Amprobe IR-710 Infrared Thermometer

I just picked up this item this evening from my PO and it appears to have been used (was in an unsealed plastic package), and had no battery and no instructions - items supposedly "in the box." Does it do what is says it does? Beats me!Tomorrow I will buy a battery (I wonder if Amazon would send me a battery or should I just be a regular guy and purchase one without further ado) and then search the mfr's site to see if they have a downloadable instruction manual.Gee, maybe I should just be thankful for what I received since I saved a bit on the lightning deal. What do you think?EdUpdate: I contacted Amprobe and learned that the battery is installed in the unit, i.e., there is no way for it to fall out of the package. The conclusion was that, since the battery and instruction manual was missing the package had been tampered with. Such being the case, Amprobe directed that the unit be returned to the seller and replaced. They did not go into details but I would assume that, although it is easy enough to download the manual from their site and also spend a buck to purchase a battery, one can reasonably wonder if the unit itself has in any way be abused or compromised.Kudos to Amprobe and Amazon for uncompromising customer service.Ed11/11/2013 UPDATEA recent question (see comments attached hereto) reminded me that I have been remiss in not updating my initial review.As noted in the comments, I try to compose reviews that reflect my entire shopping experience: finding the item I want, placing the order, shipping/packaging, and performance. My initial review focused solely on what I received as I could not use the Amprobe as receive. Having used the Amprobe for one year, please accept this updated review.First off, I received a replacement via one-day shipping so Amazon and/or a third-party merchant (I have no record of who filled the order other than "Sold by Amazon.com LLC") deserve kudos.I have used this unit extensively since receipt on my truck engine and heating/cooling components, house (searching for thermal leaks), measuring heating system/pellet stove unit and exhaust components, and especially in the kitchen. Although I have an array of instant read, candy, and oven thermometers, using the Amprobe to check oven, water, or frying oil temps, etc., is fast, convenient, and clean (nothing to wash). For example, although my fryer has an automatic temperature control, if I am batch frying, I can quickly measure oil temperatures between batches to note when it has recovered, rather than wait x-number of minutes and assume it has. Although I have a magnetic thermometer on my stove pipe, if I desire an instant, accurate read when running hot, the Amprobe gives me that. So too if I wish to measure the temperatures of heated or unheated spaces about the house: no need to have to locate and read thermometers in hard to reach locations. Although my location does not have high heating or cooling demands, the Amprobe has alerted me to several leaks in both the exterior and interior structures which I subsequently sealed.Use your imagination and appreciate that, if you ever have a need to know the surface temperature of anything, the Amprobe will tell you instantly and over the entire surface, i.e., you can "sweep" a wall, window, roof, soffit, oven, etc. to find hot/cold spots, something that might be significant in a large oven, e.g. After more than one year, my Amprobe has functioned flawlessly and has provided me the means of measuring temperatures of things I had not thought of when I originally purchased it.Nonetheless mindful of my initial experience, I highly recommend the Amprobe.Ed

I purchased this on a gold box deal for just a bit more than half the currently listed price as of Sept 2013 of about sixty two dollars, something to keep in mind.It replaced another unit that didn't survive a recent move, and was a complicated bear to use.Used for finding household thermal leakage it's quite quick to find cold/hot leaks around windows, doors, etc. Of course the closer you get the more narrow the area being tested, great for pin pointing for really small leaks. It's instruction book is reasonable, not so detailed as to leave you shaking your head and not so sparse as to leave you with no clue. It came with an installed 9 volt battery which surprised me, unpackaged it and pulled the trigger and I was testing. To be honest I have no idea how accurate it is in it's measurements but it's within a few degrees on a pot of boiling water and that was good enough for my purposes.At the price I paid for it, it will more than pay for itself with some properly applied caulk, door strips, replacing a bit of insulation that slipped down etc.

I'm a construction inspector and use this to read temps od asphalt, soil, and concrete. Extremely accurate and durable.

worked very well, easy to understand and compact.

Works as advertized.