Customer Reviews

Casio Men's EDB610-1 Databank Digital Watch

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I've owned 4 models in this Casio series as far back as ~ 1983.

The best model of the databank series, rating a 4/5, was the mid-1990s release with a mini-bulb for lighting and a silk screened keyboard ... it rated 4/5 because it was a real stainless steel case, the keyboard remained readable for its lifetime, it was easy to clean and it only died because I lost it. Both the strap and watch case lasted over 5 years, the LCD was more readable than the newer releases. It was not perfect though, because the light ate batteries and memory was not FLASH or eeprom memory ... you lost everything during a battery change.

Avoid the resin watch straps, they always break when you least expect it, whether its from Casio or others. Woven nylon with velcro bands can be bought at sports shops and are more durable. The cases for the 2000 models were all resin, the 'steel' ones were simply painted atop resin ... and I've lost 2 watches when the hole in the resin that holds the strap pins breaks, the watch case is useless.


Since the earliest model new features are major improvements but prior features were removed, made come backs, or are removed again! I'm writing this detailed review in the hopes Casio will finally get a databank we can all rave about.

Navigation has rarely been a problem. In the older models, a beep in watch mode is different from others, so one can cycle through modes without looking at the screen. Keep the old mode, but GIVE A DISTINCT beep or sound as one enters a new mode as an option.

The background lumination went from a tiny power hungry micro-bulb to an ELD display, much more pleasing and power saving. This is a super plus. Please allow it to say ON as once cycles through MODES.

Make the numbers on the TIME, DAY and DATE readout HUGE and viewed by default. We don't need a year readout, that can be a shift- or scroll button item. The DB37H-1AV screen is ideal, just add a keyboard.

Make a calendar function.

The silk screen or painted numbers on the resin casing always fade with time. Silk screen flat keypads weren't as easy to use as raised keypads, but they kept their labels longer. Make a version with all raised or embossed labels that can be identified by touch.

The screw-on battery case is a dream, batteries can be user serviced. For a watch of this price, its not practical to have it serviced by a watch technician, it can be 25-50% of the cost of the watch!

Keep the password feature for all data and telememo.

The perpetual Schedule mode .. and multiple schedule memos is a key function I use, and the super compact 1 week look ahead schedule view on the LCD is great. I can keep anniversaries, birthday, holidays etc., in the watch and get an entire week's preview of upcoming events. This mode was removed in this watch, hence the 3 Star rating.

While a palmtop serves better than the DB, its easier and more convenient to just carry a watch, and actually serves as a more reliable backup for palmtops with ultra-crucial names, numbers and data, thanks to its low power consumption and non-volatile memory. If there is a way to upload schedules to a DB without loosing the current total amount of memory or the watches other features as other models have, it would be a plus.

Finally, as a watch it keeps excellent time. It really does keep to near +30 sec a month, usually moving slightly faster. This is referenced against US Standard time using the atomic clock time by NIST.gov

I have had 4 Databanks from Casio; this is the fifth.

Pluses:
1)Nicer mode menu. Pressing a button on the keypad gets you to where you're going right away. Very, very nice.
2)Bigger main number display. Real easy to read.
3)nice loud alarm
4)Very accurate clock crystal
5)addition of @ symbol to text input, turning this into an "E-databank" able to type in email addresses.
6)metal case, is very durable. Its been dropped hard many times. Keeps on tickin'.
7) battery life is great.

Minuses:
1)Keyboard writing will wear off in 6 months. You'd better memorize the key placement by then.
2)If you're buying a resin band model, the band will break in about a year. It is not replaceable, because of the form fitting, custom design. I'm using the watch at the moment attached to my belt buckle with a small carabiner clip attached to the surviving half of the band.
3)The telememo feature has bizarre spacing of the numbers, making some numbers initially unrecognizeable.
4)calculator functions accessed through one button, have to cycle through +, -, x, /. Did I mention that the keyboard writing will wear off in 6 months, and that you'd better remember the placement of the characters?
5)Schedule Memo is gone. Replaced with 1 daily and 4 yearly alarms
6)button press combinations to access some functions are needlessly complicated, even after reading the manual...

This style is the latest version of the Casio databank series. As with others in the series , it does what is promised, is reliable and potentially is a very convenient way to keep info, schedules, alarms and phone numbers close at hand wherever you go.

I say "potentially", because the usability of this product has dropped radically from previous versions. Whereas before with just a couple of button pushes you could quickly and easily call up, say, a phone number, with this version it's more complicated. If you switch into phone number mode (which is harder to do until you memeorize the locations of the almost too small to recognize icons) which requires multiple instead of the previous one step, it tells you that you're in that mode but requires more pushes to actually get any info. Basically, although this model has a couple more features that the previous model, and has larger (though dimmer) characters in the display, the interface is so inferior to the previous generation, that it can not be recommended.

Someone just got too carried away with being "techy" and never actually tested this design in the real world. Until they fix this, look for the older model- they're still out there.

I've had four early Casio databank watches and two of this model. I love this one, except for two things: (1) it's a thick watch so the crystal sticks out quite a way, making it prone to lots of scratches, and (2) like the earliest Databank models, the number buttons are prone to wearing off. Specifically, the "1" and the "=" buttons wear off within a year. I've stretched the second one to about 18 months, but it just isn't readable any longer. Some of the later databank models corrected the problem with better buttons.

I guess I'll have to buy another, although I dislike the short live.

This watch is easier to use than the previous version!

I owned the previous version for 7-8 years until it broke. I hesitated to buy this (based on the previous review), until I looked at the instruction manual via Amazon, which made me realize it's easier to use than the older one!

They figured out the problems with the old one (buttons too small, too many button pushes to get to each mode), and fixed them.

It still isn't perfect: letter entry means cycling through the number and the 3 letters per button to get to the one you want (4 choices, up from the 3 you had before, because to make the buttons bigger they reduced the number of buttons and fit more on each); you have to learn a fair amount from the manual to use it; case and watch, tho better, are still the standard, (not impressive looking) brushed steel look you get at this price.

I disagree with the previous reviewers complaints: each mode is easier to get to, and they're ready to use when you get there (no extra pushes: you do have to wait a couple seconds for the display to change, but you can start entry right away, and the display catches up).

You can't enter as many alarms on specific days (limit 5) as before, but I never entered more than that anyway - this really isn't a replacement for a PDA, it's an addition that I use for the most critical information and reminders.

All in all, about the best you can do with this amount of space, I'd say. I'd ask for a better case and band, and the ability to sync or communicate with a computer.

I am a Casio man since 15 years or so. Obliged to travel all over I have been seduced by the 24H chronograph (only 12h in most brand). When you travel from NYC to Hong Kong or Zurich it is nice to know when you are landing. Nice to know the World Time Zone. Nice to enter some Password or local fast Memos in the Data Bank... Forget all this with this beautiful watch. The super complex menu prevent you to perform all the tasks described in the brochure. You are supposed to have 3 time zone predefined, I could not do it witout losing the DST or the 24h format or the home city. The display does not any more (compared with previous Data Bank Casio) give you the day,year, hour at a glance. You have only: the Hour, or the Date. The bleu light display is an other useless choice, the Black is the only way to read on the move! The calculator is to small to use it as a daily money converter! I am so sorry Casio should make a much easier to configure Data Bank Digital Display for the serious traveler. It is not this pretty watch! Keep the old ones!

I researched a replacement for an older casio data bank model. This was it. Within 3 months it quit. I am done with Casio. The model I wore for 12 yrs is no longer made. The newer models all have the adjustment button on the left, which is fine if you are left handed. I went with this particular model because the button was easily accessible. Most have the button indented and difficult to access, especially on the left side. The other reason I chose this model was the 5 data alarms. Problem is, when the alarms sounds, the input data does not automatically show; you have to push more buttons to have it revealed. Way too much work.

This watch is a techie's dream. You'll have hours of fun punching all the data into it. I like the scrolling feature of the data stream. The auto-illumination feature is nice but the "on time" is much too short for my taste. I do understand they are conserving battery life however. The feature I like the most is the five programmable alarms. You can even put an eight character memo on each alarm. I do not like the resin band. I think there is a model with a metal band for a few bucks more. Overall: Great value for such a high tech watch!

I simply love the telememo 30 Casio watch. It has all the functions that I want; 30 names w/phone nos & 5 alarms. I've had two of them but both of them have broken where the pin attaches the band to the watch. I'd rate the features a 5, but the dependability a 1, so the overall rating is a 3. I do not like the newer models as well as the telememo 30, which I am having trouble replacing.

This is my first casio watch of such model.
I find it much easy to use especially with its time displayed in much bigger fonts.
The different timezones offered are very useful and practical for a business traveller. I wish it offered the capability to customize the name of a city in each of the 24-hour zones.
One thing I have not found yet is how to set the time in 24-hour format instead of 12-hour format.
The user guide that comes with it is printed in a much smaller fonts than is comfortable to read.