Customer Reviews

Timex Men's T77862 Expedition Digital Compass Watch

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I have had this watch for over 3 years and all functions work fine.I did change the battery once a year ago, which is not easy to do without the right tiny tools. There is a spring clip which holds the battery in and must be released to remove the battery. Also, I have had trouble finding the CR1620 battery at local stores, but you can get it online. Last summer the watch suddenly reset itself to 1/1/00 several times for no apparent reason, but this has not happened again. I suspect the humidity got to it a bit. The compass is accurate and not hard to calibrate. If you like this watch, I suggest comparing it to the LaCrosse XG20 compass watch which is more stylish and perhaps more functional at about the same price.

I'm on my second Expedition watch. The first ran perfectly for four years until the battery died. I was going to just replace the battery (the watch was still in fine shape, even the leather-and-fabric strap), but, at only $28 on-line for a new one, I opted to replace the watch rather than replace the batteries.

The compass function works great and is perfect for hikers, bikers, and city/country explorers. The watch face is huge, with a large, easily readable day-date as well as time display...probably one of the largest out there and perfect for "just a glance" viewing. It's so lightweight that you forget you're wearing it, but it's "Timex tough."

Another great feature--the alarm is very loud. It WILL wake you up, guaranteed, unlike the wimpy alarms on most watches today.

It's simply one of the best best bargains out there for a daily wear watch.

I purchased my Timex Compass watch on ebay for $32 total with shipping. I opted for a nice Green/Teal color I never saw at any retail stores. The face is a bit larger on this watch at about 1 and 5/8" including the outer compass ring (but not too big!) So it may look overwhelming on skinny wrists! I suppose it has to be a bit larger for the digital Compass components.

The compass feature is fun. I set up and calibrated the watch per the instructions. A great feature is the declination setting to offset magnetic North from "True" North found on maps. You must hold the watch level to get accurate readings. I found this pretty easy to do by "eye" with no need for a flat table! If you're close to level, the readings will be fairly accurate. A small tilt won't throw off your readings much. It even worked well in my car and buildings where the instructions say the readings would not be accurate. I found them to be pretty close!

The Indiglo light, buttons, and functions all work well. A very nice watch from Timex.

I used it for about 10 months before the battery died. While it was working it was five stars - nice looks, feels good on your wrist and easy night glow button. I especially appreciated having the compass feature. I tested it in northern, southern hemispheres as well as right on the equator and it proved itself to be very accurate. What impressed me the most was that I didn't even have to calibrate it as recommended.

What was not so nice was that after 10 month of intensive usage (including alarm and night light on to remind ourselves to feed the newlyborn) the battery gave out. We went in to two nearby jewellers to have the battery replaced. Helaas, they couldn't do it because the battery replacement process was too hard. I listed it on eBay for parts then.

There are a number of Timex watches that are far more intuitive to use. These other newer watches don't require directions for use. As an example, the 77862 has no reset feature for the Timer. What? I can't reset it? That's correct! To get it back to 1 minute, you have to manually toggle through the minutes up to 99 minutes in order to get it back to 1 minute. Stupid, huh?

The indiglo light should stay on for 3 seconds when ever the indiglo button is pressed, but again this is not the case. You must hold this button down in order to keep the light on. Other Timex watches have the 3-second On feature but not this one. Ok, how about having plus and minus buttons for setting stuff. Nope, not this model, but other Timex models have this feature. And, this is a very nice feature on other Timex watches.

Not to say I hate this watch, but I'm getting there. It is very accurate and the band is far more comfortable then the rubber/plastic types.

Received this watch a about a week back. Here is what I feel so far:
Compass: After initial calibration, the compass works great. Its really easy & fun to use.
Display: Display is not that bright without the Indiglo light. So in low light conditions or with indoor lighting you may have trouble seeing it.
Indiglo light: Works great at night, when you press the light button hard enough. There is a night time mode as well, where it will light up using any button. The night time mode only lasts for 7 hours. After that it goes back to day time mode. I wish there was some way to keep the night time mode on all the time.
Stop Watch/Timers: Stop Watch and Timer works great. You can start and stop various laps, though I don't have much use for it.
Overall:
Great watch for the price. The Display needs to be a little brighter.

The digital compass: the digital compss is functioning well and very useful for me since I easily lost direction. it's especially useful when I need to know which direction a window is facing in new houses. the calibration needs some efforts since it has to be done in outdoor and you need to keep the watch level and rotate it twice.

The disadvantage of the compass: you have to push the heading button to show the direction, and if you change direction, you need to push it again to show the new direction. the direction is not automatically updated when you change direction, therefore you cannot use it when driving. also you have to keep the face of the watch level when you use the compass, otherwise the direction is not correct. any way I still like the digital compass very much. also it has a cool compass dial which you can rotate so that you can know all directions.

Other functions: the stop watch, timer and alarm function is fine.

The display is clear at day time, even under direct light. In the darkness it is also clear by using the indiglo light.

The appearance: the brown and green color of the wrist band feels a little out-dated but it's ok. the watch itself is a little too large.

In a summary, it's a cool compass watch.

It is a good watch and the compass is easily accessable, but the band isn't very nice and I replaced it right away.

I purchased this watch 2 years ago for around $25. It has been a great watch, keeps accurate time (I am using it for celestial navigation class, so every second counts) with little drift. The Compass is good for getting a ruff idea of direction; I would not depend on it for anything more precise then +/- 10-15 degrees

The Indigo light function is a good feature, but it must use a lot of battery power as the watch is very stringy with leaving it on. There is a mode where it will stay on for a few seconds on each button pres, but even that resets its self after 6 hrs.

There has been a lot written about how it is difficult to replace the battery, and Timex instructions of taking it to a jeweler does not help that much.. This summer my battery went out, and I had to replace it. It is not THAT difficult. You need a small screw driver, and a CR1620 battery. Both of these are ready available at Radio Shack.

Taking the back off and then carefully take the watch core out. There is a formed plastic carrier that holds the battery on the back of the watch core, this is held in place by 4 small metal clips. Once the carrier is of, then the battery can be slipped out (make sure to note which side is + and which is -, there was no makings on the case I could find to tell me...) Putting it back together taking care not to bend the small clips, and putting back the plastic insulators. Overall took me about 10 minutes. Now, I will admit my Seiko battery is a LOT easier to replace.

So, for the $, seems a great value. Esp if you can pick one up with a dead battery!

I've had this watch for a month or so now and was very excited to get it. I had 3 Timex Internet Messenger watches which slowly died over th 8 or so years I had them. This watch looks nice and does the basics well. I agree with other reviewers the directions are hard to understand and you have to fumble through some of the functions to figure them out. But the biggest problem is that the compass function never seems to work right. I have re-calibrated the watch numerous times and can never get it to reliably hold proper north orientation. I chose it for this feature but would never rely on it in the woods, that's for sure. Magnetic fields can confuse it, requiring re-calibration but if that is what is throwing it off it is overly sensitive and not worth the extra money spent. I should send it back to Timex , but I'm one of those people that hate all the hassle of calling, sending, waiting and for what?.. a $40.00 item that should have worked right in the first place. I will continue to wear it as it looks OK but it's doesn't live up to the Timex name and for the purpose for which it was sold.