It's been my sense that the basic measuring technology of these devices has pretty much standardized in the past few years. You will get about the same accuracy and precision from a $100 unit as from a more expensive one. For distances greater than about 5 or 6 feet (a couple of meters) all of them are more reliable than a tape because they don't sag, stretch, or have a hook that can get bent. They are also much faster than a tape, and the only sane way to go solo. I've been quite happy using one for crown and similar moldings, as I usually make them a shade long and spring them into place.
There are differences that you might want to consider, many of which go with higher price:
- range: more expensive units often have significantly greater working range. This could mean a lot if you will use it outdoors for large distances such as laying out an entire house. It probably doesn't matter on room-size measurements indoors.
- aiming/leveling: some have sighting marks and/or bubble levels so that when you shoot the distance between walls you know you didn't measure a slant - though, unless the walls are significantly out of plumb, this usually doesn't affect the accuracy of the measurement by much.
- reference points: basic units typically measure only from the front or the back of the assembly, which doesn't work well if you need to get into a corner. fancier ones have more selectable reference points.
- units: If you care about fractional inches or decimal inches, check the specs. Not all lasers do both.
- memories: cheaper units tend to have fewer memories to save measurements. Of course, none have annotation, so if you use the memory you have to remember which part of the room was stored in memory #4!
- modes: many will solve a right triangle to make "indirect" measurements. Some will calculate area or volume based on measurements of the sides.
- build quality and ergonomics: I haven't seen one from any name brand that was junk, though, as usual, you can find some really cheap and not worth that much ones on eBay. I've been happy with the Bosch, but some people complain that they don't like the push-to-measure feel.
Steve
There are differences that you might want to consider, many of which go with higher price:
- range: more expensive units often have significantly greater working range. This could mean a lot if you will use it outdoors for large distances such as laying out an entire house. It probably doesn't matter on room-size measurements indoors.
- aiming/leveling: some have sighting marks and/or bubble levels so that when you shoot the distance between walls you know you didn't measure a slant - though, unless the walls are significantly out of plumb, this usually doesn't affect the accuracy of the measurement by much.
- reference points: basic units typically measure only from the front or the back of the assembly, which doesn't work well if you need to get into a corner. fancier ones have more selectable reference points.
- units: If you care about fractional inches or decimal inches, check the specs. Not all lasers do both.
- memories: cheaper units tend to have fewer memories to save measurements. Of course, none have annotation, so if you use the memory you have to remember which part of the room was stored in memory #4!
- modes: many will solve a right triangle to make "indirect" measurements. Some will calculate area or volume based on measurements of the sides.
- build quality and ergonomics: I haven't seen one from any name brand that was junk, though, as usual, you can find some really cheap and not worth that much ones on eBay. I've been happy with the Bosch, but some people complain that they don't like the push-to-measure feel.
Steve
