IR thermometer help.

[Terry01]

I was looking to get an IR thermometer and was right about to pull the trigger on the Fluke 64 MAX but i ended up seeing the EBRO TFI-550 and liked the look of it so took a punt hoping I was getting a "better" instrument. Now I am not so sure I did the right thing. I can't help feeling I should just have stuck with the known name brand Fluke.
Does anyone here know enough about these things to be able to tell me one way or the other?? 

[Terry01]

Anyone ? ? ? 

[Edwin G. Pettis]

It depends on what you want to do with it, how accurate, repeatable and from a reputable source.  There are some little hand held gun models out there selling for under $20, they are pretty accurate, you can find them on eBay.  Yes they are from China, I have one of them and so far, it is certainly worth the price I paid.  ±1.5°C/±1.5% is not too shabby.  Now if you need better performance, then the Fluke is likely the better buy even though it costs more.  If that little gun is good enough, then there's your answer, otherwise a Fluke.

[texaspyro]

Also look at the Melexis IR temp sensors.   They speak IIC (actually SMBus with a 8-bit CRC).  They have several different versions that run on 3.3 or 5V and with different fields of view.  Most are packaged in a TO5-ish windowed package.  The narrow field of view models can get pricey.

[Terry01]

Cool. Thanks for the replies. It's just for hobby use and general around the house or whatever.  I won't need no scientific results or anything like that.
As you say it'll be near enough...I'm a happy chief temperature taker again!