Buyer Beware: I wanted to like the Amazon basics product line because I'm an active Amazon Prime consumer, but my first experience with their tire gauge product is very disappointing. The electronics and digital display are fine and worked well for the half dozen times I could use it. But within just a few uses, the hardware that fits on the tire valve broke right off and fell apart. I tried to snap it all back together but the metal fittings actually ripped in half. I'm a very careful user of my gadgets and I did not apply any unnecessary force, it was just very cheaply made with cheap mechanical fittings. I will purchase a name-brand tire gauge next time and try to get my money back on this one.Update: 7/3/2012
Once again, industry-standard Amazon.com customer satisfaction shines. On 7/3/2012, based upon reading my 1-star review, I was contacted by Amazon Executive Customer Relations who apologized for the faulty device and offered a free replacement or full refund. Since I already purchased a low-tech, traditional analog pressure gauge to replace this one a couple days ago, I accepted the refund. Regardless, Amazon customer service and buyer empathy takes all the risk out of AmazonBasics purchases and I won't hesitate to give another branded gadget a try next time. This is why so many of us are addicted to this incredible consumer retail experience. Greg
This Product: 1-star
Customer Service: 5-stars +
I have used digital, graduated stick type, and high accuracy dial type over the years. Each has it's advantages (although a stick type's only advantage is that it fits in your pocket easily, as they are not very accurate). But I like the combination of accuracy and ease of use provided by a good digital gauge. Easier to read, and often easier to use.
This gauge is the best I've ever had at far below the price of some I've owned. It takes only seconds to register your pressure, which is displayed in large numbers with an illuminated back screen. It holds the reading for 10 seconds. The angle of the head and size of the unit are well designed, making it easier to make good contact with the valve stem than many others I've used (nothing I hate more than bleeding air while trying to get a good seal with a gauge). There is even a small LED flashlight feature that is useful if you are trying to work in the dark.
You can pre-set the desired pressures for your front and rear tires into the gauge to serve as a reminder. These setting don't actually perform any function (such as telling you how much over/under you are), which would be a nice design upgrade... but it is useful for those who don't easily remember the prescribed pressures.
The bleeder side of the head (used to let air out of the tires) is a little awkward to use, due to the angle. But it is still useful. The case for the gauge is actually very nice and zips closed. It has enough padding to protect the gauge, should it be dropped on the road or garage floor. The feel of the tool is good very ergonomic. I rate this gauge five stars because it excels at everything I need in a tire pressure gauge, and the odd bleeder angle is not enough of a problem to take away a star. I love it!
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This is my first-ever Amazon review, but I had to write one considering how impressed I was with this product.I've owned an Accutire MS-4000 for over 10 years, and it finally gave out. I liked it and it worked well, but was always a little touchy when sealing up to the valve stem. I looked on Amazon and read all the reviews of gauges, carefully reading the negatives, and then came across this one. Could someone have finally made a well-designed digital gauge? Especially one with all glowing reviews? I decided to take a chance on it, and so far I'm glad I did!
It appears well-made, and right away, the metal swivel head beats the Accutire hands down. It seals perfectly and is much easier to place on the stem. I didn't have any trouble using the bleeder on it either. The display is very easy to read and stays lit long enough for me to go from tire to tire.
As for the memory function, that's not a selling point for me, and I didn't even bother to pre-set them for my tires. I know what pressures I want to run, and this feature doesn't help me. I'm not saying it's a bad feature, just one I'll never use.
I don't know who Amazon partnered with (or contracted out to) to make this gauge, but I'd say it was quite successful. I'll probably be buying a few of these as gifts for family and friends, considering how easy they are to use and how well they work.
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This unit is pretty nice and I like it a lot. However, I feel compelled to take two stars off for the following reasons:1. The unit takes two CR2032 (watch) batteries. After having this for only four months, the batteries died, which I thought was odd. Only having one CR2032 on hand, I decided to test the batteries to make sure it was the batteries and not the gauge itself. To my surprise, one of the batteries was OK and the other was absolutely dead. Points off for sending me a product with an infirm battery.
2. When I went to put the batteries into the gauge, I discovered that there's no indication of any kind what battery polarity should be. I consulted the manual which said "Replace old batteries with two CR2032 batteries ... matching +/polarity as marked." Points off for leaving me in the dark (FYI, positive side up).
3. There's no slip-off battery cover. The manual says "Remove the battery door on the back using a Phillips head screwdriver to remove the black screw." (I have no idea what the black screw is) There are two sets of screw holes, one to the front and the other to the rear. I assumed, given no other information, that both sets needed to be removed. In fact, only the back set requires removal. Now I'm not going to gripe about having to take out and put back two screws unnecessarily. What irritated me was discovering that the two sets, while the same length, were not the same diameter. An obvious difference is size wouldn't have bothered me, but in this case, the front set of screws were 0.2 mm larger. I am not making this up -I checked with a caliper.
I love Amazon and I love their stuff, but in this particular case, they could have done a better job.
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My concerns about accuracy were taken care of when I bought another aneroid gauge to replace one I keep in another car. The new aneroid gauge gave exactly the same readings as the Amazon gauge. Bottom line is that my old aneroid gauge was old and giving low readings. After using the Amazon gauge now for about a year I have not problems with it and prefer its digital readout to looking at an aneroid gauge dial.A solidly constructed tire gauge that is easy to use. In particular, it seems to grip the valve stem on the tire and does not slide off easily like other tire gauges I have used. My only concern is how accurate this gauge is. My other gauge, which is a standard analog dial gauge has seemed to match up closely with what the tire shop sets my pressure at with new tires. The Amazon digital gauge, however, reads 4.5 psi below what my other gauge reads. This is a pretty big discrepancy at 30 or 35 psi. I'm not sure which gauge has the accurate reading, or if both of them are inaccurate.
Another minor nit to pick is the description of how you can fine tune the pressure with an air bleed function. This function is just a little protrusion on the back of the gauge that you use to depress the valve stem on your tire and let out air. You have to stop taking the pressure, turn around the gauge, let out some air, turn the gauge around again and press it on the tire to read the pressure. On my old analog dial gauge there is a bleed valve that you activate by pressing a button while the gauge is still on the tire. This is easier and faster.
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