1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ski watch review, March 11, 2009
This review is from: National Geographic Men's NG702GKSY Hike Master Altimeter Lap Counter Watch (Watch)
I'm reviewing the National Geographic Ski Master Watch, NG702GKSY. This is not the hiking watch, it is the Ski model with the yellow band. The NG702GKSK is the same watch with a black band.
Ergonomically, yes, this is a big watch, and it has a stainless steel case, so it is heavy. The weight is definitely noticeable at first, but I rapidly became accustomed to it. Because the wrist band flows smoothly into the shape of the case, this helps to reduce the visual sense of the size. On the down side, the watch won't take aftermarket bands.
The watch packs a lot of functionality. In addition to the usual watch functions, two time zones, timer, chronometer, alarm, the watch has pressure (barometer/altimeter), compass, and temperature sensors.
In this model, the altimeter function feeds into a "ski log" database. In ski mode, the watch senses the beginning and end of a descent, and keeps records for each as a "lap".
If you manually enter the slope of the run, the watch calculates maximum and average descent speeds for each lap. Unfortunately, where I ski, this slope information is not readily available.
The watch provides the following data for each lap:
Start time, descent time, max speed, average speed, highest altitude, lowest altitude, altitude change, and a graph of descent altitude vs time.
It also can provide a summary of your laps:
Date, start time, total travel period, number of laps, total descent time, accumulated descent altitude change, accumulated ascent, max speed, highest altitude, lowest altitude, slope.
While these are interesting bits of data to the most avid skier, there are other models of National Geographic watches that have the same basic styling, but are designed for hikers, such as the NG701GKSU (black) and NG701GKSR (dark gray), that may be more appropriate for the "average" watch buyer. As an added bonus, those watches have bands that match the case color.
Comparison to the Casio Pathfinder
Relative to the Casio Pathfinder watch, which also has triple sensors, the National Geographic watches seem more sturdily built, and, to my eye, they offer a more pleasing look thanks to the band that flows into the lines of the case. The display uses light lettering on a dark background. This is not as visible as the more typical dark lettering on a light background found on the Casio. The backlight of the Ski Master is anemic. It allows the watch to be used in near or total darkness, but offers very little help in normal lighting conditions.
Summary:
4 out of 5 stars. Great functionality, good style (if you like a yellow wrist band, otherwise go for the GKSK version), and well built. But the somewhat difficult to read display and almost worthless backlight prevent me from giving it 5 stars.
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