Gotta admit I'm interested in the Hydra, today it took 10 minutes to get down to 80, half an hour to 68, and 30 minutes later I was still at 68, that's with a 50' chiller in the wort and a 25' pre-chiller in ice water. Maybe soon the teeth of the hydra will be upon me [that one was for the other old rockers].
As for refractometers, I violated my one cardinal rule of tool buying and bought one of the $60 ones, it aint worth the powder and lead it'd take to blow it straight to hell! Total waste of beer money. Ya always gotta pay for what ya get, but ya don't always get what all that ya paid for, maybe I'll try a higher dollar one after I get over being miffed, and can scrabble up enough beer money to afford one.