Analog or digital scales? Which is more accurate?

crissy976
crissy976 Posts: 91 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I want to buy a scale, but I'm torn on which to buy. Anyone have any suggestions/experiences with either digital or analog? I'm leaning toward the analog, because I think it would be more accurate. Plus, I don't want to spend a lot of money. Any ideas/suggestions/comments?

Replies

  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
    edited October 2016
    For weighing myself, I like my digital because it weighs in pounds plus ounces and the number is right there. End of story for me. :) Mine is a Walmart Digital for about 25 dollars.

    For weighing food, digital because it weighs in grams. Nice on from Target for $35, but you can find them cheaper.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    Digital for both. :)
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Accuracy is entirely separate from analog/digital.

    You can get an extremely accurate analog scale, and a crappy inaccurate digital scale.

    One thing to watch for is *precision* claims. Digital scales, because of their cute little readouts, give the impression that they are both more accurate and more precise. Your analog scale may only be easily readable to the half-pound while the digital scale will give you hundredeths of a pound. Except that if the scale isn;t actually able to measure those fine differences for real? Those hundredths are pretty much meaningless.

  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,261 Member
    edited October 2016
    Digital
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    This happens to me with my high-end digital scale, an Ozeri Touch II: As I often do, I'll put a heavy plate on my scale in order to sprinkle on a few grams of a food item. Today the item to be sprinkled was finely shredded cheddar cheese. I reached into the bag with my thumb and forefinger and grabbed some cheese. I sprinkled the cheese on the plate of food and the scale quickly reported that I had added 16 grams. As I sealed the bag of cheese and returned it to the refrigerator, the scale added a gram every 3-5 seconds so that after less than a minute of nothing being added and nothing being removed, the scale reached as high as 24 grams before I tared it for the next small item.

    My quandary is that I really don't know if the 16 is accurate or if the 24 is accurate. That's a significant uncertainty with cheese.

    That only seems to happen when I'm adding light weight stuff.
  • Habiteer
    Habiteer Posts: 190 Member
    A great digital scale can be had for 10 or 15 bucks. Analog sounds like a headache.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
    Oddly enough while I was losing weight I used analogue for both.
    I already had them.

    The body scale only gave me lbs difference, so when I was down to my last 10lbs and losing at sometimes less than 1lbs every six weeks it was torturous waiting for that needle to move.
    Now maintaining with a digital body scale I can see every minuscule variation. Neither a good or bad thing.

    My analogue food scale is a work of art, and I love it. A Salter scale that you put the little weights on one side and has a big copper pan to put ingredients in on the other. I have both g. and oz. weights for it. It is great for baking, but it was a pain to keep cleaning when I was weighing my food.
    The digital scale I have only had for a couple of years and it is magic- so much simpler to weigh with.
    ( I think of my old one as art, my new one as science)

    So my vote for weight loss is digital for both.

    Cheers, h.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    savithny wrote: »
    Accuracy is entirely separate from analog/digital.




    YES!!!

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