[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]

By x from New England on 7/31/2008

The good:

More rugged than I expected for that price.

Accurate time.

Good Chrono with multiple laps.

The timer comes in quite handy, as do the dual time zones.

The compass is very accurate. The only time I have problems with it is when near another strong magnetic field, but even then it will warn you that it's seeing multiple sources

The barometer is also very accurate.

The pedometer/speed/distance is amazingly perfect once configured properly to match your body. It matches my count every time. Better than ANY other device I've seen.

The bad:

Weather prediction seems to be only accurate about 50% of the time. It seems to be based on barometric trends, and is way too agressive at attempting predictions.

The two time/date alarms are great, but I wish there were more.

The ugly:

Temperature is inacurate due to your own body heat. With the black watch body, it heats up quick in the sun. The best method I've found to get closer to an accurate temp is take the difference between your body heat and it's display, devide by two and subtract that from the display(when it's hot) or add (when it's cold). Take it off your wrist and sling it from your pack for a better reading.

The altimiter seems to be based on air pressure. This means that the more the barometric pressure changes, the less accurate the altimiter. Frequent recalibrations are required to keep it accurate. That requires knowing your real distance above sea level to recalibrate, which defeats the whole purpose.


Overall, it's a good value.

By Bockscar from New England on 7/30/2008

The good:

It seems to be quite rugged. I expected poor quality for the price and the looks, but it's taken a beating without problems. There have been several time where I smacked a rock with it and was sure I had broken the crystal or at least put a huge scratch in it, but it's always survived, and looking quite good.

Accurate time.

Good Chrono with multiple laps.

The timer comes in quite handy, as do the dual time zones.

The compass is very accurate. The only time I have problems with it is when near another strong magnetic field, but even then it will warn you that it's seeing multiple sources

The barometer is also very accurate.

The pedometer/speed/distance is amazingly perfect once configured properly to match your body. It matches my count every time. Better than ANY other device I've seen.

Can't beat the value at that price.


The bad:

Slightly tough learning curve. Not exactly intuitive, but after a day with it, it becomes second nature.

Weather prediction seems to be only accurate about 50% of the time. It seems to be based solely on barometric trends, and is way too agressive.

The two time/date alarms are great, but I wish there were more.


The ugly:

Temperature is inacurate due to body heat amd with the black body, it heats up quickly in the sun. The best method I've found to get closer to an accurate temp is take the difference between your body heat and it's display, devide by two and subtract that from the display(when it's hot) or add (when it's cold). Take it off your wrist and sling it from your pack for a better reading.

The altimiter seems to be based entirely on air pressure. This means that the more the barometric pressure changes, the less accurate the altimiter. Frequent recalibrations are required to keep it accurate. That requires knowing your real distance above sea level to recalibrate, which defeats the whole purpose.

It's still a great product, especialy for the price, and when you consider that even the similar but more expesive models tend to suffer from the same problems.