 Satisfied |
| Review Date: May 21, 2007 |
| Reviewer: K. Helton, TN |
Been very satisfied with this watch so far. I was really concerned about the size, but this slim pathfinder fits the bill. Most of the current pathfinder watches are behemoths that are oversized for my wrist. This one is large but not oversized, I wouldn't want to go any bigger myself. (56.9 x 47.4 x 11.5mm / 60g) Most of the other pathfinder are in the (62.3 x 52.2 x 14.2mm / 78g) range. So I get the same features but a little smaller footprint.
Features:
The compass has been spot on with a handheld compass I checked it against.
The altimeter calibrates by pressure and temp. So, it needs to be adjusted for current conditions before you start a trip. It's varied widely so far. Also changed the display to read in feet and not in meters. It goes in 20 foot intervals.
The barometer stays a little below what weather sources say actual pressure is but I'm looking for trends in pressure not the actual pressure(at least I am). Rising as a trend improving weather, falling pressure as a trend deteriorating weather. Can also change the display for pressure from hPa to inHg.
Had to manually set the thermometer and it's been in the ballpark with the real temp. Which once again was what I was after, not precise readings, so I am happy with it.
There a few mountains in the area I'm in so I was a little concerned about the atomic time keeping. When I took it out of the box it hadn't updated in about two months. I wasn't able to manually update until later in the night, around 11 pm est. Every night since it's sync'd it's time automatically sometimes while even on my wrist. It tires at 12:00, 1:00 and 2:00.
Really like the large display for the time. Very easy to see at a glance.
world time feature: who cares?
Stopwatch is a stopwatch and works.
Countdown time is easy to config and start.
Haven't set any alarms yet. The watch can also set to silent. Can chime on each hour too.
Not using the auto backlight.
I'd give the watch about 4 and a quarter stars but since I can't do a quarter I'll go ahead and give it 5.
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Feature Filled Timepiece
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| Review Date: January 24, 2008 |
| Reviewer: J. Battig, United States |
I've been impressed with everything about this watch since receiving it. First off, the looks are great. It's a large watch, but the styling is nicely done and it looks decent on my average size wrist. I like that it is not bold or busy. It is fairly intuitive to adjust and access the many functions. The three major functions of the watch are easily accessed from the corresponding buttons on the right side.
I particularly like that this is a solar powered watch, with a handy indicator at the bottom of the display showing the level of charge. It took a week or so of normal wear to fully charge the battery, but it has maintained it's full charge with only a minimal amount of direct sunlight daily. The owner's manual states that with normal use it needs only 5 minutes of sunlight daily to maintain the charge, and it has so far proven true.
The compass function appears to be quite accurate, but I haven't used it very much so far. The compass will shut off after about 20 seconds, I assume to save battery power.
For an accurate temperature reading the watch must be removed from the wrist. Your body heat will affect the reading significantly, but that is to be expected with this type of thermometer. Once removed from the wrist, it will take at least 15 minutes for the temperature to stabilize. I suppose that unless you have the watch sitting on your nightstand or you are in the middle of nowhere, there are probably quicker ways to find the actual temperature.
The barometer seems fairly accurate when compared to the local pressure reading from the nearby government weather station. The trend graph is a nice touch. I haven't used the altimeter much but it's important to note that it must be adjusted periodically to match your actual elevation, as with any altimeter the reading is computed against the ever-changing barometric pressure.
The atomic time keeping has worked very well for my location in the central US. I live approximately 550 miles from the Ft. Collins transmitter, and the watch will receive the time signal each night when it is removed from my wrist and sitting on my nightstand. I've stayed up late enough to notice that it does have some problem receiving a signal while I am wearing it, but that is expected as stated in the product manual.
Since the intended use of the major functions is in an outdoor/adventure type of environment, then this watch adequately fits the bill. For me it just makes a great, good looking daily wear watch. |
Want to love it, but no...
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| Review Date: November 16, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Michi, Ohio, United States |
I have a ton of Casio watches, including three old alti-barometer watches. When this series came out, I waited a while and then jumped on it. It has everything one could want. Well, it does everything it says it should, and very well. However, after about one year of use, I'm running into problems. I fly for a living, and this is the watch I take with me. I usually go to Europe five times a month and I wear this watch, when I'm home in the US this watch sits by a window to charge up and receive the atomic clock.
Well, the watch makes it to Europe, but on the return, it usually dies on me. It goes from battery High indication to a dead screen with a flashing "C", meaning it went into power saver mode trying to recharge. At this point it loses all information - time, date, altimeter settings etc... The other day it started flashing an "R" and froze up. Haven't found that in the manual yet. But I'm giving up on it. A watch is no good if it can't reliably show the time, and this one doesn't do that.
My guess is that the rechargeable battery is dead. The watch is out of warranty now, so I'm on my own with it. I found a place online that sells these rechargeable batteries, I guess I could give that a try. Still, disappointing, you would think a solar watch would work a whole lot longer than a regular battery.
Edit:
I bought a new rechargeable battery for nine dollars from a NY online store and changed it myself. The watch works perfectly now and hasn't dipped below a "High" charge since and that has been about a year. It has taken a lot of abuse in the last two years and still works great although the plastic on the sides is pretty scuffed. I changed the rating to a five star rating now since it works as it should. Still not pleased that Casio sent it out with a bad battery. By the way, it does receive the German and British time signals perfectly. Haven't tried the Japanese one yet. It is a little annoying that the watch needs to be told that it is in a different country though, rather than scanning for a signal by itself. I usually don't bother since the watch is accurate enough for a while without updating. Like most Casio's, it runs fast a few seconds every month if it doesn't update. |
Buyer beware: Amazon tries to sell used watches as "New".
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| Review Date: September 29, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Joel Tunnah, Brooklyn, NY |
First, the watch: the Casio PAW1300-1V is a great watch, well made, and it is worthy of 5 stars.
Now to the important point of my review.
In the last six months I have bought three watches from Amazon directly ("Ships from and sold by Amazon"): Casio DW6600C-1V and PAW1300-1V, and a Timex ironman. All three showed obvious signs of being returned items: fingerprints, missing/crumpled crystal covering, watch not showing through the box window, torn box, etc.
In the case of the PAW1300-1V, the resin band had actual mud in the grooves, and something like dried cola on it. Obviously somebody wore this watch for a weekend on a camping trip, and then sent it back to Amazon, who promptly sold it to me as a "New" watch.
Once, ok it might be a mistake - but three times in a row?? I now believe it is a policy of theirs to try to sell used watches as if they were new, and I will never, ever, buy another watch from Amazon. |
New and improved
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| Review Date: April 15, 2008 |
| Reviewer: R. Craig Bannerman, Black Mountain, NC USA |
| I have owned two Suunto Vector and two Casio Pathfinder watches. I bought this watch primarily for the added watch features and the slim profile. I was not disappointed at all and would say I prefer this watch over all the other compass watches I have owned. Clean, easy to read, accurate and useful, it is all that it claimed to be. Worth every penny so far. More as I use it in the woods. The two best features are the small size and the mineral glass face. |
Great watch
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| Review Date: September 20, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Shaka Zulu, Los Angeles CA USA |
| This watch is perfect for geeky type like me. Went on vacation in Disney World Florida right before Hurricane Gustav so I wore the watch. It was fun watching the barometer graph and seeing a low front and then a high front move in and out, and playing with the compass which was acurate for non-professional uses. This watch has it all - world time, count down egg timer, stop watch, compass, barometer & skin temp, altimeter, night light, solar charge, auto setting at 12 AM every night from radio transmissions from Ft. Collins, CO, even from Orlando but need to leave near window. It even fits my wrist perfectly due to hinges at 12:00 and 6:00 that break and form fits the watch band around my wrist. Watch face diameter is a bit big but I like big watches, and not too thick. This model is a big improvement over the massive, bulky Pathfinder PAG40 which I also own; probably 1/3 reduction in watch case volume. Not too heavy on the wrist either. Not many negatives: memory kind of pointless, top line on digital display a wee bit small for my forty-something eyes to read but just at borderline, alarm could be a wee bit louder. Unlike other reviewers, I thought the band was fine and matched style and quality of watch. No regrets for buying this watch sight unseen from Amazon. If and when it breaks, won't hesitate to buy another one. Kudos to Casio. Lastly, review of this watch on youtube.com was real helpful to me. |
Great Watch
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| Review Date: May 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Ronald Boller, Apple Valley, MN United States |
| This the second Casio Pathfinder solar atomic I have purchased. The first worker beautifully, but was too big for daily wear. Great for bike rides in the Rockies or for hikes. For daily, non dress, I wore a Casio G-shock. What I wanted was a daily watch that had all the pathfinder features but was not huge. This watch is not small, but works for every day wear. What is not to like, perfect time, never needs a battery, tons of features, looks good and is essentially bullet proof. Have had other brands of altimeter watches, they were either huge or use of the features killed the battery in a short time. |
Excellent watch for hiking
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| Review Date: July 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Daniel Padilla, Newport Beach, CA USA |
| This watch has everything I need. I was looking for all the typical functions in most outdoor watches (temperature, altitude, barometric pressure, compass), but this watch adds atomic timekeeping and never-run-out of battery! My previous watch didn't have this and with all those sensors the battery ran out in less than a year, after replacement the watch was no longer 100% sealed and once it got wet, i guess water got in and stopped working. That's the main reason why the solar charge makes so much sense, the battery will last for many many years withouth the need to open the watch and risk damage. I'm very happy with this watch and recommend it to all outdoor enthusiasts. |
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