after setting it up and reading the manual, i put it in some boiling water to check the calibration. it showed 188F, not a good sign. then i waited for it to cool off before plunging it into a glass of ice-cold water (water with lots of ice cubes, well-stirred and rested). the temperature came out to be 67F. my room temperature is at 70F, and this thermometer showed 92F. i was hoping at least that if it's off, it's off consistently so that i could still use it with some simple arithmetic, but the readings are almost completely erratic. what a piece of junk.