in: Orienteering; Gear & Toys;
| # Posted 2006-03-18 07:58:42 | |
| dlevine: | At long last, my last Casio Accelator has died. In an ideal world, I'd go out and buy another, but I can't seem to find one. Given the age of the watch, it seems likely that there is a newer model (possibly by another manufacturer) that would serve just as well.
My needs are simple. I just want to be able to record the splits (fifty is plenty; I'll skip a few at a Mega-O) and retrieve them easily, in both directions, unlike some watches still sold today. Keeping accurate time so I don't miss my start and having an alarm are about the only other features I'd use. So, what is recommended these days? Specific model information preferred. Vendor info welcome. Inexpensive is good. (I have a fancier watch with compass, HRM, altimeter, etc. that I don't use for competition.) |
| # Posted 2006-03-18 15:30:40 | |
| dness: | Have you checked out a Casio STR300S Lap Memory 60? It's probably very similar to the Accelator. I have one (or at least a previous incarnation), and I needed J-J (who I think uses an Accelator) to show me how to use it.
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| # Posted 2006-03-18 19:12:44 | |
| jjcote: | Yeah, I've got two Accelators, due to having gone in with Peter on a 10-pack a few years ago; kept one as a backup, and we sold off the rest. Just go to ebay and search for "casio lap watch" for successors to the Accelator. I bought a couple of STR300 watches as Xmas presents a couple of years ago, and that's worked out fine. If I were buying a watch right now, I'd look at the STR800, which is going for about $50 plus shipping on ebay: 500 splits! |
| # Posted 2006-03-18 20:05:52 | |
| dness: | You're recommending 500 splits, J-J -- is that a warning of something to come? |
| # Posted 2006-03-18 21:21:45 | |
| Suzanne: | I like my timex ironman traithlon. I can go through splits forward once I save them. 50 splits. Tells time. Has a timer and an alarm. Not too much other fancy stuff. Not sure how expensive, maybe around 30 something? I bought it a year or two ago and it's doing fine. |
| # Posted 2006-03-18 23:43:38 | |
| Anna: | That's what my mom and I have! My dad likes his heart-rate monitor one, but I think it's too big to wear, and I wouldn't have time to look at all the graphs and stuff that it makes. |
| # Posted 2006-03-18 23:50:35 | |
| salal: | I also like my Timex Ironman triathlon watch, it has 50 splits which you can save (the workouts can be saved and then gone back through and deleted when you have time). It also has a 2 split timer, which is useful for timed intervals by yourself, and 3 alarms...
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| # Posted 2006-03-19 04:41:21 | |
| Joe: | had an accelator but the battery kept running down. it had some setting that would throw the light on every time you moved your arm. pavlina uses a freestyle shark or something like that and she likes it enough to replace it with the same thing. now I use a Polar 725 which works as my bike computer and HRM. It downloads via infrared and records climb as well. enought splits for most events.
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| # Posted 2006-03-19 04:59:42 | |
| pfc: | I'll give a "me-too" on the Timex Ironman. Light, cheap, easy to find at any outdoor store, and the split button follows Fitt's Law (the bigger the button, the easier it is to hit it.) I have a fancier HRM/altimeter watch but it's bulkier than I'd like for an O-course. Plus if you hook a branch and lose the Timex, no big thing. More pain from losing the splits than the watch. |
| # Posted 2006-03-19 08:27:29 | |
| salal: | Haha, yeah it does follow fitts law - a nice big button on the front of the watch. You must have taken some "motor skills acquisition courses" ;) |
| # Posted 2006-03-19 10:36:41 | |
| pfc: | Hey, Fitt seems to be quite the celebrity among the HCI crowd! |
| # Posted 2006-03-19 17:03:10 | |
| dness: | I had a Timex Ironman before my Casio. It was strange, though. The splits had to be viewed in reverse order, and I think it actually lost time when splits were taken. |
| # Posted 2006-03-19 18:10:50 | |
| IndyBass: | +1 on the Timex Ironman Triathlon. There are many versions of this watch, though. Mine is the "i-control" version, which controls everything from a multi-function pull-out rotary knob on the right side of the watch. It also has two big buttons on the face for start/stop and split. The rotary knob lets me scroll through splits in either direction. |
| # Posted 2006-03-19 22:48:09 | |
| Barbie: | Well, let's add to the list. I also do have the Ironman and have had Ironman for years. If you can't view the splits in the right order on the old one, it's because you have to save them first, then delete, and then recall. It will work. But anyway, no need to do this anymore with the new ones.
There is one glitch though with the new design, and that only matters if you are a skier, which I know many of you are... The Stop button gets easily hit when you pole plant (the wrist bends and hits the button), so I have had to swtich and wear my watch on the right arm to avoid the problem. Minor detail but annoying enough that I would have considered another brand had I notied that change in the design fromn the old one. Other than that, very convenient that you can store various training sessions and recall them when you have time! Quite inexpensive as well. |
| # Posted 2006-03-20 01:46:02 | |
| jjcote: | Don't know if it's been fixed on the newer versions, but the other drawback to the Ironman watches used to be that when you were looking at splits, it would only display them for a limited time before going back to the start (or something). So when people were standing around comparing splits, and there was a route worth discussing, the Casio owners were ready to move on to the next split when the discussion was done. But the Timex people would say, "Wait, I have to get back to where we were..." |
| # Posted 2006-03-20 03:42:11 | |
| Barbie: | Good one JJ, I had totally forgotten about that! It has indeed been fixed, you can take as much time as you want, just like Casio owners! |
| # Posted 2006-03-20 06:15:05 | |
| ebuckley: | If you do night races, get the Ironman with the "flick" light. It turns the light on just by flicking your wrist. Also great for late-night track workouts. I also recommend spending the extra $5 to get 100 lap memory. |
| # Posted 2006-03-20 06:33:55 | |
| Kiki: | I have both an Accelator and an Ironman. My Ironman is probably one of the cheaper ones (it was issued to me) but even knowing that I can't really recommend the Timex ones over the Accelator. If Casio still makes something similar to the Accelator then that's what I'd stick with. All the "new" features mentioned (like bi-directional split-viewing and flick-lighting) are on the Casio, and I find the buttons much more friendly.
One of my favorite Accelator features is the different beeps. You don't have to look at the watch to know which screen you've clicked to, or to see whether you've successfully hit the split button. Are there other watches that do this as well? Hm, asked my own question and I've been of absolutely no help in answering the original poster's question. |
| # Posted 2006-03-20 07:04:58 | |
| Eric P: | Do any of the watches mentioned have a repeat countdown timer? That, or a setting for beeps on the minute? |
| # Posted 2006-03-20 08:30:57 | |
| feet: | The old Accelator has that feature. Whether the current replacements do... ? |
| # Posted 2006-03-20 09:22:22 | |
| Barbie: | The Ironman does. |
| # Posted 2006-03-20 20:45:26 | |
| Jerritt: | Sorry to keep this going, but Barbie I thought I was the only one who found the problem with the stop button while skiing. Came up with the same solution. Almost took the watch back, but I've owned nothing but an ironman for the last 20 years.
I left my last one somewhere on the Possum Trot course in December. |
| # Posted 2006-03-20 20:55:27 | |
| Barbie: | Ah great minds... ;-) |
| # Posted 2006-03-20 21:28:01 | |
| Sergey: | Timex Ironman Triathlon:
2 time zones, 50 laps, 10 timers, 10 alarms, lit button, and other useful staff. Survived all my races and training through the six year span. And I like to bump trees a lot! My previous watches (including Casios) didn't survive for more than one season :) |
| # Posted 2006-03-20 21:43:46 | |
| jjcote: | The "flick" lighting does exist on the Accelator (don't know about the newer Casios), but it's what caused Joe's watch to keep running down the battery. You activate it by holding down the split button for a couple of seconds while in time mode (and turn it off the same way). I know Pavlina had trouble with this because she wears her watch on the inside of her wrist, and tended to push that button inadvertantly when picking things up. A note for advanced users: this "Auto-Light" feature is the only way to get the light to come on when you're looking at splits, bceuase in that mode the light button does somtheing else. |
| # Posted 2006-03-20 23:54:55 | |
| Joe: | JJ your memory is amazing.
Pavlina gave away the accelator, so I can't offer it to our original poster. Just yesterday her Freestyle crapped out at the central park event. when she got home she pulled out a new watch she bought and was waiting to use. Now she uses a Timex that is designed to sit on the inside of her arm (not on top or bottom) so that when she looks down to see her split there is minimal arm twisting. Envision yourself holding a map and then look at the position of your arm. I have not explored the functions, but I would think it has all the required elements needed for recording and reviewing splits. |
| # Posted 2006-03-21 00:01:20 | |
| ebuckley: | Iteresting. I intentionally do NOT look at the watch when I hit the split because I want to be thinking abou the next leg - not how long the last one took me. |
| # Posted 2006-03-21 01:39:04 | |
| ebone: | For a few months, I've used the Polar S625X (basically the same as Joe's, but with the distance-measuring foot pod instead of the bike kit). So far, I very much like its features and interface, with two exceptions:
1. The plastic covers/facings on the side buttons are already cracking and chipping off. I guess I must have dropped or set down the watch too hard, but this still seems like a design flaw. 2. The big red split button sometimes sticks and requires jostling to pop back up so that it can be pushed again. I was at a track workout with Vladimir last week, and he was having this problem with his S625X, too. Some of my AR team mates have the similarly-featured Suunto T6, and it's interface has a few quirks that make it seem less desirable. For example, I remember one of my team mates saying that there are some common screens that can't be accessed while the stopwatch is running on a workout session. |
| # Posted 2006-03-21 01:44:53 | |
| ebone: | Forgot to ask, does anyone know why watches cost so much now, given that the Casio 30-lap watches of 15-or-so years ago cost only $30? As circuit and manufacturing technology march onward, wouldn't watches get cheaper and cheaper over time?
Perhaps this has more to do with marketing demographics. People who are interested in taking splits generally want other bells and whistles, too, and have the means to pay for them. |
| # Posted 2006-03-21 01:56:33 | |
| j-man: | And a (tangentially) related question I have -- why do financial calculators cost so damn much, when the technology they use (or features they offer) haven't changed in 20 years? The answer is likely price discrimination, but I don't like it. |
| # Posted 2006-03-21 05:24:40 | |
| Joe: | "Iteresting. I intentionally do NOT look at the watch when I hit the split because I want to be thinking abou the next leg - not how long the last one took me."
neither does pavlina during races, only while training at the track or O training sessions. |
| # Posted 2006-03-21 08:51:17 | |
| Ricka: | I like the current 200-lap Ironman for big button and ease of store and recall of numerous race splits. I also use the multiple alarms to get me to class (almost) on time.
I've used the countdown timer and interval timer a bit - including for 1-minute beeps forever at start line at last year's STL A-meet. However, the green plastic buttons on each side (feature on right; finish on left) have popped off. A sharp finger nail still reaches pegs okay - irritating. Avoid the I-control with rotating I-control ring on face. They readily popped off of original and replacement. Bad design I guess. |
| # Posted 2006-03-22 00:04:37 | |
| superwes1000: | Pooped? |
| # Posted 2006-03-22 08:51:01 | |
| jjcote: | Mechanical fatigue, no doubt. |
| # Posted 2006-03-23 23:50:59 | |
| Wyatt: | I've had the same hit-the-stop-button-accidentally issue with the Timex Ironman too - from orienteering - I figured out that when jumping over logs or fences or boulders I often put my hand down and the wrist bends enough.
I got a new Timex Ironman where the button is more recessed behind some styling plastic and I haven't had the problem since. But if it happens again, it'll move to the right arm (never thought of that ...) |
| # Posted 2006-03-25 10:20:46 | |
| Barbie: |
You do realise that a blond outsmarted you Wyatt ;-) |
| # Posted 2006-03-26 01:17:25 | |
| ebone: | Wow! A blond outsmarted Wyatt? Who?
;-) (The brains must run in the family.) |
| # Posted 2006-03-26 04:25:40 | |
| Barbie: | Does that make you Ken then? Are you the Ken with real hair or plastic hair? |
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