BACtrack Select S80 Breathalyzer Professional Edition
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List Price: Our Price: $138.00 You Save: $111.99 (45%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Health Care See more product details |
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Customer Reviews of BACtrack Select S80 Breathalyzer Professional Edition
Customer Review: Consistent results and easy to use...
Summary: 4 Stars
"Better safe then sorry", is the reason I picked up the S80. I used the analyzer a couple of times and the results have always been consistent; even with three people using it with different BAC during the same period. The S80 comes with it's own case and 6 individually wrapped mouthpieces. So it is best to pick up the 10 pack of mouthpieces BACTRACK Select Breathalyzer Mouthpieces (Pack of 10), because as soon as your friends find out you have a breath analyzer at a party they are going to want to use it. Also, you should get an extra set of battery and put it in the case, just in case the day you want to use it and the batteries are dead.
According to the instructions, do not use breath analyzer until it has been 20 minutes since the last drink/food has been consumed. Following that rule, should provide you with accurate and consistent results.
Quality:
The S80 is made of plastic; the type of plastic that appears it will not fare well during a fall on concrete. Just be careful to who you hand this too (if the person can't stand, he probably will not be able to hold your $150 investment). The case provided is really nice; it holds the instruction manual and S80 unit. There is a pouch inside the case with a zipper that you can put the mouth pieces (I have 16 pieces in mine) and extra batteries. The case is (6"x4"x2").
Background:
The breath analyzers that Amazon sell typically contain two types of sensors; semiconductor-based or fuel cell. The semiconductor-based typically cost less then hundred bucks and are known to be inaccurate and inconsistent with it's result. The fuel cells provides accurate and consistent results, but the breath analyzer with that type of sensor cost a lot more (but less then a DUI). The S80 has the fuel cell sensor.
With all of these sensors, they do require to be calibrated once a year or every (200 to 300) tests according to BACtrack. BACtrack charges $20 to recalibrate. It's competitor AlcoHawk charges $29 for it's fuel cell version.
Customer Review: Be prepared to blow hard! Be prepared for disappointment!
Summary: 2 Stars
Excellent product and was even more impressed with the manufacturer. The unit allows you to select the length of time and relative force necessary to start the test. I found that even at the lowest force setting, I was only able to make the unit register my breath once, rest of the time I got an error message indicating I hadn't blown hard enough. I am not a smoker, nor do I have any breathing problems. The unit does have a "user" setting which worked flawlessly every time.
I returned my first unit to the manufacturer describing the problem above. As soon as they received the unit and verified its functioning, they personally called me to learn how I was attempting to use it. No errors in what I was doing were found, but they shipped me a brand new unit anyway with absolutely no fuss. It works exactly like the first one, so I've contented myself to use the customized "user" setting and forget about any of the preprogrammed settings. Guess it's not a problem even though the manual notes that a harder, deeper "blow" will provide the most accuracy.
Unit is attractive, compact, and the manufacturer KHN is absolutely amazing in their customer support.
Now for the unfortunate part: Upon returning for calibration (unit had become totally inaccurate with wildly fluctuating readings), KHN calls and tells me that they can't get it to calibrate. It's useless, do I want them to mail back to me or throw in trashcan? Hmmmm. Lots of money for something that worked maybe 100 times and failed its first recalibration to the point that it's now broken. By the way, this unit has always been kept in the house, not in a hot/cold glove compartment.
Customer Review: Unfortunately, purchased too late.
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, my bad decision one evening to drive home after a celebration to get to next morning's doctor appointment. Hit a median in a dark road. Spent the night in jail, charged with DUI - a first in 74 years of life. A large part of the year was spent with DUI penalty activities. YOU DON'T WANT TO GET ONE!!!! Now I'm on probation for three full years, allowed ZERO BAC at any time when driving!
I purchased the BACtrack S80 Pro 6 months ago, as it had good reviews and operates on the fuel-cell principle, the only reliable method used by law enforcement. Impressive and clean design, nice carry case, and - mainly - superbly repeatable results! I spent a few weeks to time my BAC over time, rising and falling while - really! - doing 'research drinking' (after all, I'm a chemist). I was able to 'calibrate' myself and was amazed how close I am to published data.
Other than doing these tests, I do - have to do - make sure that the instruments always shows 0.000 before I drive (even if it's next morning after a party).
In my opinion, the instrument performs to specs. I approached my local police to request comparison of my values to the ones on their equipment - but nobody was willing to 'give me a green light'.
Yes, I should have bought that unit earlier - i.e. I should have been more aware of the implications, beside lots of time and close to $10,000 in total cost, now having to list having been 'arrested' when coming home from my many trips. Doesn't <$200 for a reliable tester sound very cheap? Now I don't know the 'precision' if one operates at the border of 0.080 +/- ?
Happy New Year 2011!
Customer Review: Very Accurate Breathalyzer
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the BacTrack S80 in August from amazon and I am extremely pleased with the product. First and probably most important, it seems to give very accurate results. Three years ago I received one of those cheap keychain units as a gift and it read all over the map and never worked well. Here, with this product, if I test myself 3 times in a row I get the same test result 3 times, so you know it's consistent. And if I test a sober person and then a very drunk person, there is no crossover or contamination, which is something I worried about (and really researched) before this purchase. So $199 is not cheap, but you get what you pay for here in terms of accuracy.
Besides being happy with the accuracy, I really like the small size. I have an LG Envy phone and the Bactrack S80 is almost the same size. I didn't consider size prior to my purchase, but because it's portable, I'm much more likely to take the BacTrack out when I drink, which is really the whole point of having it.
I appreciate the advanced features and being able to adjust the flow settings, but mainly I just turn it on and test. As of today, I'm already on test # 144. Yeah, it's been passed around and used by a lot of people already. 5 stars for its accuracy and reliability alone.
Customer Review: S80 is very accurate and is backed up by great customer service
Summary: 5 Stars
When my original S80 worked it performed very well. It had consistently reproducible results that were accurate when compared to my bodyweight and amount of alcohol ingested. I kept it in my glovebox and the unit worked great to test if I was safe to drive for about 9 months; after that the sensor went bad and would only read 0.00. Thinking it was just a little calibration issue, I sent it for recalibration then received it back still only reading 0.00. By this time the warranty was up but I decided to contact BACtrack to see if there was any way to repair it. They allowed me to send it in and initially they refused to service the unit. After a while of talking with customer service and even the president of BACtrack they did decide to replace the unit even though the warranty was up. Their customer service is amazing and I would definitely purchase another BACtrack product again because they stand behind their products. If you are in the market for a high-end breathalyzer that is more accurate than the run of the mill Alcohawk then look no further. You would be hard pressed to find a better breathalyzer and you will never find better customer service.