Those of you who have read some of my other reviews know that I love technology items. I am always on a quest to find the latest gadget to occupy space on my desk (much to my wife's displeasure!). The latest item to occupy some of my desk real estate is the Oregon Scientific Weather Station. Basically this a clock/ alarm device that uses Microsoft's MSN Direct service to receive current weather status and warnings as well as forecasts.

So why would anyone want to buy a weather predictor when the local weather channel is just a click away on the computer? Well the main reason is convenience. This item updates itself several times an hour and can get up to date forecasts and conditions before the local news channels can broadcast them. So how does it perform? Well lets look in more detail.

When you first power up the unit, it attempt to synchronize with the MSN Direct Service. This service is provided in many larger cities free of cost. The weather station uses this service to synchronize its clock and obtain weather updates. Frankly I would have perferred that the clock synchronize with the atomic clock, but the MSN service is pretty close to the atomic time.

The MSN Direct Service is not available in all locations so before buying make sure that it is available where you live or else you will only have a small manual clock on an otherwise huge blank LCD! One other thing worth mentioning is that the instruction manual states that the MSN direct service will provide weather updates until 2010. Neither Microsoft nor Oregon Scientific would provide an answer as to what happens after that time. One article I read said that this was due to a licensing agreement which expires in 2010 and no mention of whether Oregon Scientific plans to update this license.

Personally I don't think there will be any problem after 2010 because there is no real way for Microsoft to charge users of this device for accessing their updates. There are more and more devices coming to the market that are using the MSN service so there is no real reason for Microsoft to shut it down.

Overall the weather station works well and is easy to use once you play around with it for a while. The LCD is separated into 6 basic compartments. There is one for the clock/alarm/date. Directly below that is for the barometer/rainfall/UV index. The center is for the current forecast with the 3 day forecast directly below it. The right side has current temperature/inside temperature reading. Directly below this is wind graphic that shows you wind speed and direction.

At the top of the display there is a scrolling message that displays surise/sunset as well as any weather warnings/notices that may be predicted. There is also a small moonphase indicator directly above this section.

The unit takes about 10 minutes to receive a signal from MSN but it does it automatically without any setup. Once the signal is received the features are easily accessed by the buttons on the sides of the unit. You will definitely need the instruction manual to figure out how to access the features, but once you learn it is a pretty simple process. One problem with the MSN Direct Service is that it may be a general area forecast as opposed to a specific local forecast. For example, my unit receives its signal from the MSN direct service in Los Angeles. The weather forecasts are generalized for the LA area but I live in Orange Contry closer to the beach so the forecast is not very specific for my area (though it is not significantly off).

As for the clock, it has 2 independent alarms that can be set using 8 different melodies. A major annoyance is that the clock readout is pretty small, not a problem if you think of this as a weather station that just happens to have a clock built in.

The temperature display can be used to show outside or inside temperature. The readout was generally off by about 1-2 degrees which was rather annoying. Also there is no ability to use external (outdoor) sensors so your outdoor temperature reading is dependent on the MSN signal.

Some major annoyances with the unit are that each button press is confirmed by a loud beep, not good when you are trying to set your alarm with a spouse sleeping nearby.

Also, as previously mentioned, the side LED lights glow continuiosuly and cannot be turned off.

Overall the Oregon Scientific Weather Station is not a bad product but it definitely is not worth its $199 retail price. Even the Oregon Scientific Websites sale price of $144 seems a bit high for what you get. I have provided some links to Amazon.com and Ebay which are selling this item for significantly less than even the sale price of major retailers. At less than $100 it is a reasonable buy for someone who wants a reliable way to monitor weather forecasts and warnings. Just make sure that the MSN Direct Service covers your area before buying!