Casio as a brand seem to have been in existence for almost as long as I have – well almost! -)
And it makes you wonder why?
They started in 1946 in Japan and still producing today and providing the world with more innovative products. With many tech milestones back from the early days of Calculators, Musical Keyboards, E Dictionaries, to what I’m interested in right now – watches. From G-Shock (1983), RC controlled models, to GPS to whatever . . . . the range is amazing and ongoing.
Proof of how good they are can be seen in their present line up of mechanical and Digital watches – because, so many of them don’t seem to have changed, since they were first produced – There’s no doubt they were and are well designed and do the job they are meant to do, right from the start.
And their pricing for a decent watch that will last and last, is amazingly cheap in comparison to so many competitors.
This is the ubiquitous Casio AE-1000W-1A2VEF – some title I know, but this model has been around for many years and is still a remarkable best seller.
Very affordable and for reliability and features, it’s as good as they get. It’s also very clear to read and at a glance shows the time with running seconds, am or pm, the Day, Month and Year, even your time zone.
The controls are obvious on the top of the watch bezel – Adjust, Mode, Search and Light. It also has a 10 year battery life, which rather makes these so called “smart” watches a bit of a joke, in my opinion.
The functions and features list is comprehensive –
Accuracy is +/- 30 seconds a month, An Alarm Function with 5 Daily Alarms: Each will sound every day at the time you set, an Hourly time signal: The watch beeps every hour on the hour (selectable on/off).
It also has an Auto Calendar – Once set, the automatic calendar always displays the correct date. It also has a Countdown Timer, from 24 hours, measuring 1/10 second. A Stopwatch function, which can measure 24 hours with different modes – Elapsed time, 1st-2nd place times and all to 1/100th second.
Plus, if that wasn’t enough, it features a World Time – giving you 4 Time Zones (quite enough) and these Local Times can be called up quickly and easily, which is so much better than some over-complicated World Time models.
As said, the dial displays current Day, Week and Year, so a quick glance is all you need on a daily basis and this is all contained in a very tough resin case measuring just 43.7mm diameter and 13.7mm depth. The strap is resin, which has never been my favourite, as they tend to go brittle, but this can be changed quite easily.
The dial can also be illuminated with LED and an afterglow function. There is a Mute Function which switches OFF any tone sounds, whilst all pre-set Alarms or Timer functions stay active.
The glass is also break resistant and the control pushers are shrouded, just enough to prevent accidental operation – Note– the dial light button is top right and very easy to operate. The watch is also Water Resistant to 100m, so as a “daily” why take it off at all?
At around £40 in the UK and changed little since first introduced, there’s a reason – it’s simply because they got this one just right, first time. So, if in the market for an easy to use, easy to see, easy to live with digital quartz – and when you consider the two similar models noted on the links below, I’d say they pretty much got them right!
And that’s why I like Casio (and Timex digital if I’m honest)
Two other models I also own are virtually the same – check them out!
The first – is the Casio AE1200WH-1AV – which I Posted here – https://watchspace.co.uk/2013/11/18/holiday-watch/
Probably the same module, without the “Shock” name, but just as tough – again this is a favourite holiday or travel watch. Note when I bought this, it was under £20!
The Second – a different brand – this is my Timex Expedition T49976 which is very similar, even the dial layout, but without the World Time. This is another favourite travel watch. And for Time Zones – it’s no real problem, as changing time on the Timex is a case of pushing 2 buttons – and it’s done.
This was one of three Posts on this model – https://watchspace.co.uk/2014/08/27/my-camouflage-choice/
Watch space 