Discussion: Wrist Watch Recommendation

My Timex Ironman wrist watch just bit the dust. I am looking for recommendations on the purchase of a watch that is good for recording orienteering splits. I want to spend less than 50 USD. I will wear it everyday. No HRM necessary. I did find an old AP discussion from 2006 but thought it might be out of date.

Anyone have a recommendation?

Search for "casio lap watch" on ebay and take your pick — you can get one (with shipping) for under $35.

Would a Casio be better than a Timex?

Depends. It's a matter of opinion. Yes.

Does Casio make a watch with a simple straight-forward state-machine-like interface that's easy to remember? Like they did 15 years ago? That's what I always loved about those old watches. The buttons all made sense and were easy to remember.

When I could no longer find that I tried a few of their newer more complicated watches but never loved them. My last handful have all been Timex which I used to love to hate just because they were so much harder to remember than the old Casio's. Each Timex I buy has the commands slightly re-arranged from where they were on the one before. It's annoying but since I can't keep track of them anyway it's not as annoying as it ought to be. My newest Timex has one really great feature: really big numbers! No squinting, regardless of the weather!

My got first casio in 1988 and then another about 5 years later. Since then its been a succession of Timex. Why? Because they are carried at better prices at WalMart (and I like the large numbers, too)

But that is why I'm not posting. A few weeks ago there was a discussion of Garmin 305's and 405's. Now I can't find that thread and I want to refer someone to it. Does anyone recall what the discussion was called?

I put "garmin 305 405" in the search box above (in the banner line) and got these results. Perhaps one of them is the one you're looking for.

JanetT beat me to it. But I believe this is the most recent discussion on the Forerunner.

I've got a 3 year old timex ironman with a velcro strap, 150 lap counter, that I really like. $35. Replaced the band twice. If I find another similar, I'll buy it. Big numbers, easy to read.

I inherited my Timex Ironman from the lost and found at the gym I used to manage. I have worn it for 12 years straight and probably replaced the band 6 or 7 times. Yeoman's service, I should think.

My Timex Triathlon from twelve years ago just won't die: ten batteries and six bands later. While waiting for it to give up, I have to put up with only eight laps of data.

My IM only has two laps. I'll pay a reward to anyone who can destroy/watchnap it on my behalf. I can't bring myself to do it on my own and I even had to change the battery despite the fact that I was hoping it was gone forever. I hold out hope that the strap will wear out and one day it'll just be gone, but until then the bounty ($5) stands.

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gosh, the one I bought last year doesn't even have a replacable band. It's all one piece and the watch is just built right into it. But it has 150 splits so that should be good for a while. I bought it on closeout from some mail-order place or another.

No problems with the split button on the 12 year old watches? The split button on mine is getting a little touchy; occasionally the wristband on a long sleeve shirt will apply enough pressure to trigger it. Annoying, but not fatal.... yet.

The buttons on my twelve-year old require a lot of pressure or sharp finger nails. They don't make 'em like they used to.

I'm on my third Casio (since 1990) only because I lost the first two. I have a spare in case my current one fails, though I might just buy a newer one. No problems with them ever. I've bought newer ones as gifts, and they've all had the nice straightforward user interface.

Either you're finding Casio models that I'm not or else our opinions of straightforward differ. Every Casio I've seen since the old 90's watch that every orienteer had has been of the "maze of twisty little passages" design.

One thing I forgot to mention about my current Timex: It doesn't ask for the year when you set the time/date. So of course it then proceeded to say March 1 on Feb 29 this year, until I changed it. I haven't had a watch do that in, ...well, ...longer than I can remember.

I've had both Casios and Timexes. All I can say is that I can operate my Timex just fine. But when I need to change some setting in my Casio I hand it to my 16 year old son.

Thanks for the advice. This is what I ended up buying from REI using my annual dividend and with a %20 percent member discount. I almost splurged for the 100 lap model, but I think there is something to be said for simplicity, when you are running through the woods, trying to figure out how that last collision with a tree messed with the watch buttons. I am *hoping* the UI is simpler on the one I purchased.

i have owned a watch that same model of watch and the little screws that connect the rubber to the face place have fallen out and after a while some water got in and then it went toast...but i am unusually hard on watches and they normally end up broken before the battery or strap dies...

I have that same watch, the 30 lap model. I have had it for 2 or 3 years now, very happy with it. UI looks the same as mine, but I find it pretty simple and straight forward. One thing that I really like about it is that it will hold three time zones in it, so when I am traveling a lot, I just need to hold in a button for three seconds and I get the new time, I used to hate changing the time.

You can set up to 3 different alarms (per day) too. And I like the large digits so I can read the time when I'm not wearing my reading glasses.