Customer Reviews

La Crosse Technology WS-450W Color Display Forecast Station with Dew Point, Humidity, Barometer

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Good: Pretty, Accurate, Atomic clock, back light, easy to configure.

Bad: Viewing angle, Sensor works only with Batteries in winter.

I did not expect a color LCD at that price, but the colorful background is just a printout on a piece of paper with a normal black LCD as an overlay. I must highlight that the backlight is very well diffused and it does not have any hot spots nor does it look like if it's 4 white LEDS that are lighting the display. The black LCD does not provide a wide viewing angle, but it's acceptable for my application. It works on batteries or provided AC adapter.

I live in Montreal(Canada) and the Atomic clock does synchronize (at my surprise!) but my unit stops responding for a minute when it syncs. But Montreal does get very cold for a good part of the year, that brings me to my worry: the whole sensor needs to be placed outside and it can only operate on batteries. I'm not sure that the batteries will survive very long at -20C. My older station had a remote temperature sensor which allowed me to place the sensor inside the house but place the probe outside.

The advertised animations are just the semi-circle moving up when the sensor selection changes. Don't expect the clouds or sun to dance around !

--Update June 2010 ---

After 2 years the unit still functions. The batteries will last during the winter, a set of batteries will last about one year.

But the accuracy in the cold weather is not that great. Also during cold days we will hit the "maximum low" allowed by the unit and be without temperature reading.

My guess is that the sensor is no longer linear at low temperature so they decided not to show anything.

I would not buy this unit for its pressure reading, don't rely on it.

At first, I was skeptical that the atomic clock would work correctly because no other atomic clocks worked in our house. I was pleasantly surprised that this one works! Also, the range of broadcast is also fantastic. I wanted a unit that would do pressure, humidity, temperature all indoor and outdoor. This one does it and does it reliably and is visually pleasing. It also works on AC current, which saves on batteries and the lighted screen can adjust to room brightness. Nice feature. The screen even shows you the battery status of the remote sensor!

I find the station very accurate in all areas. The setup is easy, although I found I had to do the pressure several times before I got the altitude right. I would also like the ability to change the inside and outside settings manually or automatic. Other than that the only problem I have is when it is checking the time from colorado, it seems to freeze the system for several minutes. But this only happens a couple of times a day. A very nice and easy to read system.

This unit has all the important information right at your finger tips! I recommend this to anybody that is interested in weather information, this is perfect for measuring the moisture in the air and all the temperature information values, also the heat index is most important on what it (feels like) outside...This unit will let you know on how comfortable or uncomfortable it really is! I also like the special color effects at various temperature/humidity conditions...It's very helpful in forecasting the conditions too at a glance! For all the features you get at a low price, it's really worth every penny on it, so I highly recommend this to anybody that enjoys special weather gadgits like this!!! Enjoy!!!

I purchased this in June and wish that I could return it now. The temperature reading on the main unit is typically 4.5 - 5 degrees warmer than the actual temperature. I tried turning the backlight off thinking that it may be warming the internal air to give the bad reading, but it did not make a difference. I contacted La Crosse support via e-mail and explained the problem. The first response was a canned auto-response about checking the batteries. I checked the batteries and they were OK as I expected since they were brand new. I responded to their e-mail and got another response that was almost as canned as the first, saying again to check the batteries and to do a side-by-side comparison of the main unit and the remote sensor. Also check that it was not showing a peak temperature. The last thing to try was to remove all power and batteries, wait 15 minutes, push any button on the main unit at least 20 times to make sure that the device was reset. Still no luck, the main unit still showing too warm. I replied again that the remote sensor read correctly and that the indoor unit still reads 4.5 - 5 degrees warmer than it should. The last response was to check the batteries again and that a difference of +/- 4 degrees between the remote and indoor unit was within the 2% error of the specifications. I responded again that the indoor unit is defective, it reads 4.5 - 5 degrees above a calibrated thermometer and it needs to be replaced. This time no response from support.

I would return it if I could but I have spent too much time since I purchased it for Amazon to take it back and La Crosse obviously thinks that the only thing that it can be is bad batteries! It is pretty interesting that the only reason for the batteries in the main unit is backup power when AC is not available, but that is the cause of it reading too warm, not a defective or poorly designed unit.

Like:

Heat Index / Dew Point feature: combines the temperature and humidity levels into applicable data: How hot or cold does it really feel?

Heat Index Warnings: Caution, Danger, Extreme Caution, Extreme Danger

Colorful Design: lets you "feel" the data :)

Features I don't tend to notice or use:

Alarm clock

Radio link to atomic clock

Pressure gauge (mb, in Hg, or hPa)

Weather history: temp/humidity increasing/decreasing; pressure rising/falling; min/max temp/humidity

Dislike:

Prediction zone: is iffy -- like weather reporters on TV; it's dead on at times, but it once reported partly cloudy during a thunderstorm (then again, this isn't what I really bought it for, so not a big deal)

The product is very good to see and the icons are somewhat accurate. Barometric pressure is right on according to Weather channel & local forcasts. The outside temp is also exact to local foecasts and a mercury bulb thermometer that I use. The inside temp is questionable since I have nothing to compare it with but I suspect it is within 3 degrees of reading. The instructions are tricky to understand and have to be read a few times to understand. The outside min temp reading is -5 degrees. I wish it went lower since the temp here does go below -5 at times. Otherwise it's a great unit.

One year after I bought it the display is going out. Guess what, it comes with a one year warranty.

I have had weather stations before so it was not my first rodeo. The memory on the base of this unit did not accurately record the high and low. I sent it back with an explanation. They sent it back saying that it worked fine. It still did not work. I talked to customer service. They actually asked me to hand record the high and low 2 x per day at the same time of day for 3 weeks. I told them that I did was not interested in a job in quality control that didn't pay anything. After many unhelpful conversations, they finally agreed to send me a new base unit. The memory on the 2nd unit doesn't work any better than the first. I think this devise has so many bells & whistles that it does not accurately record the basics.

While the product looks very attractive, and the idea is good, it does not appear to be very accurate. The indoor temperature is off by three degrees and the indoor humity is off by 10%. The outdoor temperature seems to be correct however. My son is in the heating & cooling bussiness and he tested against several accurate gauges he has.

Very disapointed!