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Ask Slashdot: What's The Most Useful 'Nerd Watch' Today?
He's worn the same watch for two decades, but now Slashdot reader students wants a new one. For about 20 years I've used Casio Databank 150 watches. They were handy because they kept track of my schedule and the current time. They were very cheap. They required very little maintenance, since the battery lasts more than a year and the bands last even longer. Since they were waterproof, I don't even have to take them off (or remember where I put them!) They were completely immune to malicious software, surveillance, and advertising. However, their waterproof gaskets have worn out so they no longer work for me. Casio no longer makes them or any comparable product (their website is out of date).
Today's watches include everything from heart rate monitors to TV remote controls, and Casio even plans to release a new version of their Android Wear watch with a low-power GPS chip and mapping software. But what's your best suggestion? "I don't want a watch that duplicates the function of my cell phone or computer," adds the original submission -- so leave your best answers in the comments. What's the most useful nerd watch today?
Today's watches include everything from heart rate monitors to TV remote controls, and Casio even plans to release a new version of their Android Wear watch with a low-power GPS chip and mapping software. But what's your best suggestion? "I don't want a watch that duplicates the function of my cell phone or computer," adds the original submission -- so leave your best answers in the comments. What's the most useful nerd watch today?
Duh...
When you said "nerd watch", thought you meant something like a "nerd alert"...
Don't wear a watch, haven't for 20 years. The Casios were cool, though.
They'll be smashed up against the toilet when we dunk your heads into piss-laced water anyway.
Star Trek sites? /.?
Reddit?
Pornhub?
Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
I'm interested in this too, since the whole smartwatch category is relatively new. But couldn't the original submitter also just try buying another Casio Databank on eBay?
https://www.amazon.com/Casio-DBC150-1-Databank-Digital-Watch/dp/B000GB1R8C
With having a cellphone, I haven't bothered to buy a watch in about 2 decades.
But I did buy a Texas Instruments eZ430-Chronos Development Tool.
It's a watch based development system for MSP430 chips.
Sort of the father of some of the wearable devices, in it's own way.
But this is the ultimate Nerd Ware. You program it to be useful. No one else did. (kidding, there are some programs peeps wrote)
Be seeing you...
Old school...I'm in my 50's. Had one of the pulsar watches back in the 70's. Those cheap non smart casio digital wave-ceptors are good enough for me. I never understood the whole smart watch thing anyway. Too expensive for what it does.
cash out your facebook or other .com money, and enjoy the magic of being able to change time zones with the push of a button. ;-)
nerd watch for nerd money
Go to your local Wal-Mart (or equivalent). Buy one of their digital watches. It'll probably be in the $10-$20 range. It'll tell time just fine. It'll likely also tell the date. It's even rare to find low-end digital watches without alarm and stopwatch functionality. It'll likely be water resistant to a reasonable depth, too.
There's no need for modern "smart watches" and all of the nonsensical features they include. Why the hell would I want a step-counting watch that ends up being off by a factor of 3 to 5 times? Why would I want a watch that tracks my every move and sends it off to "the cloud", where this information probably ends up in the hands of advertisers?
It makes even less sense to spend hundreds of dollars on some fancy watch. Embedded diamonds and gold crowns don't make them tell time any better than dirt-cheap watches! Besides, then they make you a target for thieves and other petty criminals. Even in the best circumstances, wearing such a watch will often make people think you're some kind of a prick who over-charges for whatever service you provide.
The cheapest watches around are the only sensible option.
I know, I know. It makes me sound like a fanboy. But the feature that pushed me over the edge was the Auto Unlock feature. Now I have a strong password on all my computers that I don't have to type. Totally life changing.
Can't make your own gasket? Hand your card in at the door.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
A smart watch may not be the thing you are looking for.
Most of them replicate things your phone can do: GPS, notifications, phone calls etc.
Saying that, I have one and love the notifications feature, controlling the TV/aircon's, heart rate monitor, answering calls etc.
..I'm pretty sure I could make a VRML Curta simulator run on my Android Wear watch.
http://gizmodo.com/5795554/peo...
I had an S2 smartwatch for while. I kept trying to justify it. I kept telling myself it was justified. After a couple of months I conceded that, overwhelmingly, that the most used feature I got out of it was the flashlight function. I could carry on with my critique, but what's the point. It was nothing but a status symbol, and an ugly one at that. I am currently using one of these and am very happy with it:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MEF5ZNM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
All the features you are listing off are in you pocket right now, it even makes phone calls. They can be secured, and they have a better interface. I will leave it to the reader to examine the "tech specs."
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
I'm very happy with my Garmin Vivoactive HR, super impressed with the 10-day battery life, and also impressed with the ConnectIQ SDK.
I don't understand the question. To me it looks like Casio still sells those kind of watches: http://www.shopcasio.com/category/watches-databank-watches
Anything specific you're looking for?
Look in the mirror!!
I recently went back to an Ironman as a beater watch when I'm not wearing a "real" watch. Maybe not as nerdy but a pretty cool gadget I started wearing 30 years ago. Since I always wear a Fitbit on my non-dom hand this could be considered redundant, but still I do. If I'm going out though the Ironman stays home and it's my now vintage Tag Kirium, an Omega or on rare occasion my Baume et Mercier. A man's watch should fit the occasion.
Useful -> None, it's a fashion accessory today, nothing more.
'Nerd Watch' -> You probably mean hipster.
Every function of a watch has been replaced by a smartphone, so go with that like everyone else, there are no geek points to be earned by wearing any watch at all. If you dislike smarthpones, use any normal watch. If you insist on having a calculator at all times, take a decent scientific calculator with you.
Latest model has a built-in digital compass (magnetometer), barometer, thermometer, and altimeter, plus for every locale: tides, moon phases, sunrise/sunset times. It also sets itself to atomic clock radio transmissions once a day. Great fit for the outdoorsy nerd, at any rate...
I'm interested to see the results of this, too. The idea that a watch needs to be charged daily (or nearly daily) is utterly ridiculous. Like my Palm Pilot 500 which can run for weeks or months on a pair of AAA batteries, I'd rather have something simple that requires little effort than something with a thousand features which requires constant attention, software updates and charging.
The only watch I currently own is a Casio G-Shock which syncs time via WWVB and keeps the battery charged via solar. The battery still needs to be replaced every seven years or so, though. Once I can replace the battery with a supercapacitor, I'd never have to open the watch for any reason, and I'd be happy.
There should be more computing which focuses on doing certain things exceedingly well instead of trying to do everything.
Good enough for Waz...
https://www.etsy.com/listing/468839089/nixie-tube-watch-clock-wrist-watch-self?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_a-jewelry-watches&utm_custom1=4630c59c-68ed-4dfe-8427-afe393a40f29&gclid=CO-GmpC5s9ECFQWNaQodLxsG9A
Watching a picture of Natalie Portman naked, petrified and covered in hot grits?
The Pebble Time does pretty much all the cool things, without a fiddly touchscreen, and with a battery that lasts longer than all other smart watches I've looked at. A shame, then, that the price must have gone through the roof since the Fitbit buyout.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Casio+Databank+150&_sacat=0
Another fun link, which has nothing to do with this: http://www.emmet-gray.com/Articles/EdgeManage.html
I'm already carrying it, and there's absolutely nothing of value that a watch will do that it doesn't. Bonus- no wearing something uncomfortable on your wrist that's just prone to hit things and pull out your arm hair. I threw mine out the day I bought my first dumbphone, and I wouldn't wear a new one if you bought it and paid me.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Let your phone do all the nerd stuff. A Seiko 5 is their affordable, cheap and reliable mechanical/automatic watch. All mechanical inside (no batteries, powered by your own physical movement) just like a Rolex but many models can be had for less than $100. Warning it can lead to a lifelong and expensive obsession. Start by googling "Seiko 5 snk809"
You shouldn't have any trouble finding a watchmaker to repair your existing watch. A waterproof gasket is an easy fix. I wouldn't suggest doing it yourself only because tiny parts tend to fall out when you don't know how to open it.
Casio G-SHOCK GWM5610-1
http://www.shopcasio.com/produ...
Multi-Band Atomic Timekeeping (US, UK, Germany, Japan, China)
Receives time calibration radio signals which keep the displayed time accurate
Auto receive function (up to 6 times per day/up to 5 times per day for China)
Manual receive function
Signal: US WWVB, UK MSF, Germany DCF77, Japan JJY40/JJY60, China BPC Frequency: US 60kHz, UK 60kHz, Germany 77.5kHz, Japan 40/60kHz, China BPC 68.5kHz
Tough Solar Power
Shock Resistant
200M Water Resistant
Full Auto EL Backlight with Afterglow
World Time
29 times zones (48 cities + UTC), city code display, daylight saving on/off
4 Daily alarms and 1 Snooze Alarm
Hourly time signal
1/100 second stopwatch
Measuring capacity: 23:59'59.99"
Measuring mode: Elapsed time, split time, 1st-2nd place times
Countdown Timer
Measuring unit: 1 second
Input range: 1 minute to 24 hours (1-minute incremants and 1-hour increments)
Full auto-calendar (pre-programmed until the year 2099)
12/24 hour formats
Button operation tone on/off
Accuracy: +/- 15 seconds per month (with no signal calibration)
Battery power indicator
Power-saving function
Storage battery: Solar rechargeable battery
Approx. battery life: 10 months on full charge (without further exposure to light)
Module: 3159
Size of case/total weight
GWM5610 46.7 x 43.2 x 12.7mm/51.7g
Use your cellphone for the fancy stuff.
Pick up an mechanical analog self winding watch. It's really amazing in the digital age we live in to watch the gears spin in a watch.
Is that like DistroWatch, but where people track and rank nerds?
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
^ That. Pebble does all the things people *actually* do with other super-powered battery-hog smartwatches (notifications, canned replies, a couple apps), but you get what you paid for (in money and charging worries). It doesn't duplicate smartphone functions - instead, it uses the smartphone's GPS, internet access and powerful CPU to do the heavy-lifting - the best apps are often "terminal-style" accessors for the powerful devices we have at our pockets but can't usually reach when wearing gloves, riding a bike or only having a split-second.
Unfortunately not an option anymore, unless Fitbit decides to launch a compatible device - after all, they *also* favor battery time and focus over feature-load. Who knows?
I use:
http://www.ringclock.net/
It just tells time. I wear it as a thing of beauty. It is expensive, but it attracts attention. People I am with have literally grabbed my hand and said "What is that?"
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
is wearable GPS with waypointsand charging cradle. if it had wifi andbluetooth then fuck cell phones. if it had dual wifi then just imagine a beowulf cluster of them.
I would like everything but the cell phone network hardware: it was a Sony Mylo 1 and then Mylo 2, but make it wearable.
So, this is a bit of a repeat, but I'll answer as I did last time. I have a Citizen Eco-Drive Skyhawk:
https://www.amazon.com/Citizen...
Mine's a little different as I bought it as Service Merchandise which closed in 2002. I think I got it the year that they closed and paid $300 or $400 for it. It's still my watch.
It doesn't run Android or anything. But it has a slide rule around the bezel and is actually made for making some aviation calculations simple. It also handles all time zones, shows utc on the face at all times, has a couple of alarms, a countdown timer, and a stopwatch. It's solar powered and I've never replaced the battery. It's also water-resistant. I've never had trouble with the watch. I just now realized that it's 15+ years old, and has lasted far longer than any other watch that I've owned.
I know there are some amazing computerized watches out there, but a slide rule is the ultimate nerd accessory, right? Also, show me your second generation Apple Watch in 15 years.
Do you have ESP?
After what happened with the Pebble a bunch of r/pebblers put together a list of smart watch alternatives. Might be a good place to start looking into options. I've been looking into the Garmin Fenix smart watches ( possibly the newer announced Fenix 5 ) myself as aside from looks they seem to have what I want in a smart watch. Sounds like Fibit might be looking at doing a proper watch ( as opposed to their typical fitness trackers ) as well based on their purchase of Pebble's software division and some discussions I've seen about.
guess its not the calc watch any more.
Up to about 6 months ago, I used to wear of those cheap digital watches that Walmart peddles for ~$10. They'd last about a year, and I'd just go buy another one.. The last one I bought about 6 months ago, lasted about a month when I decided my phone shows the time, so why on earth do I need a watch? Haven't missed it..
My sister in law gave me a white box for Christmas that said "SmartWatch" on the label. Sure enough it contained one of the "smartwatches" that Walmart sells for $79, reduced from $139.. The tiny instruction manual that I need a magnifying glass to read says to charge it for at least two hours before using.. Well I'm here to tell you I left it on charge for over 10 hours and it is dead, Jim... Right now, we're figuring out how to get SIL's money back from this POS... Hopefully she can get her $$$ back.... Don't want another one..
THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
I quite agree w/ this. Whenever I'm on the computer, the time is displayed on the bottom right corner. Otherwise, if I'm out, I pull out the cellphone to check the time. Also, from my chair, I can peep directly at the clock in the oven, and in the car too, there is one. So w/ so many clocks at home, in the car and on me, I hardly feel the need to splurge on a watch.
I have an Apple Watch and love it, but won't try to convince anyone here that it's the best (which I wouldn't know) but rather want to share how I use it:
- I bought it because I work at cafes and was tired of taking my phone out of my pocket to check notifications. It serves that purpose rather well.
- I use it a lot to set reminders with Siri. "Hey Siri, remind me to hang the clothes to dry in two hours", etc. I now try to avoid having to keep track of small things doing it "the cyborg way". In fact I just used it to set a timer for my tea. Siri supports some more surprising things (while listening to a podcast interview I said "Hey Siri, show me pictures of X (the person being interviewed)" and the face appeared on the watch) but I don't always realize I can use it for those.
- I often use voice dictation to reply to messages when walking around. I even picked up phone calls Dick Tracy style a couple of times when the phone was a couple of meters away.
- I use it to navigate with the maps when walking. I don't drive, but it's possibly useful that way as well. When walking long distances it's better to have the notification to turn around the corner on the wrist than on the phone in your pocket.
- I use it to track my hearbeat during trainings. It has a podometer function as well that stores the distance walked in the health app on iOS.
- I have the current temperature on the watch's face and tapping on that opens the forecast. I use that a lot.
- I didn't expect this feature, but it suggests standing up and moving around a bit for at least a minute every hour... and I love it. It's a very small thing, but helpful for us who work sitting down.
- When you charge it and set it on its side it becomes a bedside clock. I use that to wake up in the morning.
- The flashiest thing it does is acting as a remote of the iPhone camera, with a live video feed and all... it's handy to get group shots without setting the timer and running away into place.
As a Slashdot discussion grows longer, the probability of an analogy involving cars approaches one.
But they don't make them anymore. Here are some of these awe inspiring pieces of technological achievement:
http://forum.pocketcalculators...
Seriosly, Casio, if you are reading this: Please, please, please produce another batch of stainless steel game watches. People are already paying $500 for a second hand watch like this one:
http://www.mywatchmart.com/lis...
Signature deleted by lameness filter.
Seconded. I had the first-gen Vivoactive and loved it for the same reasons. I even developed a tide prediction widget for it and a simple watchface. Now I have a Tactix Bravo, which also has the 10-day battery and ConnectIQ, with the added bonus of doing GPS readings while swimming. It's amazing that companies like Samsung and Apple seem not to get what smart watches need to be, but much smaller "old tech" Garmin does.
My favorite watch is the Timex Expedition series: https://www.amazon.com/Timex-T48042-Expedition-Full-Size-Material/dp/B00LPRTGHU/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1483913264&sr=8-18&keywords=timex%2Bwatch&th=1
This series of watches has stopwatch, countdown timer, 3 alarms, and apparently a magnetic compass in the newer models. If you need calendar/appointments, it's not enough for you, but I use my iPod for that sort of feature. It's just what I need for a dumb watch and at only ~$30. Fair warning: my major annoyance is that it has some timing delays before certain features become active, such as a roughly 2-second delay before the stopwatch will reset, and a similar delay between activating the setting of the countdown time and actually being able to modify it. Perhaps those annoying delays have been addressed in more recent models (mine's several years old).
Timex Expedition. Waterproof, shockproof,freeze proof, altitude proof. Battery at least ten years. I have dropped my old one in the BBQ and it still worked. It doesn't keep very good time, so I reset it before every race. My Smartphone is in the cabin below in a special holder uploading race metrics. Racing and cooking in the back country (where I turn off the phone) and to remind me what day it is out there are its only uses.
I wear a succession of cheap hand wound pin-lever analogue watches. I'm not the sort of nerd that wants the newest shieniest. I'm the sort of nerd that likes to take my gadget apart and see what makes it tick. Pin-levers are cheaper, less accurate movements and half the joy is in trying to make them slightly more accurate.
Casio Illuminator $15-25 some years ago 2? 3? Cheap plastic bands are usually 1st to go. Has alarm, timer, and of course date & time. Face also illuminates - so I can see time in the dark. Battery lasts longer than the watch (2-4 years, generally). I once replaced a battery - only lasted a year. Turns out that even the "same" battery has different lifetimes - I once saw a commercial replacement list, the Sears technician admitted they never offered customers anything better than a "one year" battery. (Sears? wow. They still around?) Anyway, I'm currently at my desktop. Two monitors on, neither showing the time. Also my cordless land-line phone would show time, but for the "missed call" message (telemarketers). So I can either move my mouse over to the task bar or glance at my wrist. Glance is easier, ymmv. Watch is accurate to a couple seconds per month. For some reason they don't program it for the ST/DST change, nor is it aware of the timezone it's in. OTOH, its water resistant to 200 meters (sure it is) and if I loose it, I will have lost zero personal information at insignificant cost and heck, you can drop them, wash dishes with them on, shower, drop kick them, and they keep on tickin. Plus they're not the size of a small paperback. Anybody think pulling their smartphone out of their pocket is as convenient is smoking sompin. No hands vs 1 hand. Of course, you do need to make sure your shirt/coat sleeve doesn't get in the way.
As an iPhone alternative:
Battery easily lasts a week.
Much cheaper.
Not nearly as bulky.
Things in common:
Can get notifications without pulling out phone.
I always have phone on silent and it's a nice backup.
Might not have phone on me but I can still see calls or messages nearby.
I do run and it's nice to wear a flipbelt and start/stop watch instead of armband.
Don't have clock in living room and often video games obscure computer clock.
http://edifice.casio.com/
I was all set to pull the trigger on one of these but then went with the Apple Watch on an impulse. Either one is probably more than your budget but I did like the looks of the thing. I own/used its little brother, the STB-1000 and found it functional enough to justify buying a smart watch. Yes, it needs a phone for reminders and such, but it will do much of what a true smart watch will do and still be a pretty good stand alone device. And you're probably going to have your phone with you anyway.
Of course you could go nuts and get an Oceanus...
"Well, good luck finding a judge that doesn't run a bestiality site."
http://www.shopcasio.com/produ...
Multi-Band Atomic Timekeeping (US, UK, Germany, Japan, China)
Receives time calibration radio signals which keep the displayed time accurate
Auto receive function (up to 6 times per day)
Manual receive function
Signal: US WWVB, UK MSF, Germany DCF77, Japan JJY40/JJY60, China BPC
Frequency: US 60kHz, UK 60kHz, Germany 77.5kHz, Japan 40/60kHz, China BPC 68.5kHz
Tough Solar Power
200M Water Resistant
Duplex LC Display
Tide Graph (tide level for specific date and time)
Moon Data (moon age of the specific date and moon phase graph)
Digital Compass
Measures and displays direction as one of 16 points
Measuring range: 0 to 359 degrees
Measuring unit: 1 degree
20 seconds continuous measurement
Graphic direction pointer
Bidirectional calibration and northerly calibration function
Magnetic declination correction
Bearing memory
Altimeter
Measuring range: -700 to 10,000 m (-2,300 to 32,800 ft)
Measuring unit: 5 m (20ft)
Manual memory measurements (up to 14 records, each including altitude, date, time)
High altitude / Low altitude memory
Total Ascent / Descent memory
Others: Reference altitude setting, Altitude differential
Barometer
Display range: 260 to 1,100 hPa (7.65 to 32.45 inHg)
Display unit: 1 hPa (0.05 inHg)
Atmospheric pressure tendency graph
Atmospheric pressure differential graphic
Barometric change indicator
Thermometer
Display range: -10 to 60 C (14 to 140 F)
Display unit: 0.1 C (0.2 F)
Low Temperature Resistant (-10 C / 14 F)
Full Auto EL Backlight with Afterglow
5 Independent Daily alarms
Hourly time signal
World Time
31 times zones (48 cities + UTC), city code display, daylight saving on/off
1/100 second stopwatch
Measuring capacity: 23:59'59.99"
Measuring modes: Elapsed time, split time, 1st-2nd place times
Countdown Timer
Measuring unit: 1 second
Countdown range: 1 minute to 60 minutes, (1-minute increments)
Reset time: 1 to 5 minutes (1-minute increments)
Others: Time-up alarm, progress beeper
Battery level indicator
Power saving function
Full auto-calendar (pre-programmed until the year 2099)
12/24 hour formats
Button operation tone on/off
Accuracy: ?15 seconds per month (with no signal calibration)
Storage Battery: Solar rechargeable battery
Approx. battery life: 5 months on full charge (without further exposure to light)
23 months on full charge with Power Saving Function (without further exposure to light)
I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.
Rolex originally marketed the Milgauss towards scientists and engineers who needed an antimagnetic watch. I have an Omega Seamaster >15'000 Gauss due to my need for higher levels of anti-magnetic resistence but a love of mechanical watches. The TAG my brother in law gave me for a wedding present wouldngain 2 minutes in the course of the day at work because of the EM from all the gear. Next one I go for is probably. A Breitling Navitimer; can't beat the useful nerdiness of a circular slide rule.
I also do have a Citizen Eco-Drive (solar power) that syncs the atomic clock signal. If you're totally about precision, those, or the GPS-synced watches from Citizen and Seiko are pretty cool, too.
Not having had a digital watch since 6th grade, I have nothing to offer on that front.
Find a watchsmith if there is such a title to repair your watch. I don't think you'll find anything like a Databank 150 again. The world seems to have moved on from that style of electronics.
"I don't want a watch that duplicates the function of my cell phone or computer," adds the original submission"
Actually all watches duplicate smartphone functions, including the databank variants.
With this in mind, 2 recommendations
1. A classic automatic mechanical watch that is deeply engineered to nerdist level of detail, and a bit of a cult item amongst watch lovers: a Damasko DA36 or one of its DA3x siblings.
Why? Because it has a difficult to scratch ice hardened case, an antimagnetic inner case for when nerds work on the large hadron collider, a special lubrication cell around the crown stem, a crown that decouples when screwing down, special high quality gaskets and more. The white dial siblings are fully lumed. A universal, crisp looking watch with appeal to nerds and engineers.
2. On the other side of the spectrum I find the Apple watch quite compelling and nerd-friendly. Current gen has gps, is swim proof, will actually make you look less at your phone, and it is simply a very very accurate watch. Notice how a shop display of radiosynced watches will in the afternoon have 2 seconds difference between the slowest and quickest sample while a table of apple watches run all in perfect sync. The secret is that even when it cannot sync to internet or gps, it has a thermocontrolled crystal which makes it into a higher accuracy device than a standard quartz watch, it is probably the most affordable high accuracy quartz watch on the market. This is something that I think should appeal to nerds.
I have a Casio Wave Ceptor watch and last time it needed the battery replaced a local store was willing to do it for 40$. After that two of the four buttons stopped working, but I noticed it only days later and the store owner claimed it was not his fault (of course). Now the battery needed replacing and I spent about two hours to get that friggin thing working again. The Casio watches are totally unserviceable. I contacted Casio and they claim that even something silly like a battery replacement requires sending the watch in to the factory. It's like shipping your car to Detroit to have to refueled.
Get a decent watch without all the toys built in. I can see a need for date functions and if you happen to travel a lot maybe one that quickly adjusts to different time zones. If you want it to be nerdy and can spare the money, get a mechanical watch that winds up automatically by regular hand movement.
I owned two models of the Seiko WristMac in the 1990s. I really loved those watches, but the problem was that they required a relatively rare battery. When my battery ran out, I went all around the city looking for a watch store that had the correct replacement. Finally, I found one store owner who claimed to have the correct the battery, but it turned out that he was lying. Without my knowledge, he replaced it with a similar battery that had a slightly different voltage (if I remember correctly, it was 0.5 volts too high). Unfortunately, the delicate electronics were fried. My father also had a Seiko WristMac, and it was destroyed in exactly the same way--by a watch dealer replacing the battery incorrectly.
The "nerd watch" I use is the Timex Ironman sports watch.
All the "smart" features are on the smartphone anyway. The advantage of a watch is not having to pull the smartphone out of the pocket. There are times when a simple, single-purpose device is better than a jack of all trades. It is nowhere near as fragile as the smartphone. My hands stay free. I am not tempted to get off task (email, games, internet) by glancing at my wrist vs. using the smartphone. I can glance at the watch in a meeting discreetly.
Battery lasts for years. Water Resistant to 100m. These are the dominant reasons I use a "dumb" watch rather than a smart watch. I don't need one more thing to remember to charge. I have very little use for "hand jewelry" that can't be around when I wash hands, etc.
Time and Date prominently displayed. Three alarms. Stopwatch. Indiglo night light lets me check time with one button in the middle of the night without blinding myself vs cell phone screen. The Timex ones are fairly rugged; I have had the watch face stop hammer impacts and other such niceties. I wear the bands out long before I have had the watch itself fail. A simple digital wristwatch is a very mature technology, a smartwatch is anything but.
I live right next to a time zone boundary, so I often have half my life on the "wrong" time. The cell phone changes over automatically when I cross the line, which CAN be a good thing, but having the "right" time on my wrist lets me coordinate pieces of my life when I am actually shifted over an hour.
CASIO Watch Lineage Tough Solar Radio Watch Titanium MULTIBAND6 LCW-M100TD-1A3JF Men's Watch
https://www.amazon.com/CASIO-L...
This watch is always on time because it synchronizes with atomic radios globally.
The battery never runs out because the watch face is a solar cell.
You don't have to take off the watch because it is water resistant to 5 bars/50 bars.
It looks like an "adult" watch though it has standard digital features:
Date, world time, stopwatch, countdown, and alarms.
The titanium makes this watch almost indestructible.
The sapphire glass only had a minor scratch when a person fell pinning my wrist to a rock face.
Everything still worked, but I replaced the glass anyway.
Not bad for 4 years.
tl:dr; ... this watch will outlast YOU.
When I started wearing one everyday, you had to wind it. Everyday. They had self winding ones.
Later, they had LED models you had to press a button to see.
I eventually had some kind of waterproof w/ alarm, stopwatch, countdown (casio or timex ironman).
I tried the Timex Datalink (beam your calendar from outlook to your watch) and followed all the reverse engineering to get it working with Linux. After the case started getting eaten away, I switched back.
Then my RSI started & my wrist would hurt so I took it off at work sometimes. The strap broke & I got another. That broke a week later.
By that time, I was carrying a phone on my hip. I no longer have something on my wrist. I use the pocket watch (phone) now.
I got a fit bit for Xmas. I don't think I care to put it on.
But since you haven't gotten too many real answers to your question (which, if I understand correctly, is a request for a durable, long-lasting watch that just does what watches are supposed to do), I'll inform you of what I wear: the Casio G-Shock MT-G 900. I can't remember exactly when I got it, but it's been at least five years ago. It has an easy-to-read face with backlight, a steel band that doesn't get worn much with age, a radio receiver that syncs the time with the Fort Collins transmitter, and a solar-powered battery. I didn't have to actively charge it (by putting it on the windowsill during the day) until the past year. The only problem is that it's a little bit pricier than your old watch, but not by much.
Rob
I still wear and use Casio Data Bank 150 calculator watch as well. I have not found a good replacement for it. :(
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I was thinking that once upon a time, Slashdot was my favorite "Nerd Watch", and what might be a good place to go to watch stuff for "Nerds". The appropriate term is wrist device, I also liked the term used in Crest of the Stars, the correct spelling of which escapes me. Searching for my best guess turned up no hits.
Casio Lineage Tough Solar Radio controlled MULTIBAND 6 LCW-M300D-1AJF
Nice looking analog display + plus digital for a few things. The best feature is that the time never needs to be set (radio sync to NIST) plus never needs a new battery (solar). Super happy with this watch. Around $140.
Is that an Undertale joke? LV in Undertale was initially said to mean "love" but later is said to mean "Level of violence".
A single application, and any IoT device will be permanently secured: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... I'd like my $25k now, thanks!
Rule 35 of the internet: "If it can be hacked, it will be". - Charles Stross
I bought a Treehut watch made from wood. I find the woodworking fascinating, and the leather band very comfortable. Yes, it's not a nerd watch in the sense that it doesn't "do" anything nerdy; but I have a very nerdy phone in my pocket.
No, I will not work for your startup
I am sometimes in adult situations where pulling out a smartphone would be considered rude and crude. So I have a watch for those occasions, and discreetly glancing at it is all I need. Mine does nothing but tell me the time of day on a 12-hour dial that is a replica of the Swiss railway clocks that you see in every station there--nice retro design.
Cheap, reliable, does what I need it to.
Anyone try one of those cheap "Smart Watches" you see on Amazon? Here's one I looked at:
CNPGD Bluetooth Smart Wrist Wrap Watch Phone for IOS and Android, Black
(search on Amazon).
It has been selling for $9 ("price has dropped by 53%!"), but I'm not sure about the quality of these watches. This particular one gets crummy reviews, but are there any that are worth getting?
To be more specific: are there inexpensive watches that will do most of what the Apple Watch does (whatever that happens to be --I don't know) without the expensive price tag? I'm including Android watches; the watch doesn't have to sync to an Apple iPhone, since Android phones are much cheaper and more accessible to the thin wallet.
404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
[GPG key in journal]
I haven't worn a timepiece since the 80s, so when I saw the headline, "What's The Best Nerd Watch", my reaction was: "Huh? It's not Slashdot? Dunno maybe ARS or stackexchange?"
I bought a Nixon Mission when it came out, and I've been extremely pleased with it: it runs Android Wear, meaning it integrates well with my phone; it's comfortable; its battery lasts a workday easily, and charges quickly for sleep tracking at night; it's waterproof down to a hundred meters, as well as being made with Gorilla Glass III, a high-impact chassis, and a stainless steel raised bezel, so it's pretty much indestructible (I've tested it with a thermal shock of 100C -> 20C and no problems); and even the default watch face is cool and elegant.
If I had to mention a downside, it's the lack of a speaker or a heartbeat sensor, and the three Nixon apps (surf and ski information applications) that came rolled into the OS cannot be removed, but I can live with that.
Hyperbole: I use it liberally!
You can restore the waterproofing by running a bead of dielectric grease, as you would use for spark-plugs and can get in any autoparts store.
Rub that on the gasket, and around the casket seat.
Good luck.
... with compass.
Dead reliable. Water proof. Good price/quality price point. Does NOT support wifi/bluetooth and does not need anything but gravity of nimble fingers to run for 10-20 years with no service.
what that happens to be is to extend the usefulness of the iOS ecosystem in ways that people who want to get the most out of the iOS ecosystem appreciate. If you don't get it, it doesn't matter, but nobody here should deride those who do.
The problem with all these advanced (android wear, ...) smartwatches is the abysmal battery life. Typically a couple of days.
Most of this power is used to replicate what your smartphone can do.
Fitness trackers have features such as a very noticeable vibrator (can be used as a silent alarm clock), step/heart/sleep sensors, smart unlock for your phone, etc... Features that really add to what your phone can do without trying to do too much. As a result, these trackers are typically much cheaper and have a much higher battery life than full smartwatches. You can get a Mi Band for $15 and the battery lasts a month.
And even if these are called fitness trackers, you can use one even if you don't care about the "fitness" part. Notifications alone can justify it.
The best nerd watch is the watch you make yourself - showing off your nerd abilities. The soldertime watches are starting points, bonus for whatever you add to the base design.
Nerds are rarely impressed by "products". You only need money to have a "product". A self-assembled kit is minimum, self-designed even better.
If i ever had to wear a nerdy watch, that would have been it.
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
It's an Apple watch for people who go outside.
The battery lasts a month unless you're using the GPS then you'll have to charge it daily, but it charges very quickly in a magnetic USB cradle with pogo contacts.
The normal kit comes with a heart rate chest strap and you can get cadence sensors, speed sensors, power meters, and such that link with it over radio.
You can load different watch faces, widgets and even program your own.
It has Bluetooth to link with your phone for notifications.
One built-in widget is Find My Phone. If it's close enough to have a Bluetooth connection, your phone will start chiming, vibrating and blinking the camera flash LED.
It's waterproof.
The display is transflective and has a backlight, but as it's made for people who go outside, the display definitely looks better in sunlight.
In a world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king--and the two-eyed man is a heretic.
That requirement alone pretty much leaves you buying a nice Swiss analogue watch and, as a nerd, marveling at the technical feat of engineering that went into creating something that can keep time (and date) without the use of any electrical components.
Plus, it'll last a lifetime, the battery won't die out, can still be serviced many years from now, doesn't need to be charged every night, won't be rendered obsolete and will actually look nice on you.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
The last time I wore a watch was when I took my boy's Cub Scout pack camping a few years ago. Four days in the rural parts of Oklahoma, crappy Cell service (T-Mobile at the time). Dug out an old sports watch from the 90's and wore it the four days, and put the cell phone away. Was able to get the boys to all the scheduled activities on time, without messing with the cell phone.
Back in the 80's I had the Casio calculator watch. Lots of fun, miss that watch.
He who laughs last is at 300 baud.
I wore databanks for many years, ending in the ninetries, when I could not find them any more, even on business trips to Tokyo. There were registers where you could write short bits of text. I used these to store my car registrations, and a few phone numbers. This is the sort of thing you would have on your phone these days. However, if your phone goes flat, it is sometimes useful to have a duplicate. Alarms and Reminders. I had an app on my work computer but if I was not at my desk, I missed it. If I am not wearing the watch, it would pop something on the screen. A calculator (I rarely used this). A light (this flattened the battery if you used it to see things with).
Okay, this all sounds pretty sad, but back in the day it was handy. We could do all sorts of things better. There are much smarter ways of entering text. We could have a solar cell over the front face to charge it. it could have a low power mode if the solar cell was not seeing anything, rather than having the display always on. You could keep your passwords in it, knowing that it could not be hacked.
I don't think it will happen. It now feels funny to have something on my wrist. Possibly secure USB drives with tiny displays on keyrings will take over the role.
After doing quantities of manual work with my hands and destroying several wrist watches and getting very tired of pulling out my phone just to look at the time; my wife got me a classic hand wind, pocket watch which I use everyday now.
Pros:
It is accurate to within 2 seconds a day...do you really need more?
It looks very nice...always.
Cons:
It needs to be wound every 36-48 hours...which takes 10 seconds while I walk to my car so no problem for me.
The Skyhawk may not be to OP's liking as it's a bit Flava Flav-esque, but don't let that dissuade you from Citizen Eco-Drive. I've been rocking a titanium Citizen for fifteen years now as well. https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/... is an image of one of its brothers. They're built like a tank, never need a battery replacement (though eventually the rechargeable will need changing, but that is possible), and this one has the benefit of having a countdown timer in the digital portion of it.
If you want to go all-out nerd cred, there are upgraded versions that will receive WWVB (and its global peers) timekeeping broadcasts, or even full on GPS time from the satellites. They do have a bluetooth-enabled line called Proximity, but I'm suspect of any consumer technology-tied device with a long projected lifespan, as the lifecycles are totally different.
The truth about Scientology, Xenu, and you: Operation Clambake
I recently purchased three of these casio watches: https://www.casio.com/products/watches/databank/ca53w-1.
It was like a dream out of the 90s. Went into the store, and there they were, waiting for me for the last twenty years.
https://learntemail.sam.today/blog/my-watch-runs-gnu-linux-and-it-is-amazing/
The Garmin Fenix 5 was just announced. This looks like a very useful and interesting personal assistant.
Anyone try one of those cheap "Smart Watches" you see on Amazon? Here's one I looked at: CNPGD Bluetooth Smart Wrist Wrap Watch Phone for IOS and Android, Black
I don't know. Based on the size, it appears to be a bit cumbersome...
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
I have had many Casio's in High School and College, then spent a decade wearing a practically indestructible titanium Citizen ECO drive. But when I came back to take care of my elderly folks, I needed to know whenever the phone rang, even if it was in my jacket or upstairs. I have a Windows phone, and the Microsoft Band 2 (when it works) is the best watch I have ever had. Touch free time, day, and date just by turning my wrist, selectable wallpaper and color, so I can see it no matter what glasses I have on, and best of all, every call, email and text shows up on my wrist, identified and the first few lines readable at a glance. I never miss a call, and always know the latest Dallas Cowboys football or Stars hockey score, the direction, the weather forecast and even current UV levels. I can view the last dozen or so email and text headers, and the numbers of the last few phone calls. Granted I am on my third one, and they have been discontinued. With more development, it could become indispensable, but now I will cry when it inevitably dies...
I wear a 1955 Roamer Swiss mechanical watch on a cordovan leather strap. Manual winding, 17 jewels, 35mm case. I wouldn't have it any other way; wearing it makes me happy.
Unless you are one of the tiny subset of the population that both dives and needs to tell time while doing it there really isn't much point to them anymore. There are more accurate clocks everywhere, including on your phone.
If you are going to wear something on your wrist go with a fitbit.
I have Nixie watch from Cathode Corner. It is great, looks cool and does what I need a watch to do. Tells the time with big digiets that are easy to see.
I personaly prefer simple watches. Before that it was always a analog watch, however I have loved Nixie tubes since I first discovered them when looking at vintage computers in my school liabary back in 2002, was the bast access I had to the internet back then.
Firstly: "kept track of my schedule and the current time." How painful is it to get a proper schedule into that watch? That alone is true nerd-dom, to spend an an hour a week typing tiny text into a watch...
:) Basically: ~8 months on a regular watch coin cell (CR2032 I believe) and you get an analog watch, and an activity tracker (think fit bit) and vibrator alarm that looks and acts like a regular watch. Very light and not smart watch bulky. You can swim, sleep, run and it tracks each one with data presented in the phone app. Syncs automatically via BluetoothLE. It also changes time zones when you do! So a watch.. with benefits.
I went another way: Been wearing the WiThings Activite Pop for a year now and it has helped me a lot. About to switch to the Activite HR if they would ever actually ship it.
Funnest thing is setting the time from the app, making the hands sweep around the face in sync with dragging your finger around a circle in the app.
The any-day-now to be released HR model tracks heart rate (duh) but also will do event notifications from the phone. 1 month on a charge.
1 Dachshund + 1 Dachshunds = A Paradox.
I picked up a Casio Pro Trek PRW 2500 a while back at a cheap price (under 110 pounds = $134 inc. tax) and really like it. It's radio-controlled, solar, water resistant to 200 metres, altimeter/barometer/compass and has a cute power saving feature (display goes blank if it's dark for an hour and then re-appears if you tilt the watch towards you or press a button). Only complaint is that you can't flip the "wrong" US date format (MMDD) back to the "correct" format (DDMM).
Yes, Casio have a smartwatch which looks really nice, but is hellishly expensive and even in its monochrome power saving mode, it still needs to be charged at least weekly, whereas my Pro Trek never needs a charge and the battery will probably last 10+ years.
The original binary watch. It shows me the time, can provide enough light to find something in the dark and is a great conversation ice breaker. What more do I need with my phone close to hand?
You can set what alerts you and what doesn't, it is a great fitness tracker, GPS, etc... You can respond to text messages, or reject phone calls from your wrist. (Handy when cycling) The "find phone" feature helps me when I can't remember where I set my phone last. I only charge it when I'm in the shower, but the battery easily lasts a couple of days. It's water resistant, but me personally, I wouldn't take it in the ocean. It's lightweight, and small, but can still display a map of my rides. If you get the right face (there's even an LCARS face), it's quite pleasant to wear. I thought it would be a fad, but I'm sold now. I'm not a huge fitness nut, but still really enjoy wearing it.
How much is your data worth? Back it up now.
Breitling Navitimer has a built-in slide rule!
A "smart watch" need only be as smart as one chooses. I'd recommend something like a first-gen Moto 360, now going on eBay for less than $100. Install calendar app, turn off all notifications except calendar (or even those if you're willing to look at watch calendar.) Choose a simple watch face, and you're done. You do have to charge them, though; probably every other day, dump it on the wireless thingy. That's probably a deal-breaker for you, though.
You want a nerdy watch, that's also huge and ugly? You want a Razer Nabu. This is going to be my next watch, when I'm a bit less broke. It's semi-smart, with an extra display for messages etc. Also I like big ugly digital watches!