After searching LTBBQ, it appears there is no thread on the new iDevice: iGrillmini
As I received my unit for Christmas, I'll get things kicked off. Mind you, I own the original two-probe iGrill and have been using it with good success for what feels like a year. When I decided to order the mini for two reasons.
1. I often only need to monitor one item
2. The original iGrill EATS batteries
3. I don't happen to have an ambient temp probe; received one for Christmas this year - woot!
4. iGrillmini claims 150hrs battery life (that would be a rather long low and slow cook) :-)
After opening my mini, I was initially struck by it's size. The unit comes with a magnetic base which has a rubber coating, a single probe wrapped around a cord manager which is magnetic. The unit and base can be stored on the cord manager.
Looking straight on the mini, it resembles a rather sold looking device. However, removed from the base, the red plastic of the case looks rather cheap, not like a $39 device. The probe (included) does have an insulated jacket at the curve for easy handling.
The unit is powered by 3v coin-cell battery (maxell CR2032) and my first worry would be having a spare when the battery dies during a cook. As a big fan of rechargeable batteries, this setup only works if we truly get 150 hours of usage from a full charge. Which, brings me to my very first "rub" against iDevices. Upon power up and sync with the new iDevice APP (via iPhone), battery status is reading 60%
Now, at time of packaging, a small white slip of paper is inserted under the battery to prevent contact with the negative terminal. So, if the battery has lost 40% of it's charge just sitting in the device doing nothing...well, there are going to be a ton of honked off folks.
The unit pairs via bluetooth, so I assumed you do the pairing via iPhone settings. However, with the mini, you must download a new app called "iDevices Connected". Upon launch of this app, the mini is detected and paired. As the app can only be paired with a single device at once, I simply turned my BT radio off on the phone and my mini showed up on the iPad running iDevices Connected.
This revealed the first "strange" observation. You may recall, I stated the app running on the iPhone indicated battery status at 60%, right? Well, the app running on my iPad now states the battery is at 40%
Flipping back over to the iPhone running the app and battery life is reported at....40% Powered unit off and back on, connected to iPhone and battery back to 60%. Swapped over to iPad, now reads 60%
Conclusion - Battery status is pure BS. I'll pull out my multi-meter and take a reading of the battery to verify just how much juice is available.
Well, Dog is begging for a walk, so I'll stop here and get a certain someone out for his morning walk. Upon return, I'll post some additional observations and the results from a test of the battery on my multi-meter.
