Slashdot Mirror
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 Casio no longer makes them or any comparable product (their website is out of date).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?
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.
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 suppose telling the time without ferreting about in your pockets and hitching up your overcoat while your hands freeze because you had to take your gloves off isn't a function then.
Wristwatches replaced pocket watches for a reason, kiddo.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
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?
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.
The Chronos isn't bad, but I prefer the Data Link USB. It was released in 2003, but is overall more useful than the Chronos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
As the name suggests, it uses USB to connect to the PC, and it lacks the wireless functions of the Chronos. The watch functions as a USB HID, so the official Windows software works on everything from Windows 98 to Windows 10. Timex released the official specifications of the communications protocol, so there is also an open source Linux implementation.
It has more memory than the TI Chronos. It has 32KB of nonvolatile storage like the Chronos, but an extra 48KB ROM with OS, libraries, and built-in apps means you get much more out of the 32KB. There's also about 2.5 KB of SRAM built into the microcontroller used.
The DLU also has a better display with two rows of text, and the top row can display two characters and six digits, so the display is better than the Chronos' with one top row of 4 digits and bottom row of six digits.
The battery life is rather poor for a watch, but outstanding compared to most other smartwatches, lasting about a year. Unlike lesser watches, the display is always on and shows the seconds.
The SDK great, which contains good documentation and every single header and macro used by the built-in apps and libraries, even things that aren't that useful to writing your own apps, like the memory layout for built-in apps. Timex also released the source code for the built-in timer apps.
There's also a great emulator to use for testing, which can automatically reload apps after assembling and allows backwards single-stepping.