[Electronics-talk] Talking Medical Thermometer

[Gerald Levy]

I wasn't feeling well this morning, so I reached for the talking oral thermometer I had purchased from Independent Living Aids some time ago to take my temperature, only to discover to my chagrin that its batteries were dead.  And because I didn't happen to have a set of nonstandard button cell batteries lying around to get the thermometer working again, and because the particular batteries used by this thermometer are not available locally at my supermarket, drug store or Radio Shack, I was out of luck.  What good is a medical thermometer if it doesn't work when you need it?  A medical thermometer is a gadget that is used so infrequently, only when you or other family member feels sick that it doesn't make sense to purchase a stockpile of these nonstandard batteries online just to keep them on hand to power one device.  By the time I needed to replace the batteries again in this thermometer, they would all probably be dead, anyway.  So now I'm looking for a talking medical thermometer that runs on standard "AAA" battereies that are widely available everywhere and are easily replaceable.  Doing a little research, I discovered that a few companies offer talking ear and ear/forehead thermometers that run on a pair of "AAA" batteries, which means that the thermometer would always be ready when called upon, because I already have a large supply of "AAA" batteries on hand to power my remote controls and other electronic gadgets.  But reading reviews on Amazon.com for these talking ear thermometers, it sounds like they are not very accurate.  Many users report that these thermometers do not provide consistent temperature readings from scan to scan, so they are virtually useless for determining whether you actually have a fever.  So I'm wondering:  Can anyone recommend a talking medical thermometer that they have found to be reasonably accurate and that runs on easily replaceable "AAA" batteries?  Please provide specific brand and model name and number.  I am not interested in any talking medical thermometers that operate on cockamamie, nonstandard button cell or coin batteries.  Thanks for any feedback.

Gerald