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I very nearly posted this in General Hardware or Mobile Tech, but...

So, I'm thinking maybe I want to start wearing a watch. I normally use my cellphones for timekeeping, but...

I'd really like a Fossil/Abacus Wrist PDA, but they seem to be rather difficult to find. Otherwise, that'd be perfect.

I see that there are some bluetooth caller ID watches, but they don't appear to work fully with Motorola phones, which is what I'd want to use one with.

Anything else that's so geeky it hurts? Data bank watches, calculator watches (RPN preferred in that case, and I know the HP-01 is algebraic,) slide rule watches (not that I know how to use a slide rule,) etc., etc.

Go retro. I'm sure you can find one on EBay. (I'm astonished Casio is still selling these things new). I always wanted that semi-mythical one that worked as a learning remote (or one of the truly mythical Bond ones).

They still do the learning remote watch. The full range is at:
http://www.casio.com/products/Timepiece/Databank/

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/6a17/

binary watch.

I like this one alot. It doesn't have extra functions, but it's really cool.

UberGerbil wrote:

(I'm astonished Casio is still selling these things new)

Amazing, my grandfather bought me one of these when I was in grade school. Amazingly enough, the battery still hasn't been changed yet and it close to 15 years old now. The band has broken twice though...

My watch has a touchscreen. How geeky is that?

http://www.calcwatch.com/index.html

Oh my god.

Do want.

It's a shame it's not water resistant, though. (Then again, neither is the Wrist PDA.)

Don't you people have cell phones? Who needs a watch, when you have a cell phone?

pyrodeus wrote:

Don't you people have cell phones? Who needs a watch, when you have a cell phone?

I have to take readings on equipment with in a couple of seconds so yeah I need an actual watch. My cell phone doesnt have a second counter on it just minutes. The watch jebus posted is pretty cool but wouldnt work for me. My watches get beat up at work so cheap and durable is the only thing I care about.

pyrodeus wrote:

Don't you people have cell phones? Who needs a watch, when you have a cell phone?

Some of us think of a cell phone as a mere communication device. Strange, ain't it?

I actually used a Dreamcast VMU as a timepiece at one point. It was pretty good... until the batteries ran out.

As I said in my OP, I actually DO use my cellphone as a timepiece, but I'd like to start using a watch.

It annoys me that the ThinkGeek binary watches are 12-hour only. Dunno why, but it does.

So, I think for now, I'm going to just find a cheap Casio CA-53W, and then when I find a cheap Abacus (I've heard the Fossils are much heavier) Wrist PDA, snag it.

Darkmage wrote:

My watch has a touchscreen. How geeky is that?

Is there any place on that horrid Hamilton website that has any more detailed info on that watch?

Captain Ned wrote:

pyrodeus wrote:

Don't you people have cell phones? Who needs a watch, when you have a cell phone?

Some of us think of a cell phone as a mere communication device. Strange, ain't it?

Wait a sec... my cell makes phone calls. Why wasn't i told this at the store?

Meijer had the CA53W in stock, so I snagged one for $20. Totally dorky, which is what I was going for. You know it's an old design when you're setting it, and the factory-set date is in 1981.

So, now, just gotta get the Abacus Wrist PDA. Saw one on craigslist, but it wasn't local and the ad seemed a bit fishy.

Yea, i just completely avoid using craigslist.

I have a Citizen ecodrive titanium watch. Its solar powered! Thats a little geeky imo.

I have to argue for the minimialist, impenetrable, indecipherable geeky look with obligatory basic black--one of my favorites is this--but only the black model with blue lights...
http://www.tokyoflash.com/en/watches/saishin/retsu/

FireGryphon wrote:

Is there any place on that horrid Hamilton website that has any more detailed info on that watch?

No. Their web site pretty much sucks.

pyrodeus wrote:

Don't you people have cell phones? Who needs a watch, when you have a cell phone?

Can't take the cell phone into the SCIF.

Darkmage wrote:

FireGryphon wrote:

Is there any place on that horrid Hamilton website that has any more detailed info on that watch?

No. Their web site pretty much sucks.

So what's the watch like in use?

fent wrote:

I have a Citizen ecodrive titanium watch. Its solar powered! Thats a little geeky imo.

Which one? I just got this one for Christmas last year.

FireGryphon wrote:

So what's the watch like in use?

Not bad. The touchscreen portion is really just used for selecting the mode of the watch. You hold down the middle button and it chirps at you, then you press the area around the edge of the face where it lists the modes of the watch. The hands move around to point in the same direction and then move around the face as you press. It's nice not having to cycle through the modes (and then swear quietly when you go past what you wanted to pick) and watching the hands move as if they're possessed is kind of fun.

The altimeter is pretty cool, as is the barometric thingy. The compass is wicked to watch, as the hands move until they're 180 degrees from each other and then rotate as a unit as the watch turns. The thermometer work, but you have to take it off your wrist and wait while the watch cools down. I remember watching the temperature readout dip into the 60s when I was having lunch in a restaurant in Arizona. Never going back there again!

On the downside, the month/day indicator is actually a day/month indicator which is something I haven't quite gotten used to. And it needs a countdown timer. It's also a fairly hefty watch, so if you like 'em light & slim this is not the watch for you.

And I just snagged an Abacus AU5005.

WIN.

Captain Ned wrote:

pyrodeus wrote:

Don't you people have cell phones? Who needs a watch, when you have a cell phone?

Some of us think of a cell phone as a mere communication device. Strange, ain't it?

I concede that some have the need for especial accuracy or work in areas where cell phones aren't allowed (or have other perfectly good reasons not to have a cell phone on them), but why limit your thinking of what the cell's functions are? It's like thinking "a computer is just for word processing, not watching DVDs."

My cell phone is:

• a clock (and not just a clock, it has an alarm, covers multiple time zones, automatically resets itself to local time *and* makes daylight savings time adjustments on its own even if Congress changes daylight savings time),
• stopwatch,
• music player
• video player,
• calendar and electronic organizer,
• e-mail device,
• 3.2 megapixel camera,
• personal phone book,
• electronic notepad,
• calculator and,
• yes, communications device (with caller ID and individualized ringtones and many other features).

I certainly would not want to carry around a separate device for each all the time!

pyrodeus wrote:

My cell phone is:

• a clock (and not just a clock, it has an alarm, covers multiple time zones, automatically resets itself to local time *and* makes daylight savings time adjustments on its own even if Congress changes daylight savings time),
• stopwatch,
• music player
• video player,
• calendar and electronic organizer,
• e-mail device,
• 3.2 megapixel camera,
• personal phone book,
• electronic notepad,
• calculator and,
• yes, communications device (with caller ID and individualized ringtones and many other features).

I certainly would not want to carry around a separate device for each all the time!

OK:

1&2 live on my wrist 24/7 in my watch
3&4 are irrelevant to my daily existence
5 is the same weekly appointment book I've been carrying for the past 11 years
6 is my work laptop or home computer
7 I don't need for work
8&9 live in my head
10 is the HP-12C that is never more than an arms length away
11 is why I have a bloody cell phone in the first place.

I don't want my cell phone to give me a reach-around I want it to be a phone, nothing more & nothing less. Give me a phone who's calculator function is RPN and I'll be interested at best. If my life ever gets so complicated that I need all those functions in a single device, it's time to find a simpler place to live.

If you could though, point me in the direction of the reach-around phone.

Yea, although my cell phone does everything with symbian however it's very half-assed at all of it. Using a calculator on a phone is very annoying since i'm used to dancing on my old casio scientific to take care of problems as i think of them. Same for everything else, i'd rather write myself a post-it than use my cell phone to make notes. I've never met anyone that has video on their phone for more than novelty purposes or music for more than ringtones(other than myself). I think part of it is a "my cell phone has more functions than your cell phone" concept/fad going around now. I'm not sure of that but it seems to be the case. I've seen people argue over their phone being better than another persons phone to the point of personal insults. Guess we'll start arguing over who's got the biggest antennae now.
Edit* or is it the smallest in the case of phones. That'd be a nice change of pace.

Hoser wrote:

fent wrote:

I have a Citizen ecodrive titanium watch. Its solar powered! Thats a little geeky imo.

Which one? I just got this one for Christmas last year.

http://www.ewatches.com/media/Watches/C ... 80-50L.jpg

Its been good to me so far! Traveled with me around the world a few times and I havent had to change the battery once!

Let's see... on pyrodeus's device roles...

1. Before this thread, I used my cellphone for timekeeping, but now I do use my watch. Much quicker and easier.
2. I rarely use a stopwatch.
3 and 4. That's what my iPod is for, but I do occasionally watch YouTube videos on my cell phone.
5. I find that the cell phone interface is a ROYAL PAIN to use for that, and I can't sync my phone to my PC for calendar functions.
6. E-mail... yes, I do use my phone for that.
7. Seeing as my phones both have 0.35 megapixel cameras... no thanks. I use a CAMERA for that. (A cheap 7.1 MP Canon.)
8. Only logical to have that on the phone, although I have two phones with non-synced contacts.
9. I use my iBook for that right now, and that's kinda unwieldy. Then again, so would the watch...
10. Depends on what I'm calculating... before I got the Casio, I'd use the cell for quick fuel economy calculations and such, but now whatever watch I'm wearing will do that (seeing as both will have calculators.) For heavier duty stuff, I have an HP 50g.
11. Wait, you can actually make calls on a cell phone? (That and web browsing are the two main things I do on my phone.)