Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Well now!!! This one's something special, isn't it? A little nicer than the rest. Of all the Casio's I own, this PRW-3500 is my favorite. NOTE: This watch's LCD display is MUCH clearer and brighter than the Amazon image(s) show! See other web images, it's very impressive. For comparison, I currently own: PRG-270-1 (black, some orange print) PRG-270D-7CR (titanium band) PRW-3000-2BCR (blue/purple) GW-9400-1CR Rangeman WV-300 Wave Ceptor (discontinued) And now, the PRW-3500-1CR All of the new Casio sensor v3.0 watches have come a long way in accuracy. Where I couldn't accurately calibrate the earlier Pathfinders, I can now calibrate everything and get very accurate readings with the new Pro Trek series. Here are some comments on the functions: COMPASS: Very accurate, works as good as my mechanical compasses. The movable bezel on this model is redundant, but still very useful and looks classy. Note: all magnetic compasses are negatively affected by magnetism, metal objects, etc. Best not to be used in the car, near electrical equipment or audio speakers which have powerful magnets. Best out in the field - and always calibrate right before using. BAROMETER: Accurate to within .05 inHg. More accurate than than my iPhone Weather Channel App, because it's real-time, whereas with the phone app you have to wait for periodic updates plus there may be a discrepancy due to the Weather Channels' sensor location(s). The barometer's Weather Alert mode works great on all of my Pro Trek's. Activate it when you know foul weather is coming over the next 24 hrs, and it will alert you when storms are approaching. Also good for camping & hiking - you can activate it to be alerted about any sudden storm approaching so that you have enough time to find cover. ALTIMETER: Affected by air pressure, so accuracy is more general, although the reading intervals have been improved. Best for hiking than car rides because snapshot intervals aren't suited for fast movement across terrain, they're suited for walking and cycling. Also, if you're hiking and a storm is approaching, your readings will not be accurate because changes to the barometric pressure will affect the altimeter readings. best use in stable weather. That said, it truly is the best technology available short of a GPS device. TEMPERATURE: Very accurate. I have all of my Pro Trek's calibrated using a small electronic temperature gauge, and all of them read exactly the same as my wall-mounted digital temperature gauge (when located at the same location as the watches). You have to take the watch off to get accurate readings, and this will probably never change due to the proximity of the sensor to your body. The sensors are very sensitive - simply picking up the watch will effect the reading. I recommend keeping it off for 30 minutes (not 10, 15 or even 20) to give the watch enough time to fully acclimate. If temperate is important to you, clip the watch to your backpack or tent. Do not leave it in the sun. BACKLIGHT: Works great. I love the brighter illumination of the new LED lights. In pitch dark you may be able to find items in your tent. I am very happy that Casio changed the afterglow limit from 1 second to 3 seconds. A one-second backlight limit (Pathfinder series) on any watch is an immediate deal breaker for me. I love the backlight's Auto-On feature: I wear one to bed and just flick my wrist to see the time whenever I wake in the middle of the night. I also love the location and knurled feel of the backight button - easy to feel in the dark. BATTERY: I've been using a couple of these models for a while now and have yet to see a fully charged battery reach Medium from normal use. I suppose you can run it down pretty quickly if you keep using the backlight too much. When they're new I'll leave them on a sunny window sill all day for the first couple of days for maximum charge. After that I regularly put them in a window sill once or twice a week for several hours just to keep them topped them off. ATOMIC TIMEKEEPING: Reception depends on your area and current weather conditions. This function only works at night, (usually 4am for me), even when wearing the watch. It doesn't work well for me on cloudy or bad weather nights, but you don't need to calibrate more often than once a week even if you're particular about accuracy. Don't expect to be able to calibrate 24 hrs a day unless you live very close to the radio transmission. I've got an Atomic Casio from 10 years ago and it has always synchronized, usually without me having to place it in a window. Keep it away from magnetic items like audio speakers. ALARMS: The 5 alarms are cool to have, but there's no way to label them to distinguish which alarm is for what purpose. I love the Snooze alarm - however, I do wish it had the ability to choose specific days of the week, such as only M-F (exclude weekends). So it's either all or nothing with the alarms - you'll have to remember to turn them off when you don't need them to be on. The alarms on the Pro Trek's are about as loud as they get with Casio watches. Just so you know, if these aren't loud enough for you, don't bother looking at other digital watches. I also have the Casio G-Shock Rangeman (much more expensive than the Pro Treks) and its alarms aren't even as loud as the Pro Treks (that's not to discredit the Rangemen, it's an incredible timepiece!). So in any case, if you're going to wear your digital watch covered by the sleeve of your Gor-Tex down-lined wilderness coat in 20 MPH winds - it's not likely you're going to hear the alarms. And I doubt you'll hear them in your nylon tent flapping in the winds at the top of that mountain peak either. It's just not gonna happen. In fairness, I know of no other digital watches that are louder. And for those who think a vibration feature is the answer, imagine the cost, size and need for more battery power being a major obstacle. SUNRISE/SUNSET: Once I properly calibrated for the LAT/LONG of my exact location, this feature is now in perfect sync with The Weather Channel app on my iPhone. (You'll have to find the lat/long website calculator for your area, Amazon won't allow me to post the link.) Other functions such as the stopwatch, countdown timer, world time, hourly chime, etc. are all standard features, and work as well as you would expect. v3.0 ProTrek watches are as accurate as the technology gets without GPS, but here's the best thing: they are the simplest effective gadgets to use! No batteries to change, no need to ever set the time and date again, and the user-interface is intuitive (after a quick read through the booklet). And the learning curve, if there even is one, is low and even fun. The instructions are great, and provide lots of important tips for best use. ONLY ONE CON: The band is very difficult to remove on my PRG-270-1, and this one is even more difficult due to the hole in the rubber strap retainer. It's very frustrating trying to get the strap to slide out from under that retainer. The best way I've found so far is you have to be able to use one hand to both pull the strap out while also squeezing the rubber retainer enough to get the strap's hump out from under it. This would make more sense if you own the watch and can see it visually. But this is by no means a deal breaker, as long as I can get the watch off without breaking it, I'm OK. Highly recommended!! I'm very excited to own this beautifully made electronic timepiece. Casio has come a long way. Don't hesitate to buy one!