First, a disclaimer: I love my thermometers for sure. I have about 6 or 7 different thermometers utilized for gardening: instant digital, oven thermoms., remote sensors, standard room thermometers, etc. Not sure if it's and obsession or not, but a few weeks ago I added two more to the mix: USB thermometer sensors.

Purchased off of ebay (These ones), there's not much to them: just a USB key with a 3' cord, and a mini-disk with the driver and software. The idea is that you can hook this up to a USB port and, as long as the computer is on and awake (see below), the temperature is logged to a csv file and a graphic chart.

Hardware

8/10

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The cord appears to be off good quality, but I don't know how it would stand up to extended exposure to the elements. The point where the cord enters the stainless probe 'jacket' is sealed with a generous dab of silicone. It appears that it should stand up to some temperature and humidity, but I wouldn't say I would trust it to be immersed in liquid for months on end. My only wish would be a longer cord, maybe 10 feet or so, but for the price it is hard to nit-pick.

Software

6/10

The probe comes packaged with a small program called HID TEMPer (v10.5). After a quick install, it was up and running within seconds. The defaults need to be adjusted, as the log is automatically saved to the root of the C: drive for some reason. There is a great deal of customization available: C or F, reading intervals, log location, and a calibration feature.

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The log itself records a simple csv file that can be opened in Excel, or you can read the real-time results on the main page of the software:

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As you can see in the upper left corner you have a min/max/average reading which can be quite useful for a first glance. If you want to read every second, you can; or you can opt for longer read interval. One nice feature is that you can record to the csv at one interval and display in the log at another interval. For those who are more visually oriented, you can see the data in a 3d graph format:

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This graph is customizable (shape, size, axes, etc.) and the image can be saved to a number of formats, including jpg.

There is another feature which I have yet to play around with: email. You can, knowing the settings for your email server (like smtp, pop, etc.), have the program email you the readings. You can specific an interval or, more useful, when an upper or lower threshold is reached. I could see this being of use for monitoring temperatures in a cold frame for instance. Unfortunately there is no way to have the program initiate an audible alarm.

That brings me to limitations of the software. Besides the...