Customer Reviews

Oregon Scientific RMR683HGA Wireless Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer with Self-Setting Atomic Clock, White

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Pros:
- When it's working, the MR683 is a nice little device. The base unit detects temp and humidity, but the included remote unit detects only temp. Nice touches are the atomic clock (nice to have when you consider the cons below...) The LCD shows a basic little temperature 'trend' arrow that is simple but surprisingly useful when trying to gauge whether or not to open up the windows at night vs leave the a/c on.

Cons:
- Button placement and utilization is horrible! Had to read the manual twice to figure out how to get the thing set up the way I wanted. 4 control buttons are flush-mounted on the side, and 6 are mounted on the back.

- Shows only one sensor at the time (have to find the button to switch between inside and outside temp.) Dure to the poor UI, you have to fumble with it a bit to make sure you hit the right button to swap sensors.

- After about 6 months, it stopped listening reliably to the external sensor. Swapped the batteries - didn't help. Only thing that works is resetting the base unit. It does this about once a day, maybe when it's syncing up with the atomic clock. I keep a paperclip handy to reset it.

- Time is lost when you reset the device (necessary due to the above con) and it takes a half a day for the clock to sync back up, so basically it's now pretty useless as a clock most of the time...

I purchased this weather station needing information about the outside temperature from indoors. The indoor temperature information display worked fine, but it failed to communicate at all with the outdoor sensor. I even tried setting them side by side and changing brand new batteries when following the directions produced no reading. I returned the item and Amazon sent me a new unit at zero cost, to me, even covering the return shipping. The second unit communicated with the sensor for about 24 hours and then quit. Again the indoor information was displayed, but my need is for the outdoor information. The base unit and the sensor were placed less than 15 feet apart and within a direct line of sight through a sliding glass door. I'll be looking to a different manufacturer for a replacement. Amazon was great throughout the situation.

I was disappointed by this Oregon Scientific product. I've listed the reasons below.

The outdoor sensor doesn't measure humidity. Perhaps the packaging said something to this effect, but it certainly wasn't obvious (I don't have the packaging anymore to check).

The plastic packaging was VERY hard to open. I had to use a pocket knife, and I came close to cutting myself.

The instructions are very poorly written. Yeah, I got the thing working eventually, but only after cursing the people who wrote the instructions. You'd think that the company would expend at least SOME effort to make sure that the directions were clear and unambiguous.

The directions say that the remote (outdoor) sensor doesn't work well in very cold weather (because the batteries don't function well). Well, since I live in the northeast, very cold weather is common here. If I knew this in advance, I wouldn't have bought the unit.

I can't recommend this product. There must be something better available.

The display is clearer than I thought, even from different angles. The only thing I didn't like is that the provided sensor just reads temperature and not humidity. The humidity reading on the clock will stay as dashes. You have to buy a separate sensor for humidity.

Still this product is really good, and easy to adjust/install.

I am very mixed on this unit.

The good:
Although the LCD is not illuminated, it is very easy to read.
The unit works well for displaying indoor temperature and humidity.
The thermometer is within two degrees of a known accurate spirit thermometer (I have no reference to check the hygrometer against)

The bad:
It doesn't receive the signal from the outdoor remote very well -- and it was only 10 feet away through a patio door.
It seldom receives the WWV time signal, even though it is about 2 feet away from an outer wall, which is a glass patio door. I have three other "atomic" clocks scattered throughout the house and they receive the WWV signal without problem.

It would be nice:
To be able to hang it on the wall, but the desk stand contains the batteries and is fixed in place.

I have had a variety or Oregon Scientific equipment and they are either just fine or total pieces of junk. This one falls into the junk category. It won't pick up WWV to set the clock and it won't pick up the outdoor sender unit unless it is within a few feet (less than 10') of the base station. Also, the outdoor unit does not send humidity, for that you need to buy another sender unit. Finally, the base station does not display indoor and outdoor temps at the same time. It can do one or the other or it can sequence through all 4 temperatures: one on the base station and 3 sender units and by the way, it cycles through ALL 4 channels even if there is no sender units on a channel so most of the time you will be looking at dashed lines and waiting for an actual temp to show up. Junk, junk, junk.

After four days the atomic clock has yet to set correctly. In small print INSIDE the package it states " doesn't work well in cold climates.." What good is it when you live in the north east USA..deceptive packaging. Very poor directions for setup. Comparing it to two other temp gauges (in same location) this unit is approx. 6-12 degrees warmer than it really is outside.
Very disappointing for a company of their caliber to be producing such a worthless unit. What a waste of $50!
Shirl of PA

1 - unit doesn't come with any batteries. Need 2 AA's & 2 AAA's

2 - remote sensor only senses temperature - not humidity.

3 - left units sitting on dining room table. By the next day the remote sensor has stopped working. (no red blink every 40 seconds). Tried new batteries / reset button = no effect.

Oregon Scienfic is a good brand but be aware that the RMR683HGA does not come with a therm-hygro meter for the outdoor remote senser. One can be purchased seperately.

I expected the clock to be "Self-Setting Atomic Clock" capable, it is definately not. It is very difficult to set up and does not read the outside temperatures as advertised!! I am totally dissatisfied with this product and am going to throw it out in the garbage!!