Battleangel | Personal

Today I got the Casio Protrek / Pathfinder model that I talked about earlier.

Media: I put a few snapshots of the watch on Picasa.

Delivery time was relatively swift considering my choice of USPS First Class Mail International. This shipping option is cheap but turned out to be dodgy and impossible to track. Nevertheless, the package arrived within 9 workdays, and that includes all the customs handling.

And yes, the package did get caught in customs of course.

The final price came to a total of 1930 SEK (including shipping) + 412 SEK in value added tax, customs and postal fees = 2342 SEK. That is still half of what this watch would have cost had I bought it from a Swedish retailer, plus shipping I imagine. In US dollars, given the exchange rate of the time, I paid like $285 including shipping. The store had lowered the declared value of the package to about $200 as it turns out. I asked about this and I guess that was as far as they dared venture. Obviously, for it to impact customs handling, the declared value would have had to be less than $40 or so. And anyway who knows if they fall for that old trick anymore.

The links for a titanium bracelet had to be adjusted of course but I managed to do that myself using some fine tools and a somewhat useful guide. And a better guide. First I removed five links for the band to fit my wrist. It was really snug, almost like a second skin. My hand didn’t turn blue so I guess I would’ve been alright, even when moving the fingers for like, you know, typing. And bracelets may expand a little over time. I also tried putting another link back in and shortened the fine tuning mechanism on the clasp to half a link. I still think it feels kind of loose, given the size and weight. Also, the bracelet does sort of get hung up on body hair. I actually ended up shaving the underside of my wrist. The sizing problem remains however. What I would have liked is a stretchy bracelet of some sort. As it stands, I will have to choose from a fit that is a little too tight and one that is a little too loose. I guess I’m not really used to these metal bracelets. We’ll see what I do about it. There is also the effect of the fit changing as the watch / your arm / the air temperature changes. It is hard to do anything about with a static band like this. It should also be noted that with four links removed, the watch is reduced to a more modest 101 grams.

Overall the PAW1500T feels really solid and operates really well. Not heavy or clumsy as I feared – as long as you can make it fit alright with the bracelet and everything. The mechanism for opening the bracelet seems well thought out as well.

"Atomic timekeeping" took a while to figure out. At first I didn’t set the home city correctly, and even when I got that right it refused to synch despite showing L1 or L2 levels when facing a window. I have another radio controlled watch on my bedside table that seems to synch just fine so I guess this wrist watch is just weaker or more finicky in this department. I finally put the watch in another window (facing south) and that did the trick. Now that the time has been set, it is really enough if it manages to synch a couple of times a month.

Caveats

There are some things to consider though. First of all, only the bracelet is titanium as I understand it. The bezel, case and back plate are either steel or resin as I understand it. That feels a little crummy to be honest. And if you care about that sort of thing, the colors obviously don’t match between the bracelet and the rest of the watch.

Also, as I pointed out before, almost all of the sensors are gimmicks. They either require calibration or are simply unreliably inaccurate. This includes the tide graph. Specifically, the thermometer was a real letdown compared to the fifteen year old Casio thermometer watch I had back in the day.  It had a "on/off wrist" setting for quickly compensating for body heat. This watch is 5-10 degrees off and tuning temperature readings is not a quick or easy procedure. So you pretty much have to take off the watch for a couple of minutes to get accurate readings. I was kind of hoping that wouldn’t be necessary. So, again with the calibration.

The digital compass, arguably the most reliably feature, was a little difficult to read. Personally I would have liked a compass rose instead of the small bars around the bezel, making the compass more analog. Still, there are benefits to having a digital reading as well. And again, some calibration may be needed. Also, the compass window is only active for a like 12-14 seconds or so. After that you have to activate the compass again.

I also feel that the contrast on the screen is a little too low. That is, it is difficult to make out the characters under low-light conditions on the oddly greenish background. Without activating the backlight of course. The backlight is good enough but only comes into play in real darkness. What I am trying to say is that it feels like there is a gap in readability, mostly indoors. Also, the backlight is active for something like two seconds tops. And you can’t hold the light-button down to extend that period so you better be quick taking your readings.