price. Could be better, but there's nothing else currently available that matches it features vs. price. - Espresso - Pocket Scale - Coffee - American Weigh'


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