Belated - new in the house..
>>
Posted By: Ricky Lee McBroom
Date: Wednesday, 25 January 2006, at 9:12 p.m.
It's 46mm across, has a plastic case, and
the semi-integrated strap is also a plastic resin material. Sorry 'bout
the poor photo - Dunno what's up with all the spots
and specks, as they're not evident under my 2X glass, never mind the
naked eye:
Talking
Wrist Watch
I'll try for a better shot soon as I get
a Round Tuit...
Though I received it as a Christmas present it wasn't until a few weeks
afterward that I actually tried it out, since the battery (a CR2025)
was stone-dead right out of the box. When I finally got around to
replacing it, I found that it was quite a chore.
The four screws holding the case back on were no problem. But the
battery holder is held in place with two tiny screws.. which each had a
big glob of silicone-like sealer on them! Whilst I was digging that out
I broke the solder connection on one of the (two) tiny wires which lead
from the movement to the speaker sandwiched in the hollow case back. Ah well, that's why I've got a micro-mini soldering rig!
But, hold on, it gets worse. I removed the strap in order to gain
better access for the soldering job. The strap came off easily, and the
soldering was no big deal - the battery replacement was straightforward
from that point on. But when it came time to reattach the strap.. Whoa
Nelly! One hole in the lugs had been drilled oversize, and they used a
custom-modified springbar from the factory! Even after I figured that
out, there was much fussin' and cussin' before I was able to get the
springbars seated. I will never
remove that strap again! This watch was not designed with serviceability
in mind, that's for sure.. but then what is, these days? When the
battery goes flat, you're expected to discard it..
Anyway, the caption of the photo pretty much says it all. This watch's raison
d'être is that it does indeed talk. Hit the
'Talking' pusher and you hear a short chime, then a generic computer
generated female voice says (for example) "It's five fifty one AM".
While the voice is readily intelligible in most cases, certain phrases
("nineteen", for instance) are a little hard to make out due to what
sounds suspiciously like a Chinese accent. This leads me to believe
that the voice is comprised of recordings of an actual human being,
though obviously heavily down-sampled.
2006-10-27 update: Finally got a Round Tuit.
The first photo was taken with flash, this one with
ambient indoor lighting. The latter photo is more
representative of the watches' actual color...
In addition to 'Real Time Mode' (as shown in the photos) there's also
'Alarm Clock', 'Birthday', 'Countdown Timer', and 'Music' modes.. Yes,
not only does the watch talk, but it has a variety of alarm sounds
(including a rooster crowing.. what a hoot! ) and plays music (8
different tunes: Romeo and Juliet, Prelude, Tchaikovsky, Doll's Dream,
El Condor Pasa (my fav!), Love Story, Fur Elise, and Silence). The music sounds
like MIDI, and is quite clear and pleasant. The sounds are much louder
than I expected, too. The alarms, for instance, are a lot
louder than my Casio.
This is my first pure digital watch since I got infected with the WIS
bug back in '04. Heck, the first in more than a decade, I reckon. In
any case, I was initially surprised that there was no backlight
function. Then it hit me.. the watch talks! No
need for a backlight. "Doh!"
All in all, a very neat toy!
-Ricky
Messages In This
Thread
- Belated - new in the house..
>> (views: 86)
Ricky Lee McBroom -- Wednesday,
25 January 2006, at 9:12 p.m.
- Very cool Rick, they're great for blind people. (views: 4)
Adam in NYC -- Thursday, 26
January 2006, at 1:32 a.m.
- That occurred to me also. Hey, .. >>
(views: 6)
Ricky Lee McBroom -- Thursday, 26 January 2006, at
2:16 a.m.
In Response To: Very cool Rick, they're great for blind people. (Adam in NYC)
..my eyes ain't what they used to be! I wear Tri focals, so I'm thinkin' I should
qualify! -Ricky
- The ones without lines look fine. (views: 1)
Adam in NYC -- Thursday, 26
January 2006, at 4:13 a.m.
- Nice big Looks cool! (views: 3)
Mike D -- Wednesday, 25
January 2006, at 11:36 p.m.
- , Ricky! (views: 4)
John N -- Wednesday, 25
January 2006, at 11:26 p.m.
- And it occurs to me.. >> (views:
10)
Ricky Lee McBroom -- Wednesday, 25 January 2006, at 10:31p.m.
In Response To: Belated - new in the house.. >> (Ricky Lee McBroom)
..that this is not a pure digital watch, after all.
Sure, the sounds are obviously chip-generated, and are stored digitally inside the
watch. But the last step of the interface, from the tiny speaker sandwiched in the
rear cover, then to the ears, is most definitely analog. So 'tis really an Ana-Digi
after all! -Ricky
- Congratulations. (views: 4)
Danbyers -- Wednesday, 25
January 2006, at 9:37 p.m.
- Pretty cool, I like the rooster crowing alarm! (views: 5)
Alvin Liau -- Wednesday, 25
January 2006, at 9:22 p.m.
- That's kinda cool! (views: 5)
Mike Lipphardt -- Wednesday,
25 January 2006, at 9:20 p.m.
Guilty Pleasures part 2
>>
Posted By: Ricky Lee
Date: Wednesday, 04 February 2009, at 2:42 p.m.
If you caught my post
from yesterday, you probably know where this is going.. another 'Hangar
Queen' of a watch that doesn't get nearly enough wrist time;
Click HERE for larger photo or HERE for more info
One
rather obvious reason I haven't been wearing this one is that the
battery was dead. I've been putting off changing it 'cause it is
without a doubt the biggest pain-in-the-butt of any watch I've ever seen when it comes to battery changes, rivalled only by my MP3 Watch.
Well, my guilt trip of yesterday plus the fact that I had to make a
Wal-Mart stop anyway conspired in such a way to put me right in front
of the Battery Center, eyeballing the CR2025 cells. I just had to see to it.
Part
of the battery-change problem with this watch is that the strap has to
be removed before you can pull the back cover. And this strap is a Royal
pain to R & R. The only reason it requires removal is that it has a
"flange" that extends 1.5mm over the edges of the case back. I looked
it over, decided this was a design flaw..
..then grabbed the X-acto and trimmed the offending millimeter-and-a-half off. The flange still does its job, no problem. Now for the real nitty gritty. The caseback comes right off after the 4 screws are removed..
..but
note the two wires leading to the caseback. The speaker for the
"talking complication" is in there, and these wires are permanently
soldered in place. And that's the main reason a battery swap is such a
pain - there's not much slack in the wires, and juggling the caseback
while pulling the screw that holds the battery clip down requires three
hands.
Last time I changed batteries I broke the connection on the yellow wire
and had to re-solder it. Here's a photo of my oh-so-neat solder job..
No such problems this time, luckily! Maybe practice does make perfect?
In any case, I'm a-wearin' her today. I know 'tis a cheesy piece, but I love it partly for that reason. And, hey, "El Condor Pasa" is in it's repertoire of songs, so how could I pass that up?
-Ricky
Messages In This Thread
Guilty Pleasures part 2 (views: 112)
Ricky Lee -- February 04, 2009 02:42PM
I
don't know Ricky, I think I would have donated it to the local thrift
store. BTW, I need to know where to find you when the big one hits.
You're my ticket to survival! (n/t) (views: 8)
JohnnyT -- February 04, 2009 05:14PM