Customer Reviews

Casio Men's GW1210A-9AV G-Shock Atomic Solar Watch

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was looking for an atomic watch, and found this with the added bonus of being solar. So I bought it as a Mother's Day present to myself. I have a small frame, so I was pretty concerned that that it would look like a brick on my wrist, but it's great-looking! It performs well, is easy to use, and I get all sorts of compliments on it. While I'm aware that it's on my wrist, it's not too bulky or heavy (though I don't wear it with formal dresses). No cell phone can take the place of a watch, and I love this one. What a great Mother's Day gift!

Great Aspects:

This is about as close as you can get to a "set it and forget it" watch. I've owned this watch for over a year now, and I *heart* this watch. I wear it daily. [I'm afraid I'm also "one of those people" who gets annoyed when people use their cell phones as timepieces, but...]

Set-up is pretty easy. Open the box, set the date and time zone, let it sync up with the US atomic clock (via shortwave radio), and make sure it gets some light occasionally. It doesn't take much light to keep this thing powered; I have had my battery level on "high" ever since the second day I've owned this and artificial (particularly strong flourescent) light should do the trick if you're not one to get that much sun (I certainly don't). The coolest thing is that if you change time zones or manually adjust the time, the watch will automatically move the minute and hour hands to reflect the change.

For those who like features, this watch comes with multiple alarms, stopwatch, and timer. A digital seconds counter is on the left side of the faceplate. If you frequently travel between two time zones, there's a second clock built into the digital clock (if you want the hands to reflect a change, you do need to change the time zone for the main clock). There's an auto-light feature where the watch will activate its bright blue nightlight if it senses sharp motion (when you move your arm) and if its dark out. I choose not to turn auto-light on and just press the light button when I need to. The minute and hour hands are luminous without the nightlight feature.

The watch has an auto shut-off feature if it senses no motion for an extended period in time in order to conserve energy. The minute and hour hands will still move but everything else will turn off. To get the watch to wake up, you can either shake it or press any button.

The calendar, that accounts for leap years, runs out at some point, but that's decades in the future. It keeps track of the numeric date and the day of the week.

This is a big and sturdy watch and it's sure to garner you a compliment every now and then. I haven't tested the deep water resistance but it seems very waterproof and the stainless steel is high grade. My watch has survived me dropping it and accidentally smacking it into tables, door frames, and walls; it has come through without a scratch (literally).

Downside:

Obviously, this is not a cheap watch, but, then again, it's not cheaply-constructed either. While the casing is done in Thailand, the movement is Japanese. I've personally found my Casio watches to be more reliable than Timex or Armitron watches.

This watch was constructed before our Congress, in their infinite wisdom, changed the dates for Daylight Savings Time. So, while DST is built into this watch, it is no longer accurate and you will have to manually turn on/off DST twice a year to keep the correct time in the right time zone.

The atomic clock-synching feature is arguably the coolest thing about this watch. It is... however, it may take you a few days to figure out a location in your home where it can pick up the radio waves (from CO) midnight daily (in your time zone). There's a signal-strength indicator that reports when an update is in progress as well as how strong of a signal it is receiving. I've gotten the synching to work in MD, DC, VA, NC, and TN (and have never tried anywhere else at this point). I would try placing it near a window or at least point it towards a window (with no obstructions in the way). Weather sometimes seems to affect its ability; I'm successful about 90% of the time.

Not that missing one daily update (or even a couple weeks) is tragic. The watch keeps very good time even without updates and should only gain/lose a few seconds a month without any updates. Also, consumers should note that the watch cannot update if it is outside North America or is in the far eastern or northern parts of Canada (it is possible to turn off the synching feature so you're not wasting battery power).

It's worth saying that if you want to use the fancy features of this watch, it will take some practice and you might inadvertently mess something else up. The owner's manual helps, but really, it's best to learn by trial and error.

Amazon.com lists this watch's faceplate as having a blue color; I think it looks more like a medium purple. For males who feel this will threaten their masculinity, I'm pretty sure it won't (I'm male); it still looks like a "men's watch" (this isn't lavender purple or anything), If you're still insecure, you probably need to reevaluate why you're so beholden to gender norms. For women, I think this watch could look pretty good on them although it might look a bit clunky depending on your outfit.

If you've got smaller wrists, you are going to need to take out a couple of the metal bands (either through your own watch kit or by a jeweler; I did it myself with a kit).

If you like really big digital numbers on your watch, this watch is not for you. The hands are easily readable but it can take a little effort to read the digital output.

Summary:

If you are just looking for something relatively stylish that keeps decent track of time, you can get a far cheaper watch (a $50 to $70 Casio watch should do the trick nicely). If that inner geek inside of you is infatuated with the idea of having a solar-powered watch (no visiting the jeweler's every couple of years for a new battery and potential damage to your watch) and atomic clock-synching, then this watch fits the bill. This is also a great watch for those who prefer high-grade stainless steel over resin or leather watchbands.

I've owned something like seven watches in my life so far. This was, by far, the most expensive watch I've ever acquired. In this case, the money was worth it, though; it's been my favorite watch.

Highly Recommend.

I did a lot of research. While I like the Casio G-Shock, I do not like the resin cases. These cases WEAR OUT AND LOOK RATTY. SIMILARLY THE RUBBER/PLASTIC STRAPS EVENTUALLY BREAK. I WANTED ALL s/s. I DONT WANT TO FIDDLE WITH BATTERIES OR KEEP THE TIME ACCURATE. i JUST WANT IT TO WORK FOREVER. This watch is it. It looks nice it does what it says it will do. The neatest feature, after the SOlAR POWER AND NIGHTLY ATOMIC CLOCK SYNCE IS THE " auto light ". When it is dark, tilt your arm and the light comes on. How cool is that!!!

I bought this item despite the one negative review posted for this product. It had all the features that I was looking for, and I thought that I'd 'roll the dice' and buy one. I'm glad I did, the watch works flawlessly! Not for small wristed, nearsighted people as it is kind of large, with microscopic writing on the dial; but if accuracy with tons of features is what you're looking for this has 'em all... 5 alarms, timer, stopwatch, solar power, atomic clock synch, etc. It's this gadget-geek's idea of a perfect watch! Don't let one guys bad luck stop you.