2010年7月14日星期三

Review of the Casio GW

You don't wantto let the battery completely discharge, though, since it takes 24 hours of directsunlight to fully recharge it which is not an easy feat unless you happen tobe orbiting the Earth.Battery charge indicator. The LCD at the 6 o'clock positionwill let you know when you've been cooped up in your dark basement for too long,and that it's time to get out into the sunshine for a little recharging.Power saving function. When not exposed to light for a prolongedperiod of time, the watch goes into power saving mode which means the LCDs turnoff and the hands stop moving. Once it detects light again, or a button is pushed,or the watch is angled toward your face for reading, it awakens again. The LCDscome back on, and the analog hands scurry back into their proper places. Neattrick.Atomic timekeeping. This watch will calibrate itself up tofive times a day using a radio signal broadcast by the cesium clock in FortCollins, Colorado (or one of the two atomic clocks in Japan, depending on howthe watch is configured). Calibration attempts are made at 1:00 a.m., 2:00 a.m.,3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m., and if none of those were successful, again at 5:00a.m. (if nothing else, this watch is persistent).Viewthe Casio GW-1100 photo gallery.I reviewed this watch's all-digitallittle brother about a month ago, and foundit to be a good watch for someone who needs something durable and inexpensive.If you're really into Casio G-Shocks, though, you'll definitely want to lookat something more like the GW-1100 and its peers.This is a big, bold G-Shock that's just about as feature-rich as they come. It'snot exactly a lightweight, inconspicuous timepiece, but people don't wear G-Shockswhen they want their wrists to go unnoticed. Despite its size, weight, height,and the fact that there are ten noticeable screws keeping this watch water anddust-tight, I think it actually manages to convey a touch more class than yourtypical G-Shock.Features of the GW-1100Solar powered. The face of the watch, behind the hands andin front of the four LCDs, is a good-sized solar cell which easily keeps this watch'sbattery well charged. A couple of minutes of direct sunlight each day is the bestway to keep a Tough Solar G-Shock happy (normal incandescent, and even fluorescent,lighting can also be used, though you'll need substantially more of it), howeverCasio claims that a fully charged battery will power this model through normaluse for up to seven months. I don't have time to sit in the dark for seven monthsto test this theory, but I will say that even after prolonged disuse (so many watches,so little time), whenever I pick it back up, the battery has always been nearlyfully charged, so my guess is that Casio's claims are accurate.