RaytekMT4 Mini Temp Non-Contact Thermometer Gun with Laser Sighting

Received on time. No thermometer is perfect. With Raytek MT4 Mini I take several readings and rely on the most common read. Reflection can affect readings, can't read correctly a shiny pot or read through glass. Must have a direct path to what ever it is you are reading and be close, around one foot or so. The Gun is very light so I always lay on side. Like it better than using dairy thermometer. Started using right away when working with chocolate and for making cheese. Why did I give only 4 stars, the unit appears low-end, not sturdy. The positive thing is you will not get tired holding. Hope it lasts a long time. I have only been using less than 6 months.Update: I've had this for 2 years now and have bumped the stars up to 5 as I now love it. The difference in temp to dairy thermometer is 2 degrees higher but the read is instant. I can live with, still take about three instant reads to get a pretty close ball park of the actual read. When heating milk, avoid pointing at milk foam this reads cooler than the hot milk below, stir to bring up hot milk from bottom of pot to get a more accurate read. Previously stated "appears low-end" because the housing is made of plastic. I take that back, have dropped at least twice and suffered no adverse affects. I always lay on its side and this is my go to thermometer. Have not had to change battery, in fact would not know if you can, but it works wonderful. Was worth every penny.

The laser light is bright, the display is easy to read, and it works just as expected. No disappointments. I compared the temperature readings with other thermometers, and this was very accurate. It let me find warm and cold spots in my house, around doors and windows, etc., to let me know where I am losing heat.I raise orchids in Florida and had to be careful this past winter as we had unusually low temperatures. I need to bring them inside when the temp is below 48. This let me test different areas of my patio to find the warm and cold spots -- all my orchids lived.I also always suspected my oven was not as hot as it was supposed to be, and this confirmed my oven runs cool. This tool was also helpful in finding the perfect temps for making yogurt, raising pizza or bread dough and using my grill. Now that I have it, I don't know how I lived without one.

There is not a lot to say about the Raytek. It does exactly what they say. It quickly displays the temperature and is great for scanning a surface looking for temperature variation. Wife is not pleased that I have tested the temp on everything I could find for the 1st day we had it. But then found it useful in pointing out where the air leaks are in our kitchen so I can go put more insulation under the house!I am very pleased and would recommend it to anyone. Only warning is read the directions. There appears to be variation on the temp accuracy depending on how far away from the target. Not a big deal, but something to be aware of.

The Raytek Minitemp takes the guesswork out of a lot of kitchen tasks, and has a ton of other less practical (but fun) uses as well. Like most touchless thermometers, the device is simply an infrared detector. Solid objects radiate different wavelengths depending on their temperature [..]. By detecting the peak wavelength of infrared light emitted by an object, the thermometer can calculate its temperature. It is a completely passive sensor; the laser light is only to help you aim and has no effect on the measurement.The thermometer is very accurate near room temperature; when I point it at a regular thermometer, they give me the exact same reading. When I point it at boiling water, it reads 208F. Close enough for cooking applications. The Minitemp has taken all the guesswork out of microwaving, grilling, and frying.But mostly, I just point the thing at random things around the house for fun. Some of the "applications" I have used the Minitemp for:- Finding where the cat has most recently been sleeping- Seeing how cold the clouds are- Checking the refrigerator/freezer for proper temperature- Seeing how cold my feet are in the winter- Figuring out when my XBox is about to explodeOne thing the device should NOT be used for is measuring internal temperatures of meats. The thermometer reads only the surface temperature. You cannot take readings through a window, either; the thermometer will just read the glass. Also, the farther you are from the object you are measuring, the larger the spot is that you actually measure. For example, from 2 feet away, you are actually measuring the average temperature of a 2 inch circle, not just the laser spot.Scores:Accuracy: 8/10. Sufficient for household use.Speed: 10/10. Truly instant readings that refresh continuously as you hold down the trigger.Battery life: 10/10. A 9V battery has lasted through many months of liberal use, including as a laser pointer in a pinch.Utility: 9/10. Near endless fun.Physical construction: 9/10: Plastic but rugged and easy to clean. Easy-to-read LCD with a backlight.Overall score: 46/50. 5 stars.

This is a wonderful tool for lots of purposes, but the one I bought from Amazon was significantly misaligned. At a distance of 8 feet from the target, the spot illuminated by the laser is off to the right of the temperature sensor by nearly a foot (the vertical alignment, on the other hand, is fine).For many purposes (e.g. pointing it right at a frying pan from a foot away), this sort of misalignment will not matter. But it's an annoyance, and one that could have been easily prevented by factory testing (or by providing adjusting screws for the user).Other than this, it's great (and fun to use)!