Casio Men's G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch #GW500AJP-1AV Review

Having owned the GW500AJP-1AV for a week, here are my thoughts on some of the points raised by the reviewers of this and other G-Shock models:

1. In my opinion, concerns about the thickness of the watch have been overstated. Certainly, if slimness is an *important* criterion for you, this isn't your watch. But you'll have no trouble fitting it under your shirt cuff. [Though the manual cautions that doing so will hamper the solar function.] Even my ridiculously slender wrists support it - physically and (I hope) esthetically - without difficulty.

2. The G-Shock models are advertised as rugged. I'm not about to use mine as a hockey puck to put that to the test. But it certainly *feels* sturdy. [The thickness helps here.] And from what I've read about them elsewhere, they do shrug off a considerable amount of punishment.

3. Everyone's experience with receiving the timekeeping signal from Fort Collins will vary depending on the particulars of their location and the attention they pay to the manual. I live only 350 miles from the transmitter but with modestly sized mountains in between - which can be a dealbreaker. Although it took a longer period of motionlessness for the watch to lock in than the manual had told me to allow, it has received a strong signal ever since. [And keep in mind that the watch is accurate to 15 seconds a month even without synchronization.]

3. When I first unpacked the watch, the battery level was at Medium - which you would expect after it having been in a box for who knows how long. After 3 hours of direct exposure to bright sunlight [which you should do in the early morning to keep the watch from roasting], the battery level has remained High ever since.

4. The four control buttons are slightly recessed - for decreased vulnerability, I imagine. This means you will need to operate them with a directly perpendicular press by the edge of your fingernail, rather than an angled mashing under the meat of your fingertip. I can see why this irritates some people. [It did require a small mental adjustment on my part.] However, I think it was a legitimate design decision.

5. The leftmost of the three circular "gauges" at the top of the display is meant to mimic the sweep of a minute hand on an analog watch. Speaking as someone whose attachment to that visual "pie-slice" style of time reading has been my main reason for sticking with analog watches until now, I think it's a terrific idea. In practice, though, the gauge is too small to be useful for that purpose. [For my eyes, anyway.] However, I don't mind particularly - since I think the three gauges look cool simply as decoration.

6. Someone else commented that the black resin wrist band is not replaceable. I'm not sure if that's true. However, replacing it would be no casual affair. So if you won't be content with this kind of band, you should look for a different watch. I prefer leather bands myself. But this one is in keeping with the toughness of the rest of the watch and certainly comfortable enough to wear.

On the whole, I'm very happy with this purchase. If you enjoy having an accurately set timepiece - and who doesn't? - it's difficult to overstate the satisfaction of radio-synchronization. A good mechanical watch is accurate to 5 seconds a day. A good quartz watch is accurate to less than 1 second a day. As long as it's in signal range, this watch will be accurate to less than 1 second for the next 60 million years [http://tf.nist.gov/cesium/fountain.htm] - or at least until the US government stops broadcasting, at which point you'll probably have other things to worry about. When someone asks you for the time, you will be able to give them *The* time.

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Product Description:
Make a powerful statement with the Casio GW500AJP-1AV G-Shock men's atomic solar watch, which receives time calibration radio signals which keep the displayed time accurate. It's also solar-powered--charging in either sunlight or indoor light--so you'll never have to deal with changing the battery. This shock resistant watch features an Auto LED light with afterglow, world time for 30 cities, a 1/100 second stopwatch, daily alarm, hourly time signal, full auto-calendar, 12/24 hour format, and a battery power indicator. The watch has water resistance to 200 meters (660 feet).



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