I will agree that the Thermapen is expensive, maybe not soooo bad when you compare the full specs, accuracy, 3 second read time, NIST-Traceable calibration, etc?? Do cooks need all of that??..maybe, maybe not...I can say having a drawer FULL of different digital and non-digital thermometers, if my Thermapen goes bad tomorrow I will replace it ASAP. They do have excellent customer service and even repaired and upgraded one I broke at no charge. Sign up for their emails and they offer discounts, open box units, etc. They also draw from their mailing list and give one away each month, I can vouch for that because I won one!!
I used a dual probe, wireless Maverick for years with no issues. Switched to the Guru and really enjoy it and I recently acquired a Cyber-Q so now maybe I can screw it up from my deer stand 30 miles away!!!
