Customer Reviews

Casio Men's GW5600J-1 G-Shock Atomic Tough Solar Watch

5 star:		(108)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Way back in 1982, I bought one of the first Casio 5000 models. It was incredibly accurate, easy to use, had a countdown timer (which I used a lot) and seemed set to last for ever. In 1988 I crashed my motorcycle, and smashed the crystal on my watch. I threw it in a drawer, bought a new cheap casio (with less functions) and carried on. 3 years later I found the smashed one in the back of the drawer. It was still working and only wrong by 15 seconds! I've had various other watches since then, (really missed the countdown timer), but the Casio G-shocks were all way too thick to suit me. I really fancied the new Solar Powered and Atomic Clock synced Casios, but they were still too thick (and didn't have a countdown timer).
Then I found the GW5600J. Based on the old 5000 series, Atomic, Solar Powered, 5 alarms and a countdown timer, full backlight. And the same style and thickness as my old 5000! Not thin, but not ridiculous either.
I've had it a week now, I love it, I expect it to last the rest of my life (this sucker is tough), and neat, clear, easy to use and accurate!
If you like digital watches (as opposed to analog), this is the one.

This is a solid, well-built watch. Had I purchased it alone I would have loved it. The problem is that I had ordered two versions at the same time to decide which one I liked better. I got this one and the non-solar, non-atomic, 1987-tech DW-5600E at the same time to compare.

Features the J has that the E doesn't have:

Solar power
Atomic time updates
Multiple alarms & snooze alarm
World time
Auto backlight on when raising your wrist in the dark

Features the E has that the J doesn't have:

Day & date displayed simultaneously on main screen
Countdown timer adjustable to seconds (instead of minutes as on the J model)
Alarm can be set for a specific time, day or month, or any recurring combination of the two
Smaller footprint for both wrist area and height
Time is visible in all screens except alarm set

The bottom line here is that the DW5600-E does the basic task of a timepiece better: it tells you the time, day, and date more easily and with less hassle than the newer model. There is no selecting the home city, putting your watch at a certain position in the window at night, worrying about charging up the battery, and all the techno-tasks related to a supposedly maintenance-free watch.

The fidelity of setting seconds on the countdown timer is crucial for fitness use (a minute is forever when doing something physically challenging...), or photography (I still develop film and 15 seconds can mean overdevelopment...), or cooking, scientific experiments, etc.

The 5600-E is lighter, smaller, and more comfortable to wear. The size difference may not seem like a lot on the spec sheet but the difference is tangible in practice. I like a slim, low profile watch and the 5600-E wins in this area.

It's also about half the price. The batteries on these things last ten years; if you spend the extra dough on the solar model it will take you the rest of your life to make up the cost difference. Also, the accuracy of these watches is great - you may get out of synch by about a minute per year, something you can adjust when you switch back & forth from DST. Neither solar nor atomic is a compelling reason to spend twice the money.

New in this case doesn't mean better. Unless you're a frequent traveler with world time being a prime consideration, or have a need for four daily alarms, the older 5600-E does the job of telling time easier and more affordably.

Multi-Band (US and Japan), Solar, G-Shock, World Time, and great retro looks makes this a great watch.

I've been looking for an Atomic Solar watch for some time and it appears that everything in the market is just too fancy for me....many atomic solar watches are gigantic, others have compasses, barometers, thermometers etc and although those functionalities are great....

sometimes, most of the time, during weekends - when going hiking etc -- many features needed in a great outdoors watch are unnecessary at the pool, mall, movies, bookstore etc.

The 5600 has all the right features:

1) solar (8month power reserve on one charge)
2) atomic (two zones US and Japan)
3) power saving mode
4) back light (the good backlight that makes the whole display glow)
5) world time (29 cities)
6) easy setup of two time zones
7) stopwatch
8) countdown timer
9) g-shock -- very tough
10) waterproof to 200meters (good for scuba diving or the pool)
11) replaceable band
12) multiple alarms
13) Auto sync with atomic or manual sync
14) Manual time set (calenar to 2099--I'll be dead by then so that works I think)

On the con side, this watch is a bit big but for some reason its not overpowering on the wrist even for midsize guys -- it looks like it belongs there....big but not huge and definitely not small.

In its basic mode it tells:

1) time (hours minutes seconds)
2) day or month/date
3) pm (or 12/24 hour time zone and whether you're in daylight savings time)
4) how much battery you have
5) whether it has signal from the atomic time sync

Overall, I feel comfortable wearing this watch and don't feel like I'm wearing a supercomputer on my wrist. It certainly won't impress anyone but it does what its supposed to to: tell time accurately without replacing batteries and without worry that it'll get banged up against something.

This is a great watch. I owned one like it in the 80s and am very glad they updated it with modern technology while keeping the core aspects of it the same. I got from mytimepiece on Amazon (quick delivery and exactly as promised -- great store).

Only hard thing was going through the extremely wide selection of great Casio watches to find this one. I'm sure I'll get a Pathfinder at some point to go hiking etc and feel like I can survive in the wild with just it and a knife (and to keep up with the joneses) but for the mall, supermarket, pool, backyard, and for treks through Cambodia, Africa, Asia -- this will be my go-to watch probably for the next 10 years.

I really like this watch. It has all of the standard 'toughness' you expect from a Casio G-Shock: 200m Water Resistant, Shock Resist, tough plastic casing, quartz movement accuracy, stopwatch, alarm, backlight, etc. It is also a "Tough Solar" (solar powered watch- needs no battery changes), and a "WaveCepter" (syncs with atomic clocks for total accuracy). Please see the main watch page or other reviews for all of the watch features- they've already been listed here, so I'll just elaborate on my favorite features with this watch.

Looks wise- It is another in the line of the classic G-Shock looking 5600 series (the two previous ones, the 5600C and 5600E are approved by NASA to fly on the Space Shuttle! This watch is probably too new for that rating yet.) In my opinion the 5600 series is the most subtle of all the G-Shocks. That is important for me since I wear this watch more than any other watch I own, and I want a tough watch that I won't damage being my normal active me, but I also want it to slide under my shirtsleeve if I'm at work so I won't look like 'office Rambo' with my superwatch!

In my opinion, what really makes this watch great is that you can strap it on your wrist, and just forget about anything having to do with the watch except for having it tell you the info you bought it for. That means: Don't worry if you get caught in the rain or you want to go swimming- it's waterproof enough to scuba dive with. Don't worry if you have a very active or athletic lifestyle- it's shock proof. Don't worry about batteries- it's solar recharged. Don't worry about it being incorrect- it syncs itself to an atomic clock! It adjusts the month/day of year, Daylight Savings Time, you name it.

The Casio engineers get big kudos from me- they added the tough solar and waveceptor features to this watch without detracting functionality from it. The solar cell is completely unobtrusive- it doesn't cut down the display size of the watch one bit, and is not really noticeable when looking at the watch unless you know it is a solar watch and you look for the solar panel, which is completely integrated into the display of the watch. The solar design includes a rechargable battery- so it's not like the watch will shutdown if it doesn't get any light- it can go for weeks if not months in powersave mode, which is initiated automatically. But as long as the watch gets exposure to light (sunlight is the best, but normal house lighting works too) the watch will keep trucking. As for the waveceptor feature- When I place my watch by a west or south facing window, it syncs every night. Even if the watch was unable to sync, it has a quartz movement, so it wouldn't be off by more then a few seconds a month anyways. I had the opportunity to place two waveceptors next to each other, and then sync them both. After the sync, both watches were lock-step synchronized to the NIST standard time, down to the exact second!

In conclusion, I honestly think that for the price, this is possibly the best value for your money if you are looking for a reliable, accurate, go-anywhere kinda watch. I also think that it is great looking for the type of watch that it is.

This watch maintains modern digital functionality with a very retro look. All the features Casio built into this module are very useful and it is definately very tough. The atomic synchronization feature works like a charm so you know you always have the Exact time. Also, the 'Tough Solar' attributes make this watch a very smart buy because you never have to replace the rechargeable battery (supposedly). I'd recommend this watch for those of you that want something very durable and functional as their daily 'beater' watch or as an everyday timepiece with a retro look.

I own this watch for about a month now, and I have started loving it. At around $70, this is a best buy if you are looking for a rugged, shock-proof (that is what g-shock is), and nice looking watch. Oh, and this is solar powered, and syncs with the atomic time signals (in US, Europe and Japan) - so you are never late for an appointment! :) Among other things, it features a 200m water resistance, and world time.

The footprint is also not very bulky, unlike other "rugged" watches, so it looks decent enough on a average man's wrist. I surely recommend it for those who are looking for a not-so-costly, but rugged watch.

-Amarendra

The Casio G-Shock Atomic "Tough Solar" GW5600J-1 is all it is advertised to be. It's design is not "sleek" or "sophisticated" -- its utilitarian style is simple, rugged, down and dirty; there is nothing pretentious about it. The watch body is shock resistant and water resistant to 200 meters with a gasketed stainless steel back. The band, should it ever break, is replaceable for a reasonable price. The lens is mineral crystal and scratch resistant. It's perfect for the weekend warrior, camper, construction worker or someone in the military. It's obviously not for the boardroom.

Inside its protective, hard, black rubberized shell is a VERY sophisticated computer that is solar powered and receives (automatically or on demand) radio signals from the atomic clock transmitter in Colorado. The watch sports a chronograph, alarm, timer, and times for dozens of major cities. You can turn the daylight savings time on or off.

This particular model is a derivative of the original series of watches G-Shock that do not have solar or atomic clock accuracy. What I particularly like about this version is that it is not gross in size and will fit most male wrists. It's comfortable and supremely practical. The contrast between the LCD digits and the background is excellent - even in moderate ambient light. There is a "negative display" model [I own one], which is much harder to read.

I highly recommend this watch. It's a great value.

WHEN LOOKING AT THIS WATCH, I READ CRITICAL REVIEWS OF THIS WATCH DUE TO THE BATTERY DYING. Watch was great when it worked, but sure enough now the watch will not hold a charge. I left it under light all day, etc., etc.. And no matter what I do the watch will not hold a charge. Do yourself a favor and buy the original without the solar and atomic for less money. I think that it is the dw5600. The standard 5600 that i have works great in every respect. The solar on this watch DOES NOT WORK FOR LONG because the battery does not hold a charge. And in my opinion the atomic is a gimick, because digital watches are extremely accurate- all of my digital watches remain within a minute of each other at all times. They are rarely off more than 30 seconds of for years.

The G-Shock Atomic Tough Solar GW5600J-1 is probably one of the best purchases I've ever made; or at least, one that has made me happy the most.

First all I wanted, was to replace my old DW5400; which - by the way - still works quite well although its bezel felt in pieces several years ago and its buttons have become a little hard to push. This last fact is a result of the bets I used to hold in high school (back in the 80's) about the effective shock resistance of my DW5400. ¿Do you remember that old commercial in which a G-Shock is hit with a hockey stick? Well, mine had to overcome something similar but much more times that the one in the commercial.

All I was looking then, was for the simplest model of the actual G-Shock series; so I was about to purchase the DW5600E-1V. Then I realized there was a solar and atomic version just for twenty something dollars more. I thought it was great to be available a solar version, since I've always heard that G-Shocks hold their total tightness just until you have to open them to replace the batteries.

But here comes the truly important part of the story, which I hope a lot of people will find certainly interesting... I decided to get the Atomic Solar GW5600J-1 because I also felt very attracted to the atomic feature; however, I was sure it was not going to work for me because I live in Bogota, Colombia S.A.

"What the heck..." I said to myself; "the price is affordable, it's going to be a watch for the life time and I'll be able to see it working whenever I go to the US". I'm not a very often traveler, but that was enough for me because I'm not an actual ultra accurate time fanatic; just an average technology enthusiastic.

The same day I got my GW5600J-1, I read the whole instruction manual; I set all the functions and just in case, with a little hope, before I went to bed I left the watch on my desk in the synchronization position that Casio recommends.

It synchronized perfectly with Fort Collins atomic clock, just as it has been doing almost every morning from more than a month ago; all I have to do is being careful about not leaving the watch next to my computer or any other electrical appliance because it won't let the synchronization run.

So this is it. If you are one of the persons that would like to purchase this watch but you're not sure if it will work in other countries different to the US or Japan, and in the other hand, you haven't found any customer review about this aspect (as it happened to me), this information may be useful to you. At least in Bogota, Colombia, South America, the synchronization system of the GW5600J-1 works, as it should work - I think - in Canada (except Newfoundland) and most countries of Central America.

I expect this watch to last many, many years. For some reason, it seems to be very difficult for me to find a watch that has all the features I need/want.

What I needed: digital, sweat friendly plastic band for running, stopwatch, countdown timer, sturdy.

What I wanted: solar, countdown repeat timer.

This one gave me everything except the countdown repeat function. That doesn't seem to exist on any solar powered watch from any brand.

Positives:
Intuitive function menus. Readable display with a useful backlight. Atomic auto time setting is novel and appreciated - I will never have to change a battery and never have to set the time myself. It is always right. Very comfortable when running. Very lightweight considering size.

Negatives:
Size is a bit thinker than I prefer but I have small wrists for a guy. The recessed buttons cannot be used with gloves - cold weather dwellers be aware - and are difficult to push bare fingered. But this could be a plus if you worry about accidentally pushing a button. Would really like a repeat timer but I couldn't find that feature on any solar powered watch.

Overall: I would buy it again.