Casio Men's PAG80-1V Pathfinder Altimeter/Barometer/ Digital Compass Solar Digital Watch

Watch FunctionsTime. It's a watch first and foremost so it has got to keep good time and display it legibly and simply. The PAG80 does just that. The display is large and bright which is easy to read in both the dark, with the aid of the backlight, right through to bright sunlight. I like the seconds display being on a separate line to the hour and minute also.Accuracy. I have owned the watch for just one month and in that time it has gained one second. That's accurate enough for me.World Time. As a regular traveller the World Time feature is important to me. It is easy to use and convenient. GMT is a nice touch.Date. Dumb, dumb, dumb. The whole world writes the date with the day of the month first followed by the month ... except the Americans. February 1st is written by the people of 250 countries as 1/2. The Americans write 1st February as 2/1. This watch follows the American convention and does not provide a method of reversing the characters. Just about everything else on the watch is customisable except this. Surprising, Casio!Alarms. The alarm functions are good. Five alarms plus an hourly beeper which can be turned on or off. There is also a countdown timer and stopwatch. Enabling the alarms is non-intuitive (to me) and, like all watch alarms, not loud enough. All work well, though.CompassI have tested the compass against a Suunto and a Silva magnetic compass. The watch compass is remarkably accurate. It is sensitive so gives great results when used outside. When using inside it is easily influenced by magnetic devices. I like everything about the compass including the overlay screen, the direction indicator (eg ENE) and the degree readout.BarometerAgain remarkably accurate. I have an expensive German aneroid barometer which took some weeks to calibrate. I believe it to be quite accurate. The PAG80 records a measurement just one hPa different to my aneroid barometer. Here it is important to note that again the barometer in the watch is very sensitive. Do not expect accurate readings indoors, especially if the building is well sealed and air-conditioned.The barometer graph should only be used as a rough indicator of trend. If you are in an artificial environment when the watch records a pressure measurement (building, car, plane) then this may cause the graph to show misleading information unless you realise what is going on. You may be in an environment which is outside the range of the graph and this will cause a reading to be missed on the graph. It may look like the watch is faulty but, in reality, it is just being consistent.AltimeterThis is the feature of least accuracy. As stated in plenty of other places the altitude recorded is a function of air pressure. As a general indicator of altitude it is great. If you want really accurate altitude then get a GPS. With practice and an understanding of how air pressure alters with altitude and climatic conditions you can guage how far off the altitude may be. Start by having a look in the manual at the altitude graph.Solar BatteryWhen I received the watch the power indicator was reading high. However the barometric graph was displaying erratically. I thought I may have a defective watch. As I live in a warm, sunny climate I put the watch outside in the sun for two days. Problem solved. Just make sure you give it a good charge when you get it.Since that time I have spent two weeks skiing in the Rockies where it was very cold and the watch was rarely exposed to the sun (what sun?). All functions operated perfectly throughout the two weeks which would indicate that when fully juiced up there is ample power in the internal solar battery to last for quite some time. This is where the power saver feature comes in to its own. Obviously very efficient.Physical FeaturesWatch Size. It is big. I knew it was a big watch when I bought it so no complaints but it could probably be refined in size without losing any of its functionality.Ruggedness. It has already had a bang or two without any visible sign of damage. The crystal glass seems suitably tough.Resin Band. I opted for the resin band model over the titanium band. If buying again I think I would pay a little extra and get the titanium band.Operating Temperature Range. Surprisingly, within the first month of ownership, I have subjected the watch to the extremes of its operating temperature range. From a low of -36 C (-34 F) in Colorado to a high of 42 C (107 F) in Sydney. A temperature differential of 78 C (141 F). The watch displayed perfectly and seemed to function normally when digital camera screens were failing.ConclusionThe watch actually exceeds the advertised claims. If you like the sound of the advertising blurb then you will probably be satisfied with the watch. Finally, but still importantly, it represents excellent value for money.

This is my 5th Casio watch. What really made me love Casio watched was the G-Shock. I had 2 of them on unfortunately broken because of a watch repair shop who failed to properly replace the o-ring during battery change, causing the wtaer to enter the watch later. the other G-shock I had survived all kinds of heavy duty use in tough environments like workshops, salt-water and of course heavy shocks...So I bought this watch, and I liked it from the first minute...Pros:Accurate. Durable, Effiecient, Practical, not heavy nor cheap material. Great Functionality (Compass, Alt. Temp, Baro) just remember that the temperature sensor is not accurate when wearing the watch as it is affected by body temperature.Does all it's supposed to do. Solar power feature works perfectly, I have it for more than a year and it holds power excellently. I just like it.Cons:Nothing... except for me wishing it was water resistant to at least 20-Bar so that I can freedive with it to depths of up to 90 feet. but that's not actually a con.Update (November 2nd, 2014)It is still my favorite watch. Although I wear it almost every single day all day long for about 2 years, it still looks almost like a new. No scratches, no significant wear signs and no operational faults whatsoever.The Tough solar feature is amazing. I have never had any battery problems nor worried about it. I live in a sunny place so it gets charged well staying all the time on H (High) battery indicator.Sometimes it goes into sleep mode when I place it in the drawer or face down at night, that helps to preserve the battery.Overall, I am very happy and will buy again another Casio watch.Update (July 25th 2016):AMAZING. Casio has never disappointed me before. But this one amused me. The watch does not need a battery nor any special care. Yet it outlived any other watch I had including newer watches. Now it is straight 4 years of almost 24/7 use. Yet it did not disappoint me for 1 second. I love this watch. I decided to get another Casio, this time probably a g-shock mudman.

I have been wanting a Casio Pathfinder Watch for a long time. The prices have come down and the features and different watches available have increased. Let us hope the quality has not. I work and play outdoors a lot and need the features it offers. I can get a quick reference direction, Altimeter height etc quickly. This or no other watch that I am aware of that will replace your compass, GPS, real altimeters, precise thermometer, barometer etc, but augments other instruments and gives a good "quick reference" Buttons are easy to use.I have used similar products with varying degrees of satisfaction in the past. Some cheap ones only offered Compass and were broken in 6 months, some of the more expensive ones (Scandinavian made) were fine, but required new batteries about once per year, that are supposed to be owner changeable, but I had to send back to the manufacturer for changing after tearing the back up trying to get it off. This one has a solar battery and is not supposed to need replacement (A++).The only reason that I gave a 4 star rating instead of 5 is I'll have to wait and see if it holds up (to me and the elements, battery etc) and how cold weather will effect it's use. (I live in Alaska). The "Extreme Cold" feature of 14 degrees F is not realistic, even in other climate IMHO. I really love the watch so far. Cheaper at Amazon by at least $30 than the big box stores.UPDATE* I have used this watch for about 3 years now. I have not noticed the cold affecting it too much. The short Alaska days and limited sunlight caused a "low Battery" warning. I have learned to leave the watch in the window sill on a sunny day every once in awhile to prevent that.

Got this a few months ago, so far it has work ok. Altimeter is a bit off at times, I did try it in flight (sailplane) and it actually gave me an accurate reading. Very sturdy, will take some rough handling with no major issues. I had Casio watches most of my life and I am always quite happy with their performance.