Customer Reviews

Casio Men's WV59DA-1AV Waveceptor Atomic Digital Watch

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Nothing fancy about this watch -- it just tells you the time, as well as the usual stopwatch/downcounter/alarm operations. The special feature is the automatic timesetting by radio, so this watch will always be correct to the second (and will automatically switch between standard time and daylight-saving time). The radio pickup requires a little bit of care, placing the watch near a window overnight for the midnight reset. Away from a window, it doesn't get enough radio signal (in Washington, DC). Can't beat the price for an admirably functional wristwatch.Casio Atomic Timekeeping Waveceptor Watch, WV59DA-1AV, Multi-Band(US & UK), 50 Meter, World Time, Alarm

This watch with such a low price is a good deal. One unexpected feature I like the most is I can choose to display the day of the week in different languages. The radio signal icon shows how strong the signal is at the location. I can also choose to turn the radio signal on and off, or manually set the time. Another good feature is when you switch to another mode other than the timekeeping mode, such as stop watch or world time, the current time still shows on the top of the screen.

The watch is really a good piece. But the wrist band that came along with the watch is huge size - of course that is natural. What I will suggest if you put one option while sending the order that 'Select the size of wrist band' it would be more helpful. Because adjusting the band at home is real problem, and may cause of damage of the watch itself, and adjusting the band by some other person involves lot many costs.

I have had this watch for about a year.

Pros for the Wave Ceptor:
- Looks great for a digital watch. I hate the humongous round monstrosities that constitute the vast majority of digital watch styles.
- Keeps excellent time automatically. I have never placed it in the window as the instructions say you have to do and it always perfectly matches the atomic clock. It has done this both in a city on the California coast and in a central California city.
- The buttons are nice and big. Better than the hard-to-press "stems" on my old Timex Ironman.

(Note: I've searched every Timex Ironman on Amazon and don't see the one I used to have which is solid metal, had a Hawaiian, macadamia nut feel. It might have been a special edition. All the Ironmans I see listed right now are the hideous, round, plastic monstrosities that I'm talking about.)

Cons for the Wave Ceptor:
[My apologies to Casio if any of the following are user errors.]
- Alarm is so quiet I have to hang it by its band from my ear in order to take a 10-minute nap. I have a slight hearing problem, but my Timex Ironman never had this problem. Alarm was pretty quiet when I first bought this wave ceptor, but seems even quieter now after about a year.
- Both the stopwatch and the countdown timer only run for one hour. Both these functions on my Ironman ran for 16 hours I believe.
- Changing the countdown alarm time requires holding the button for two full seconds, which seems like an eternity when you're in a hurry. And sometimes it doesn't activate at all so there you are holding it for about 4 seconds, when you realize you have to re-press and start the two second wait again.
- The countdown timer doesn't have a repeat function.
- You cannot have the blue light on and change functions on the watch at the same time. This makes it nearly impossible to set the alarm or the countdown timer in the dark. You have to turn the blue light on. Press a button. Turn the blue light back on. Press a button. Count 14 presses, say, to get to 7 a.m. on the alarm. Turn the blue light back on to see if you landed on the right time, etc. It's maddening.
- When you're through with a function it doesn't immediately come out of it into time mode--you have to cycle through the remaining functions to get back to the time. (My old Ironman used to come out of a function directly back to time mode.)
- The modes look similar enough that it took me a long time to even be able to recognize the time mode when I came out of a function. Sometimes it would take me several trips through before I found it. (I now know what to look for: the day of the week on the bottom or the month and day on the top.)

It's a very nice looking watch and I'm still wearing it (because the watches that I've found with my features are hideous, though the Ironman wasn't that bad looking), but I wish all of my cons would be fixed in some future version.

Having a timepiece that doesn't get its time automatically from a reliable source is so twentieth century. This watch will bring you into the present. It may be somewhat simple, but most of us have all the advanced function we need in our phones or iPods, so all we need from our watches is the complete date and time in our favorite format. This model fills the bill.

There are a couple things to look out for. First, there are only two transmitters on the planet - in Fort Collins, CO, and in Rugby, England. If you're out of range of these signals, then it's just an ordinary watch. Second, the design of the band and the mechanism for removing links is amazingly stupid. It involves using sharp tools and applying a great deal of force. Casio's watch bands have always been a test of puzzle solving skills, but this takes the concept to a whole new level. There's not a word about this in the manual.

After meticulous searching for just the right atomic watch for my very particular 89 year old father (at his age, every minute is special and important - thus only atomic accuracy is acceptable), I purchased the Casio Men's Waveceptor Atomic Digital Watch. As my Dad habitually checks this piece of electronic equipment throughout the day (and more often around meal-times or a doctor's appointment), certain "critical" features were required including; a good clear view of larger-than-smaller numbers and letters; an absolutely correct time, the right calendar date, and day-of-the-week (his watch did not need an altimeter, compass, or 5 options for split times during races). He especially likes having the watch receive multiple up-dates from the "Master Clock" in Colorado (rather than just once during the night). Only problems thus far have dealt with size: a much too long metal wrist band for a shrinking arm; and an instructional manual even I couldn't read with glasses and a magnifying lens. Solutions? Web research to find the secret for removing links from the band, and a PDF manual at Casio I can print in whatever font my father would like. It's all good now.

Not loaded with many features, but has enough to make it a value watch.

Buy the watch with the steel band, better value than rubber alternative.

Keeps fairly good time but about 20% of time does not capture radio signal and as such does not always keep consistant atomic time.

But for less than $50 not likely to find a better unit.

If you want a watch that automatically adjusts to DST, has an alarm, timer, stopwatch and lasts forever, this is the watch for you. I have had this watch for 3 years, and it has given me no problems whatsoever. This watch is as plain and simple as it gets.

I am familiar with the Waveceptor line as my previous watch was an analog/digital Waveceptor. This watch is easier to read (thanks alot, presbyopia) and easier to operate since there is no analog piece to it. My only complaint is that the alarm/timer sound is a little too quiet. Other than that, I am very pleased.

This watch has a nice display. The time digits are large and readable. however the other characters (day, month) are pretty small. It does not have many functions, but it sets itself to WWV and is always within 1/2 second of any stratum-1 reference I choose to compare to.

-However-

The display "crystal" is the most easily damaged I have seen in 45 years of wearing wristwatches. Within 1 month I had accidentally scratched it right over the tiny day display, yet it must have been a pretty mild incident or I would remember having done it. Will not buy again.