A tale of three Casios

[kirk13]

In this thread I'm going to post three essays about my three Casios; my faithful MWT200H; my AE-1200 Royale; and my first and currently sole G Shock, the G100

[kirk13]

The Casio G Shock G100

I've said it elsewhere but the G Shock G100 is a bit of a curate's egg, and heres why:

In full disclosure I bought mine second hand through the forum. It cost £25, and the seller was competely honest and up front. It had been used, but not abused, and came without a box or manual. Not a problem.

My biggest issue was that I couldn't synchronise the analogue and digital displays with enough accuracy for my needs at work, where we're not minute managed, but second managed. I really couldn't bear looking at my wrist and seeing two different times. On top of that, it felt bulky and uncomfortable on my slim but hairy wrists. I tend to take my watch off numerous times during the day, where I'd fold the strap up to use the watch as a mini desk clock, or slip it into my trousers pocket, and the resin strap just isn't suitable for this.

I basically abandoned the G100 as a bad choice, and the idea of G Shocks with it, feeling that they were over hyped. The G100 was then passed on to my girlfriend when her most recent charity shop watch died. I despair of her refusal to buy one half decent looking but reliable watch. She wore it for a while, but in fairness its too big and bulky, and really a bit to blokey for her. Thus it returned again to limbo.

Enter my AE-1200 Royale a couple of weeks ago. I haven't enjoyed a watch this much since I was a kid in the 80s, and both digital watches and Douglas Adams were new and exciting. But this got me thinking again about G Shocks. In one of my other threads someone kindly suggested that if I set the digital readout on the G Shock to show the date it would solve my issue about times not being synchronised.  I dug back into my PMs to find out what model I'd bought and for how much, and then went into YouTube and watched a bunch of videos. My first thoughts were the G100 still sucked.

The Royale has 5 separate alarms and an hourly chime, 4 settings for world times, and the choice of 28 odd time zones; a light that can be set for different durations; stopwatch and countdown timer; ten year battery life; as well as the funky world map and analogue display. And these can be as cheep as £25 new.

The G100 can offer a single alarm and no hourly chime; stopwatch only; one alternate time setting; and a day date display. The digital display is a negative screen. Oh, and there's no second hand. And yes, setting the analogue display without a winder is a pain, literally and figuratively. Yeah, it doesn't add up for a watch that Casio in the UK lists for £100.

But for all that I asked the GF if she'd return the G, which she did last week.

And this is where YouTube started to come in handy. One of the review videos mentioned that the G100 was introduced in 2000. Well, that explains the lack of functionality. Also, there is in effect two separate chips/modules, one running the analogue,  one running the digital. Well, that explains a lot! I effect, this is a piece of old tech. Also, relative to the range, the G100 is a budget model. This point though, I will come back to later.

So, I've given the G100 another go. And how has it worked out?

Well, between having worked my watch through the Royale's manual and functions, and a couple of YouTube tutorials on the G100, it was easy enough to set. One of the takeaways here is that the can opener on a SAK is the ideal tool to apply pressure to the analogue set button, although that wasn't mentioned on any of the videos (Maybe Def can add that to any upcoming SAK or watch related podcasts?). Also knowing each individual push of the analogue set button advances the time by a third of a second helps.

So the time was set, and the alarm was set for 2pm, when I take the second set of meds each day; the alt time setting was set for Central European Time, and we were ready to go.

And to begin with I hated it. Again!

In no particular order its the strap. It just adds bulk. I mean its OK but there's no joy in it. At one point I took the G off, and slipped the Royale back on...oh the bliss.

The negative readout on the screen looks really neat under some light conditions. Under others it can be completely unreadable.

I've yet to hear the alarm going off if I've been at all active. I missed having the hourly time signal.

The light is actually rather good, but only illuminates for a second and a half. 3 seconds on the Royale is great when your half asleep at stupid o'clock in the night.

There's no second hand!!! How freaky is that? I've never, ever had an analogue watch without a second hand! Even the tiny analogue display on the Royale as a second hand of sorts! It's so disconcerting!

The dial face has some really rather nice graphics on it, but the colours are such that unless your in bright natural light, they're invisible.

At the end of the first day I'd pretty much decided it would be going up for sale or trade.

Overnight I woke up, not knowing what time it was. I'm presently coming off morphine (which I've been prescribed since January), and its messing a bit with my sleeping. Rather than pop on my phone for a time check, I grabbed the G. Much to my surprise the lume on the hands was very readable! But my brain wasn't processing the information,  so I clicked on the light...to see very clearly and legibley the date! But the mode clicked easily through and there was the time display!

In the morning I strapped the G back on and found I was starting to enjoy it. Yes, the strap was going to have to go, and a replacement was ordered off Amazon, but...but, I started being charmed by the G. Yes, compared to the Royale it was an serious under performer. Yes, compared to my MRW-200H, my bomb proof go to for longer than I can remember, it was needlessly complicated and fussy, but...

Have you ever watched one of these videos with a puppy or kitten whose lost a leg? Or a squirrel that can't be released into the wild because it has a balance problem?  They still bounce along, happy, trying, giving their best? Yeah, that's how I started looking at the G100. It's not perfect, not the best, but by all the Gods it tries its very best!

The new straps arrived last night, and they were wrong. Yes they fitted the 16mm lug, but were only 16mm wide. Just looked wrong. But I filed down the adapters on the spare strap from the pack I'd bought from the Royale ( using the file on my modded bladeless Fuse before you all ask), and within 30 minutes, I'd a nice soft, stretch strap on the G. I also took the opportunity to remove the bezel and clean out any gunk (of which there was next to none). The new strap has completely changed the feel of wearing the G. It feels lighter, and even though the casing is still significantly thinker than the Royale or the MRW-200H,  it feels less noticeable. It's now much more comfortable.

So, in conclusion, would I recommend the G100?

No, no I wouldn't.  And heres why: if you want a G Shock, there are better options that cost less. Argos are currently offering the G100 for £66 as their list price, but have other Gs offering Tough Solar, Bluetooth and greater functionality for as low as £56 in their Black Friday sale, and at about £85 at their standard retail. There are simply just better options out there. Bear in mind as well that those options lis at the same or cheaper RRP on the Casio UK website where the G100 costs one hundred pounds!

Having said that, the G100 will now see regular use with me, and give me lots of pleasure

[kirk13]

Also for reference,  this is the Curate's egg

[kirk13]

And the photos

[kirk13]

And the new strap

[Barry Rowland]

This is great John!

[Farmer X]

Seems the Royale has the converters you mentioned in another thread? I'm also increasingly convinced that if I have to have an ana-digi G-Shock, it'll be one that has the Wave Ceptor feature. Thanks for this write-up!

[kirk13]

Seems the Royale has the converters you mentioned in another thread? I'm also increasingly convinced that if I have to have an ana-digi G-Shock, it'll be one that has the Wave Ceptor feature. Thanks for this write-up!

This is great John!

Cheers guys 

[kirk13]

The AE-1200

So let me tell you about a little of my watch history. Watches have not, up to this point, been a big thing in my life. My parents bought me my first digital watch back in the early 1980s, when they were very gee wizz and high tech. It even had an alarm. I loved it, but it died after a couple of years.

My dad then brought me a Timex Marathon digital as gift when he was on a business trip to the States. It wasn't a bad watch by any means, and the first I ever had that was a Brand Name. But it was cursed. I woke up one morning a few weeks after receiving it to find the display had cracked. It was sent back to the States from South Africa under warranty,  and we'll done Timex! It was repaied and posted back. The casing later cracked at the spring pin mount...

From there, still at high school, I went back to analogue,  by now battery powered rather than clockwork,  and my first 'dive watch'...and after that first maybe 12 years i don't know. It was a watch, it kept time, and somewhere it went.

For my 30th birthday and back in the UK, my ex-wife bought me a Sekonda pocket watch, which I really loved, but after the battery ran out and was replaced it never ran right again. Somewhere along the line I bought a cheap Timex Expedition. Also, I joined MTo...

After being dismissive of cheap Casios, probably Casios in general, in a I was offered a MWT200H in trade for a Lansky turnbox. And that Casio has run, and run, and run, and continues to run, at least 10 years and 4 batteries later. Even a G Shock couldn't dislodge it from my wrist.

But this last year has been hard. I was diagnosed with cancer back in December,  and it really wasn't good. But the Gods be thanked, I'm on the mend. I am however, still on lots of meds and expect to be for some time to come; quite possibly for the rest of my days. Now, I have another thread open talking about my requirements as I can't take a phone or mobile device I to the office, so I figured a watch with multiple alarms to remind me to take my meds would be a good plan. Rodia recommended the Casio Royale, and yeah that was a winner.

So, just a quick explanation about the Royale name. Because the AE-1200, released I think in 2018, has a passing resemblance to a Seiko Roger Moore wore in the Bond movie Octosmurf, watch fans nicknamed it the Royale, after Casino Royale. And no, it makes no sense to me either.

I ordered a AE-1200WHUB, with a canvas strap rather than a metal link, or resin strap. 

Spec wise the Royale is a bit of a marvel. 5 alarms and hourly chime; stopwatch and countdown timer; a world timer where you can preset 5 time zones, and mode where you can scroll through 20 odd cities worldwide, and a cool little world map showing you where the time zones are; a analogue set of hands that show your home timezone; a decent led light that you can set for one and a half or three seconds; and a 4th sub display showing if alarms are set and if tones are muted. Also its rated for a ten year battery life and water resistant to 100m. And you can get all this for under £30?!

But that's not really telling the story. I love this watch. Actually  it might be a case that I'm in love with this watch. I can't quite put my finger on what it is. The screen is very busy, it shows a lot of information, which is not traditonally what I like. It's kind of retro, like its trying to show how smart it is, but it isn't arrogant in how it does it. It's friendly to look at; the map is a great touch, and the styling of the analogue face makes it look like a little radar or sonar display. As one YouTube reviewer put it, its nerdy. It's like you can peek at the analogue display and hope to see a sonar ping from the Red October.

I just love watching the second display click over as the second hand matches it, and I can't lie about this, I get a thrill every time the seconds reach 59 and click to zero, and the minute hand moves. I quite often scroll through the time zones just to watch the map move.

It's light and comfortable on the wrist. You know its there but its unobtrusive. The buttons, or should I say pushers, stand proud of the resin case and are very easy and comfortable to manipulate. Replacing the canvas strap with the stretchable nylon one transformed the wearing experience from pretty good to down right pleasurable.

The multiple alarms have served their purpose well. I'm actually rather enjoying the hourly tone much to my surprise. I'm using the countdown timer when I'm on the exercise bike as part of my daily workout. Yes, I could use my mobile phone for that, but this feels less intrusive, much in the same way as I'm using the alarms on the watch for my meds now, rather than my tablet or phone. It just feels good to be less dependent on 'smart technology '.

Are there any downsides?  Well, the main time display can be prone to ghosting in some light conditions; i very much doubt the alarm would wake me. It lasts for 20 seconds only, and isn't very loud. The light is quite old school with 2 LEDs and maybe doesn't full light up the screen as well as it could. While I very much like the light weight, I can see how some people might miss a metal case, or the shock proofing of something like a G Shock. Oh, and there's the fact that I'm an idiot. Because I was so fixated on the canvas green strap and chocolate brown case I paid well over the odds at £40. The black case with resin strap, or silver resin case with metal bracelet can be had in the UK for between £20 and £30 without having to look too hard.

Would I recommend this watch? Hell yes! It's great value, works well, and is enjoyable. It's cousin, the AE-1000 is on offer at Argos for 20 quid. I'm struggling to find a reason not to grap one of those as well. The AE-1200 would be a great travel watch and if you want something more personalised there are heaps of easy looking modifications that you can do.

Go on, buy one, and blame it on Kirky

[kirk13]

On the original canvas strap

[kirk13]

And the new strechy nylon strap

[rodia77]

Cool read and I even got a mention!  Glad to see you're enjoying the Casio Royale so much -- mine doesn't get heaps of wrist time, but when it does, I quite enjoy it, too. Waiting for the MWT200H part!