Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The accuracy, functionality, and convenience of this device is second to none at going prices. With the optional vane mount and a cheap camera tripod, this system offers the functionality of much larger, much more expensive "portable" weather stations in a far more manageable size. When collecting weather data is an important adjunct to your field work (I study bird migration), you begin to appreciate the hard thought that went into the design of this product.
Since I hike at night, stargaze, and regularly find myself conducting bird surveys in twilight, I made the backlight more of a factor in my decision to get this particular product than I should have. Truthfully, I would have been just as pleased with the regular yellow 4500 (with its Timex Indiglo-style EL backlight) as I am with this product, which is functionally identical but comes with a more muted case color and a backlight tailored for use in nocturnal LE/military ops. Contrary to what is often written about the Kestrel NV models, the NV's backlight is amply bright when a backlight is actually *needed* to see the display. (Certainly it is hard to discern in daylight.) And its soft pink hue certainly does seem easy on my eyes in low light. Nice job, NK.
My 4500NV is also one of the newer bluetooth models, which syncs up rather conveniently with my Windows 7 netbook. A perk of having this functionality is that I can wirelessly capture "live" measurements or download data at the end of the day without even taking the kestrel out of my field bag. Cool!
A lot of folks expressed concern over losing the battery shims used in all 4500 models. I don't really understand this; the shims are not all that small and are colored pink. You'd have to be pretty cavalier (or in a rush) when changing batteries to lose the shim! In a pinch, I suspect a few small, cleverly placed strips of duct tape would do fine in maintaining battery alignment. It would, however, probably would be to NK's benefit to include an extra shim in the box as backup. No matter; NK was kind enough to send me two extras.
My experience with NK as a company has been positive. The emails I've fired off to the company since purchasing the unit were attentively and carefully answered. My request for extra shims was answered positively, and these were sent to me without cost. I get a definite sense that NK cares about its customers.
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