Rc Scale showdown

[pankreeas]

Not sure if anyone has seen this but it's a head to head comparison of the tanita 1210 vs the gemscale 50. It seems from this review that the Tanita's auto-zero function makes it difficult if not impossible to weigh .01 and .02 carats where as the gemscale has no problems. Just curious as to whether Tanita owners consider this a fair comparison?


http://dendritics.com/scales/g50-vs-tanita.asp

[Nagognog2]

The Tanita does NOT require 2 hands, but having two hands is always usefull. So that's BS. Auto-zero problem? Nope. Works fine. Two packages? Nope - one box. Always reads exact on the calibration masses used to test accuracy before any use.

All in all, aside from the cost of batteries, the Tanita is fine. I wish it had an option to run off of A/C. Ah well. I'd have to guess that study was published by someone with a warehouse full of Gemscale's.

<EDIT> Now I see the Gemscale-50 was discontinued in 2000. It also doesn't seem to have the ability to weigh in milligrams - carats only. Useless for RC work. One button?! What do you need to do? Go through several menus to get to where you need to be, which doesn't exist? And the prices are utterly inflated for the Tanita.

The Tanita is a time-tested and widely used little beastie. As an organic chemist, I give it 2 thumbs up. And I do NOT own stock in Tanita. However, doing a bit of research, I note this "comparison" was done by the company that makes the Gemscale.

[pankreeas]

Ok. thats good to know. The tanita brand seems to be very popular as a local shop in swims town sells out before they can even stock them due to massive pre-orders. Ok hypothetically what if one day Bongo and co had a problem with the Tanita, and had to acquire another. Would buying a used one even be a consideration? Swim has a chance to get a pre-owned one for just over 100$ CAD shipped.

Swim figures A used Tanita1210 is a smarter purchase than any of the other alternatives in that price range (upon first inspection the Jprecision looked very sleek.. plus had a 5 year warranty..tempting.) After reading some forum and online reviews it became quite apparent however, that purchasing this would result in dissapointment akin to... gettin with the hottest chick in bar, rushing her home wonderin just what you did for god to bestow this gift upon you, only to regret unwrapping the package later on when ones own "package" is oozing nasties.

[snapper]

Any acculab users out there ? SWIM settled on the VIC 123 since at the time there were no afordable tanitas. Tricky to use but accurate to 1mg.

[Nagognog2]

Bongo would, if his current one was run over by a car, plunk down the cash for a new Tanita 1230.

[radiometer]

Manufacturers of cheap scales seem to prefer to spend money on marketing instead of R&D. I was doing some research into calibration masses a while back, and found an interesting article, sponsored by the manufacturer of cheap-ass (under $50) plastic mechanical balances. They claimed their tests with Ohaus masses proved that theie scale was perfectly accurate and linear. But anyone who has ever used one of these little handheld mechanical balances knows that they're garbage.

[snapper]

Actually SWIM used a small handheld balance and found it to be very difficult to use but accurate to within about 5mg, which isn't bad for a balance.

[Voices]

Originally Posted by snapper

Any acculab users out there ? SWIM settled on the VIC 123 since at the time there were no afordable tanitas. Tricky to use but accurate to 1mg.

Love that scale. Swim also uses a Mettler H10t.

[London_Bloke]

Originally Posted by snapper

Any acculab users out there ? SWIM settled on the VIC 123 since at the time there were no affordable tanitas. Tricky to use but accurate to 1mg.

A new Acculab VIC123 arrived day before yesterday at SWIM's domicile, and after getting the assistance of one of her friends here on DF to talk her through it, SWIM now has a pretty good handle on the ramifications of changes to the settings. SWIM agrees with the tricky part, but like anything else interesting there is a learning curve. SWIM decided that she was willing to put in the extra effort to learn this scale because it's A/C powered. She has been practicing with empty gel caps, calibration masses and Splenda packets ever since. BTW, Splenda or any of the fine powdered artificial sweeteners have an excellent consistency to practice with. It prepares you for those ugly moments... like feeling the sudden urge to sneeze while transferring small but valuable amounts of substances. SWIM would rather test her disaster aversion/recovery techniques with Splenda.

All Hail to Radiometer, our Go-To for all things scale-y. SWIM read your posts over many times, looking for the little tricks and such that didn't make sense before. It's slowing sinking in!

And Rodent - you dropped what you were doing and gave me your undivided attention and assistance. You're a mensch (still remember your Yiddish lesson?) SWIM owes you a solid and she know it.....

[radiometer]

Badness, you're making me blush! I'm sincerely no scale encyclopedia, they just happen to interest me, so I try to keep my ears open, and to relate what I know to others who can use the information.

[nanobrain]

Tanita hands down. time and faux pas tested to prove to be mostly ndestructible. the jumping gorilla test ala Samsonite ads in the late 80's is next.

[rodent]

I can only speak for the Acculab VIC123... love it!

The Tanita sounds great and I likely would have gone with that except for the battery thing. Few bucks more for the Acculab was worth it in my opinion.

Badness, you owe me nothing! I was happy to help... thats it.
And yes my memory hasn't completely failed me yet...

[radiometer]

I think if SWIM Tanita 1210 ever breaks, he'll definitely want to spring for the Acculab.

[snapper]

SWIM thinks the best way to settle this is with a showdown.
SWIM and SWIY (ie - tanita user) can meet at a shady bar downtown. After a quick social drink in dirty glasses, both parties can take their scales out to the back alley, walk 10 paces in opposite directions, turn and throw both scales at each other full force. Whichever one is most accurate after impact wins. There will also be points distributed for aim.
If SWIMs not there in 15 minutes, start without SWIM. The walls of the alley should make a good surface to throw the tanita at...

[Beeker]

SWIM was an uneducated moron in 1998 and used a Gempro. SWIM got a Acculab VIC 123 and he told me the difference was night and day.

[thinkcooper]

Any opinions about the iBalance i101?

[pankreeas]

I'd rate the Ibalance way below a tanita 1230 or acculab vic series. The Ibalance is made by my weigh... don't expect quality.

[pankreeas]

Btw swim in the proud owner of a brand spankin new vic 123 as well.

[London_Bloke]

Acculab's customer service is stellar, as well.

[snapper]

SWIM recently received an email question about the drifting values on the VIC 123. This scale is not temperature controlled, which the more expensive model is. This means that it needs to equilibriate with room temp before it is tared. It also loves to drift if it is in the wrong position. SWIM has found that (1) making sure it is level and (2) moving the scale around (ie - rotate it, put it on different surfaces) helps. Eventually, SWIS will find a place where it is stable. Think about the surface it is on. If the table is at all unstable, it will cause the scale's values to drift.
Hope that helps. It takes some time to get used to its idiosyncrasies, but otherwise it is a quality scale at a decent price.

[pankreeas]

Swim found the best thing to do to eliminate drifting is to turn it on for an hour before using it. The bubble is a very nice touch. Swim thought it was level at first until he realized the bubble wasn't just strange eye candy.

[snapper]

Leaving it out is what allows the temperature of the scale to equalize with the surrounding air. If you read about it, the heater for the coil in the scale bumps the price up substantially. With those scales, however, there is likely no drift. SWIM's gotten really used to it now and the inconvenience is worth the savings.

[Alfa]

What are your opinions about the Gempro2? It's advertised as 1 mg accurate.
Jscale precision is supposed to do this as well. Both look good, but I have never heard of either brands.

[Nagognog2]

Many have stated in other threads that they are cheap junk that should be avoided. The Acculab and Tanita's are the winners in most opinions. Bongo has a Tanita. If it ever explodes or something - he'd toss the extra $$$ at an Acculab. Such as: The Acculab VIC-123 Milligram Scale.

[seechao]

I was considering buying a used lab scale off ebay, I've seen some older ug or even 1/10th ug scales for sale on ebay, metler or such, but they look rather difficult to use, I was wondering if it would be worth it. I already have a 2mg digiweigh scale, which seems to be fine for most applications, but as SWIM may be purchassing some DO* compounds, I feel I should purchase a more accurate scale to help him out with his weighing. I figured as long as I'm weighing mg, or 100s of ug, I would be ignoring quite a few decimal places, and it may be easy enough to warrent buying one using it at that accuracy. Anyone tried working with one?