Casio Baby-G: Not Quite There, But Quite Serviceable
Remember two years ago, when I was searching for the perfect watch? You don’t? Then check it out here:
I was looking for a watch that did the following:
- Women’s watch
- Digital
- Metal case and band
- Time and Date on the display at the same time
- Stopwatch
- Countdown Timer
- Light
- I would also like Dual Time, but I’m willing to give that up
The latest iteration of the Casio Baby-G doesn’t quite fit all my qualifications, but it’s very close. It is technically a women’s watch, even though it’s pretty large. You can see it takes up most of my wrist here:
It is digital and displays the time and date on the face of the watch. It also has a stopwatch (chronometer), and countdown timer, light and dual time. In fact, it has features that I didn’t even know I wanted like an accelerometer that can notice when I’m holding the watch up and looking at it and change the display to show slightly bigger numbers when I do:
If you think this photo is the same as the previous one except that it’s a little out of focus, then you can understand why I find the accelerometer feature useless. The numbers are ever so slightly bigger in the second picture, but the difference is so minute that it makes me wonder why they bothered.
Their execution of dual time is clunky. Sure, the cool thing right now is to have your time attached to wherever you’re living, but that is an extra feature that hinders rather than aids time setting. Instead of making me find the nearest city in my time zone, how about you just let me tell you what time it is now? Is that alright?
Oh, and when I set the time in the other time zone, don’t make me choose yet another city. Just let me change the hours. Can you keep the minutes and seconds to match the original time line? No? Why is that? What planet do you live on? We’re all just separated by hours, not minutes. Is it really necessary for me to reset the minutes and seconds in EACH time zone?
If you are in love with your shiny white Apple MacBook or your brand new 3G iPhone, then can have the Casio Baby-G to match. Otherwise, it’s just a bulky white watch that is close, but no cigar. It’s serviceable, but it is by no means the perfect watch.
I am in the same boat as you. I want a nice looking DIGITAL watch, with almost all of the same features that you’re looking for — except I don’t care if it’s plastic or rubber, and I NEED to be able to display a second time zone.
Casio is just about the only brand of watch that even comes close to meeting my needs. In my opinion very few of them look elegant, and most of them look quite jejune. But by determined searching and scouring on eBay, I’ve found a couple that are suitable for my workday.
I have one of the style that you posted about. (Mine is the bright yellow one.) I am able to wear it with SOME of my outfits, but it is my least favorite of the three that I own. I agree that the display’s ability to slightly increase its digits is not terribly useful. I’m not overly impressed by its ability to change the type of display it uses, either.
My other Casio has a pale brown bezel, and a strap with leopard spots on it. It, too, can only be worn with a limited amount of outfits, but it probably the most elegant of the ones that I own. (It’s still all plastic, though.)
My “workhorse” watch, the one that I wear daily, is a pale peach, which looks almost like a beige. In addition to the world time display, and the five alarms, and the ability to be a count down timer, or to act as a stop watch, it also has a solar cell, which recharges the battery. I think that’s beyond cool!! It can also store a few phone numbers, but I don’t really use that feature. I found it after searching high and low, in an obscure internet store, and is a discontinued model. I hope it lasts a long time, as I don’t know how I would get through my day without it.
Despite some of their shortcomings, I’ve become a great fan of Casio watches, and now consider myself something of a collector. How very odd. I’ve never before found anything that I wished to collect, and felt so strongly about. What I really like about them is their utility, and that they can be had for not a lot of money. When you think about it, there aren’t that many things in this world that are so useful and at the same time, perfectly affordable.
Comment by grapeshot — October 4, 2008 @ 4:52 pm