AL6000 Pro Professional Breathalyser

Drinking to the point of inebriation isn’t big, hard or clever — but we’re all three, which makes us duly qualified to test the Andatech AL6000 Pro Professional Breathalyser. As its name implies, this portable battery-operated gadget is a personal breathalyser that allows you to check your blood alcohol content during [a night of responsible drinking — Ed].

Whether your tipple of choice is [Diet Coke — Ed.] or harder stuff like [chocolate ice-cream sundaes — Ed.], it’s easy to creep over the legal limit without realising it. This is where the Andatech AL6000 Pro Professional Breathalyser comes in. Unlike most breathalyser products, the unit is Australian Standard Certified, which means you don't have to translate the data to match local guidelines. Provided you’re sober enough to read the LED display, you’ll never misjudge your level of [non — Ed.] intoxication again.

The Andatech AL6000 Pro Professional Breathalyser comes equipped with an advanced semiconductor sensor with a 99.99 per cent BAC accuracy guarantee. While this might sound fine and dandy, it’s important to note that it only takes an extra .01 per cent to fall outside the legal driving limit (e.g. a reading of .05 per cent could actually be .06 per cent). Caution is therefore advised. On the plus side, the device can be sent back to the manufacturer for recalibration if you think the results are getting iffy.

Anyone who has been pulled over by a police breathalyser squad will be instantly familiar with how the AL6000 works. You simply plug in one of the plastic mouth pieces, power up the device, wait for the beep and blow. After five seconds, the device will beep again to indicate that it’s time to stop blowing. Your reading will then appear on the red LED display. It’s not rocket science (which is just as well, given the number of drunks out there).

Naturally, there was considerable office debate over who would get to ‘test’ the Andatech AL6000 Pro Professional Breathalyser, fuelled by a misinformed belief that all expenses incurred could be charged back to the company. As it turns out, our paymasters would prefer to avoid public endorsements of binge drinking, which meant we had to buy our own [ginger — Ed.] beer. Tsk.

To test the device, we conducted a not-very-scientific experiment which consisted of [consuming one standard drink — Ed.] and seeing how long it took us to [fall down drunk. No, hang on. — Ed]. While we couldn’t swear to it, the AL6000’s readings seemed to accurately reflect our level of sobriety, or lack thereof. The device's BAC range goes all the way up to 0.40 per cent.

The AL6000 Pro Professional Breathalyser offers two separate modes of operation; fast and normal. The fast mode merely indicates whether your blood alcohol level is Zero, Low or High, while the normal mode gives an exact reading. In addition to ensuring you get home safely, the AL6000 Pro Professional Breathalyser can be used to settle important social issues, such as which of your friends is the cheapest drunk. You can also use it to gauge the duplicity of your beer-goggles before approaching that smiling fuzzy shape at the bar. At $180, the AL6000 isn't exactly cheap, but it's the only product we've tested that may save you from losing your licence — or even your life.

With dimensions of 137x73x44mm, the AL6000 Pro Professional Breathalyser isn’t really something you can carry around in your pocket for impromptu party tricks. However, it should fit inside a cluttered glove box without any problem. A faux-leather carry pouch is also included in the sales package, complete with a dinky pocket for spare mouth pieces.

All up, the Andatech AL6000 Pro Professional Breathalyser is a responsible little device that won’t cost you an arm or a leg (insert 'legless' joke here). If you’re a regular social drinker, it will definitely make a worthwhile investment. [And remember folks, drink responsibly! — Ed.]