Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site cbosgd.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!mark
From: mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: Customer Release Battery Replacement (watch comments)
Message-ID: <564@cbosgd.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 9-Dec-84 16:01:36 EST
Article-I.D.: cbosgd.564
Posted: Sun Dec  9 16:01:36 1984
Date-Received: Mon, 10-Dec-84 03:19:48 EST
References: <328@wnuxb.UUCP> <469@cyb-eng.UUCP> <6437@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Organization: Bell Labs, Columbus
Lines: 30

While we're on the subject of calculator watches, let me tell you some
unexpected things about mine.

I shopped around a little and wound up getting the Armitron Wrist-Comp 101
for $25 at Service Merchandise.  (The service there was terrible - after
half an hour I got the attention of a man behind the counter who didn't
know anything about the watch and didn't have a manual.  But he did go back
and swipe a manual from the warehouse, which I looked at and kept as I
bought it, hoping the one I got would be the one with the missing manual.
It was.)

It turns out this watch is pretty impressive for $25.  It has the usual
calculator (4 function, 8 places, floating decimal but no E-notation, no
memory or auto-constant) plus an alarm and optional 24 hour time.  It also
will remember up to 42 phone numbers, keyed by alphabetic name.  It's kind
of a pain to store the numbers, but the interface for looking up a phone
number is very easy to use.  Just type the first letter (a 2 key operation
on its 16 key pad) and if it doesn't put up the one you want (because it's
not the first number indexed under a name beginning with that letter) hit
the 2nd key repeatedly until you see the one you want.  The 8 character
alphanumeric display is fairly easy to read (although the eights look like
zeros due to a two segment horizontal bar in the center.)

Here's what to look out for, however.  The watch has no stopwatch.  (No
big deal to me.)  It also has no backlight (what?  I thought all LCD
watches had backlights.  Not this one!)  And after wearing it 23.5 hours/day
for a few weeks, I discovered that the buttons in the lower right corner
were getting mashed down.  The =+ key in the corner has to be hit just
right to register.  I guess sleeping in the watch tends to mash it in ways
it doesn't like.  I wonder if other calculator watches have the same problem?