Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

As a kitchen scale, this item leaves a lot to be desired. Let me rephrase that: it is not a good kitchen scale. This would make an excellent scale for a junior high science lab bench; it would perform well weighing out reagents. 10 years ago that is where you would have found this scale - a lab bench. The scale platform is quite small. Anything larger than a hamburger will not fit on the scale unless placed on a separate plate. This is not a deal-breaker, but the digital readout is quite dim and is less than an inch below the platform. Reading the digital readout with a standard-sized dinner plate on the platform thus becomes an exercise in crouching down, peering up at the readout from underneath, and shining a flashlight to try to make out what the digits say. Had this been the only major problem with the scale, I would have given it 2 stars. However, after two months the scale became very finicky. It would not turn on, or it would turn on but the LCD display would not change. Generally this problem would go away after leaving the scale off for from several minutes to 24 hours. This scale was kept in a dry place at room temperature. This may have been a power problem, a battery problem, or both. Since the battery compartment is covered merely by a simple plastic panel and is approximately a millimeter above the countertop, I suspect that any in-kitchen spills could cause electrical damage. This was never a low battery problem. The battery life on this scale was quite decent. The scale continued to work (mostly, for a definition of "work") for a few months, experiencing an LCD/power outage about once per month, with otherwise daily use. Finally, far less than one year following purchase, the scale ceased to work at all. It could not be turned on. Multiple sets of new batteries (to test whether the replacement set was, by chance, faulty) did nothing. After less than a year of use the scale had completely ceased to work. We threw it out and switched to a Salter mechanical scale. It doesn't have a 10-pound capacity or 1/100th ounce accuracy and the small platform makes balancing items somewhat of a chore, but it's cheap and will last as long as the mechanical spring. I would give it (the Salter) 3 stars.