Escali Primo Digital Multifunctional Scale
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List Price: Our Price: $18.00 Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Escali Primo Digital Multifunctional Scale
Customer Review: Weighing in With Some Praise
Summary: 5 Stars
I've used this scale extensively for about a year, and found it extremely capable for a variety of tasks. For such a reasonably priced instrument it's incredibly accurate and consistent. You can weigh something that's just a few grams, then measure something relatively heavy, and then re-weigh the original lightweight item and get exactly the same weight. Many low-priced scales like this would retain some memory of the previous item which would/could effect future measurements.
As many others have noted, it's quick an easy to zero the scale to the weight of the empty vessel used to hold the item you're measuring. It's nice that you can also zero a container already holding a product, then read weights of less than zero as you remove portions of the product. For instance, place a 5lb. bag of flour on the scale, zero the scale, then spoon out 125 grams (1 cup) of flour for instance. It's a more accurate and consistent way of measuring baking ingredients.
I admit, I a bit on the anal side when it comes to measuring and weighing items, and this gadget feeds that yen. I tend to weigh items just out of curiosity, especially prepacked produce from the grocer. It might be comforting to some that the scales shown me that pre-bagged produce, 5 lb. bag of potatoes, onions, oranges, etc. tend to hold more than 5 lbs., at least that's true at our chain grocer. The scales also accurate enough to insure me that first class letters will make it through the mail without that extra security stamp.
A very minor quibble might be the intensity of the digital readout. Unless I have the overhead kitchen light on I have a little difficulty reading the numbers. I think they might be more readable if they were backlit like the digits on room thermostats usually are. Of course this would probably put a bigger load on the batteries and shorten their lives. But, overall this product exceeded all of my expectations by a wide margin. I'm surprised when any of the reviews I see here rate it any less than excellent.
Customer Review: Functional scale
Summary: 4 Stars
It looks cheap and built cheap but it works, that's the bottom line. It's not a precision instrument for medicine, it's for kitchen use.
I had compared with another similarly priced scale, being sold at Costco at the time but chose this one. The reason was the battery. Theirs used 9v. instead of AA. I have a bunch of Eneloop rechargeable, ironically I bought at Costco, so I always make sure the gadget works on AA(or AAA) battery, not pre-installed re-chargeable or uses other size rechargeable.
The unit I got included two pairs of batteries. One set was good brand name, another set(already installed) was dead awful cheaply made no name batteries. I'm still using the dead awful ones for a couple of months and I use it everyday with no problem, so it's been all good.
Here's the nit picking part. Even though it's not built for precision measuring, it's slow to settle the reading if you are trying to adjust the weight to the last digit. It goes up and down very slowly until the number stops, then you put more powder in trying to bring up the next number. It goes past the next number then comes down, then goes up again then comes down. You have to repeat several times, until the number really stops.
It has three mode, 0000 grams, 000.00 oz., and 00 lbs + 00.0 oz. When you use it oz. mode, the last digit shows only 0 or 5.
So, there's a limit you can ask, but if you already know the limit, you'll be quite happy with this scale. I wouldn't mind paying a little more for sturdier built model though.
I recommend it.(for the kitchen use, of course)
*UPDATE*(Feb-05-10)
The original cheap batteries started to leak about a month ago. I replaced them with NiMH rechargeables instead of another set of Duracells it came with. Some battery operated gadget don't accept rechageables but this one does. It's been a month since I replaced them and they work just fine.
Customer Review: Very Happy so far, don't understand the negative reviews?
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the white color (P115W) at my local hardware store (not via Amazon) since the price without free shipping was roughly the same and sometimes I feel like supporting my local merchants. I do not understand the negative reviews though I've only had this a short time so check back in a couple of months to see if I've changed my opinion.
One of the complaints is that the lock/tab on the battery cover breaks off. I don't understand this since the tab seems to be plenty robust and only requires the smallest amount of force to open the cover -- maybe if you really pushed the tab in it would break, but you do not need to do this to get the cover off -- so don't. The read out is plenty bright and big enough to see without needing to put on my reading glasses. The scale is packaged in foam padding which I've kept and used when storing the scale.
Another complaint was about the scale being inaccurate. You can check the calibration using US denomination coins. I've done this and the scale is right on.
Cent - 2.5 grams
Nickel - 5 grams
Dime - 2.27 grams
Quarter - 5.67 grams
Half Dollar - 11.34 grams
Dollar (SBA) - 8.1 grams
If there is anything on the scale when you power it on then this causes the scale '0' point to be set to the weight of the object (this is the "TARE" feature). When the object is removed you'll get a negative reading on the scale. Also the scale must be on a level and stable surface, and not used next to an operating appliance which could cause an electromagnetic disturbance (like a radio or microwave oven).
Customer Review: Love it! But, now with reservations!
Summary: 4 Stars
We got this scale to help us with controlling our calorie intake. We use it many times a day and are impressed with its accuracy, love the tare feature, and ease of cleaning. We appreciate that the gram/ounce selection stays put where we set it, and we don't have to set it every time we use the scale. The colors are a fun bonus! This is the best scale we have ever owned. It even comes in handy for weighing letters to determine postage! I just ordered a second scale to use while traveling.
UPDATE: 8-12-2010--We did order a second scale for use in our summer home. The performance of the scale was satisfactory for about 2 Months. At that time it began to show all kinds of error messages. Escali gave us instructions to return it for repair/replacement. We sent off the scale with the understanding that the turnaround time would be prompt. At the three week point I called to inquire as to the status of our little Primo. I spoke with Andrea who, at first, seemed not to know where our scale was. Then she said that a replacement was in the mail as of that very day! We received a new(?) scale (hard to tell--she described it as "a replacement")two days later. Meanwhile, since we depended on this little scale to weigh food portions, we had to buy another new scale. This time NOT an Escali. I re-rated this scale from 5 stars to 4 stars because of the defect, and because of the disappointing turn around time from Escali. Now that we have two scales here, we have elected to use our Ozeri scale, which is pretty much the same in function and appearance....The Escali is being held in reserve!
Customer Review: Had mine for 2 years...UPDATED!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
After 2 years of ownership, my chrome Escali scale is still going strong. I just bought a second one to keep at the office. I have zero complaints about this item.
This thing has worked wonders for me over the years. I have been able to measure out single servings and lose weight by counting calories. Moreover, I've been able to maintain my weight.
Save your money and stop buying those expensive 100 calorie packs. Instead, buy the regular size (with a coupon, of course) and measure out the servings yourself to put in Ziploc bags for on-the-go snacking. So much cheaper and less wasteful (with all that packaging for 100 calorie packs.)
----UPDATED----
While my original Escali scale from 2 years ago is still doing great, the extra for my office is NOT! After a couple of weeks, I kept getting an "out2" message. Seemed to be a manufacturer defect, so Amazon sent me a replacement and I had the same problem with the replacement, right out of the box.
Obviously, something has been changed with the manufacturing of this scale and I feel I can no longer recommend it. While Amazon, will not let me change my star ratings, I felt it only prudent to inform potential buyers of the massive defect occurring in this product and for the money, I have to tell people to AVOID! until they get the bugs worked out of whatever they changed.