After reading some negative reviews I decided to buy it and see if there was any truth to those reviews or was it like often happens that some buyers did not know how to operate the simple machine and therefore they got inaccurate readings etc... Turned out that not only it is as fabulous as it is in the picture, YES! IT SHOWS YOU THREE DISTINCT COLORS FOR EACH TEMPERATURE RANGE - NORMAL - GREEN LOW GRADE FEVER - ORANGE HIGH EVER - RED HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO TO GET 100% ACCURATE READINGS EACH AND EVERY TIME FROM IT: 1. CHECK FOR FAULTS RIGHT OF THE BOX - If the unit has some defects, it will be immediately apparent. Remember that any and all battery operated products that are sitting in the warehouses for moths with their initial batteries in can loose battery life depending on the warehouse temperatures.. Also, some of the manufacturers do put low capacity batteries for the initial use, his is true to low end electronics and high end electronics, just as printer makes give you low capacity ink carriage that come with your printer and you area on you own once it runs out. So if your thermometer behaves like it should out of the box, then it is most likely good operational unit, if it will start acting "funny" shortly after that, this is definitely sign that you need new battery not that the unit is defective. That initial working perfect is what you need and what is the tell tell sign of a good device. If t he unit came and does not display properly either the numbers show only partially or some digits are entirely ghosted, that is battery problem. If you instar new battery - this will solve the problem instantly and the unit should work properly. If it does not , the problem is with the unit not the battery. It is very important to understand because ALL of those battery operated thermometers start loosing power with time so many people instead of getting new battery, discard perfectly great thermometers thinking they have gone bad. So on the first sign of ANY of your otherwise good units.. misbehaving.. first rule is: get a new battery first! 2. ALWAYS WARM UP THE METAL TIP OF THE THERMOMETER IN YOUR HANDS BEFORE MEASURING TEMPERATURE UNDER YOUR ARM OR OTHERWISE!!!! yes! You can measure it when it is cold but then don't be surprised that the reading may be off or very inconsistent! The problem with those metal tip thermometers is that they get cold. When you place such a cold metal under your arm, what it does first, it cools the surroundings by enough to give you inaccurate reading! Therefore before placing it under your arm, do warm it up gently holding the metal tip between your two fingers or in the palm of your hand and once it is nice and warm, THEN TURN IT ON! and put under your arm or wherever you intend to take reading! If you follow this simple tip you will have very consistent readings each time and this will be actual temperature of your body. Otherwise you can get lower reading by more then one degree depending how cold the tip of the thermometer initially was! Alternatively the other option is if you don't want to "prewarm" it you can just measure your temperature few times like five or more and then you will see that the initial temperature was lower and then each subsequent will be higher until it will level and then each reading will be the same. While this usually does not matter if your room was very warm and you have normal temperature, this can be very frustrating if you started with cold temperature tip and you had a fever but the unit does not show it and shows your temp as normal. This simple warm up step helps you to avoid any such frustration with any thermometers out there. This is what a retired and very experienced nurse suggested when I shared some frustrations with taking temperature some years ago. (BTW.,.. She said, the same rule applies to the oxymeters, warm up the device, warm up your finger! to get consistent accurate reading.) WHY I LOVE THIS THEROMETER: = CONSISTENCY! Every time it gives consistent measurement. I tested it many times on myself and family members and while each person has slight different native temperatures which is normal depending on age, metabolism etc.. the thermometer consistently shoes the same temperatures for the same person. =EASY READING COLOR CODED DISPLAY - OMG, this is the best under arm or whatever other place you wish to stick it to device. The display is HUGE, no more suffering with those tinny dark digits and trying to read them in low light conditions. This thermometer lits up like fireworks when it is done! You don't need to see the digits to know if your temp is normal or elevated as the color coded light will tell you right off the bet, however of course it also shows the digits that are LARGE and easily READABLE! = SUPER FAST READING! yes~ it takes about 8 to 10 seconds and you hear a beep and take it out and there it is! Your results. That is much faster then any other thermometers. = BEEP indicates when the measuring is over. it is NOT JUST ONE BEEP~ IT is BEEPING!!!! continuous beeping.. and it is LOUD enough for you to hear it without any problems. = OPERATING - SO EASY. PRESS ON BUTTON, WAIT FOR BLINKING LIGHT, STICK UNDER ARM, WAIT FOR THE BEEP, TAKE IT OUT.. READ THE RESULTS. I am VERY happy with this unit because this unit is using the same technology that the heavy, expensive and bulky point and measure remote ones use - that large huge color light display. I also love it because it is so easy to read and so fast and that beeping is a huge bonus for me. It is frustration free device, no more guesswork where to put it in, how long to hold it, how to cancel the reading and how to start over. I love it! absolutely love it! HELPFUL TIP: I highly recommend to buy couple extra batteries at the beginning of the cold sason because if you will be using it a lot, remember that the light and the beep takes MORE energy then those silent slow ones, so you might use up the batteries faster and will need to replace for good readings through the season. We always have few batteries at hand or get them as needed. They are super inexpensive and they are very easy to replace. There is a button with (-) sign at the back, just unscrew it and replace the battery. I am so happy that they made this unit because this is pretty much all I could dream of in a simple basic reliable thermometer and there it is. VERY VERY HAPPY With it!
