WLIP or WL-USB

[HopeMaineWx]

Curious to see what people prefer in regards to WL.

[johnd]

Curious to see what people prefer in regards to WL.

I'm not sure that this is a like for like comparison. The WLIP obviously has the key extra features of having an Ethernet interface and being able to upload to the weatherlink.com website, but costs substantially more. If you don't need these extra features then I'm not sure why you would pay the significant extra cost over eg the standard USB logger.

But if you like the idea of having live weather data on a website (at least in a basic style presentation) with a total minimum of set-up hassle and don't want to run a PC locally 24/7 then you might feel that the extra cost is justified (quite a few schools fall into this category).

Based on our own sales figures, I'd say that the USB logger (+ 6510SER) currently outsells the WLIP by a ratio of 3 or 4 to 1.

EDIT: And the poll should say WL hardware not software - the software is identical between both types and does exactly the same things.

[dalecoy]

Curious to see what people prefer in regards to WL.

This poll is like asking people whether they prefer driving a sedan or a pickup truck.

The Davis serial/USB loggers and the WLIP satisfy different requirements.  If you buy the one that satisfies your requirements, you prefer it.

[HopeMaineWx]

To certain degree yes, but that doesn't mean that once you bought the Sedan you didn't trade it in for the pickup becasue your needs weren't satisfied. There are major drawbacks to both versions and its just a poll out of curiosity to see how it shakes out. Don't answer the question if you don't like!

[johnd]

There are major drawbacks to both versions and its just a poll out of curiosity to see how it shakes out. Don't answer the question if you don't like!

But you still haven't changed the poll to say 'hardware' or 'logger' and not 'Davis software'. To repeat, there is no difference in the Weatherlink software supplied - it's only the hardware that differs - other than the fact that the WLIP obviously has the additional ability to upload its data to weatherlink.com.

And, extra cost aside which is obviously an important factor in a purchase decision but still not a technical difference, what are the disadvantages of the WLIP logger vs the USB logger? The only material issue that I'm aware of is that some third-party software is still not fully and directly compatible with the WLIP logger; but this is an issue to be taken up with the authors of the software in question - it's apparently not a difficult issue for them to fix if they choose to do so.

[dalecoy]

As I recall, there may be reduced functionality (of the WLIP) when the bulletin is running.

But, in any case, you can't just ignore cost.

If that's the only difference, then "Costs more, and does more" would be a realistic comparison.  So, do people prefer the Ford or the Cadillac? 

[I prefer the serial logger, but then I don't object to running a PC 24/7]

[johnd]

As I recall, there may be reduced functionality (of the WLIP) when the bulletin is running.

I'm not aware that this is the case unless you're also running some non-Davis software such as the RapidFire add-on or certain other pieces of third-party software that haven't yet been brought to fully compatibility with the WLIP logger.

I've certainly had Weatherlink with a WLIP data feed running Bulletin while simultaneously uploading to wl.com and without any apparent problems - WL is designed to request loop packets in such a way as to release the WLIP logger to do its uploads to wl.com at intervals. But admittedly this isn't a configuration that I run routinely so I can't rule out that there may be occasional glitches, but I'm not sure why there should be (for a pure Davis software environment that is).

[dalecoy]

From the FAQ:

"However, when the real-time bulletin is running in WeatherLink 5.8, one minute current conditions updates are still sent to weatherlink.com, but archive data will not be uploaded until the bulletin is closed."

Certainly not a big deal. 

So it's "costs more, does more".  If you want the "does more", you get to pay more. 

[johnd]

From the FAQ:

"However, when the real-time bulletin is running in WeatherLink 5.8, one minute current conditions updates are still sent to weatherlink.com, but archive data will not be uploaded until the bulletin is closed."

Ah yes, you're right - I'd forgotten about that. Not sure why that should be though - if the logger is released to do its per-minute uploads to wl.com, I'm not sure why it shouldn't also do the hourly archive uploads before returning to local loop servicing. I'll see if I can find out more.