I've got three of them and use them all the time. However, a lot of people misuse them. All of the temp guns I have are rated at a 1:1 ratio. That means that I'm measuring the temp of a a surface that is 1 inch in diameter when I'm holding the temp gun 1 inch away from it. I'm measuring the surface of an area 12 inches in diameter when I'm holding the temp gun 12 inches away from it. It doesn't do much good trying to read the temperature of an area from more then a foot to a foot and a half away as you really can't get an accurate temperature reading over a surface area that large. I've also seen people try to measure the temps of their hot spot through the glass of the cage. This won't work as you'll only succeed in measuring the temp of the surface of the glass. Still, if you take these things into consideration, it's still a very useful tool and I wouldn't be without mine.

Mark