Timex Data Link Watch USB w/Metal band. $60 Online. Also available in resin band or cloth strap $49. “A sports watch that thinks it’s a PDA! Take your schedule, phone numbers and contacts with you wherever you go. Effortlessly customize your watch settings from your personal computer. Just sync up the Timex Data Link Watch with your PC computer for easy uploading and downloading of information.” If you are a geek like myself you love these kind of watches. But what use is a watch PDA in the cell phone age ? Some may say they have all this info in their cell phone and don’t need a watch with all this stuff. I beg to differ. The peace of mind that comes with knowing you have a full backup of all your contacts, appointments, schedules, and more all in your watch is great. You never have to worry about losing your cell phone because you got it all with you on your wrist. Plus this watch can give you a few things on the data / info side your cell phone simply could not, both in applications and in actual performance (more below). This watch goes 2 years on it’s battery and is water resistant down to 100 meters, that’s an excellent rating for a wrist PDA type device. It’s also one of the few wrist pda type devices that’s still on the market and has a huge following of nerds that have written apps for it, etc. The watch syncs up with most any application that can export CSV or iCal data. You can use the included application and key in all your data using your computer, then transfer it all to the watch in seconds. The watch can also sync time with your computer for accurate atomic time sync every time you connect it, it also uploads workout, lap, appointment, notes and other data, you may have entered on the watch itself. Oh… and it only costs $60 and available at any local walmart and many online retailers. That’s hard to beat. Plus it’s not an overly huge timepiece like the Fossil Wrist PDA was that needed to be charged every night. Let’s check it out… The Timex Data link watch comes with everything you need in the box. The watch, Software, USB cable and quick start guide. The Timex Data link software. MS Windows only at this time. All sync operations are done via this software, NO MS activesync needed. Which is great… it’s very simple and quick to use. Hook up the watch and click send. The watch itself is composed of 15 different modes or screens. Each mode is represented on your computer with the included software in a list. Above you can see a few modes of the watch in the software. The modes that are checked get transfered to the watch. You can also re-arrange modes so that when you press the mode button on your watch, each mode displays in cycles through in the order you prefer. There is a memory usage meter so you can see how much memory is left on the watch. You can download all kinds of wristapps on the net (free), Games, tools, moon phase, tide graphs, new watch faces, etc. Each “wristapp” as timex calls it shows up in this software as a watch “mode” in the list. You can only have 15 total modes in the watch at any one time. This is why you have the option to check which modes, games, etc. you want transferred to the watch. One week you might not want a calorie counter and have a game in there instead. The watch also has programmable sounds. You can have your watch ring like a cellphone for its alarm or play a short musical song every hour. It comes with a few presets, however to create your own sounds or music you need to download a 3rd party app. Double click a watch mode and another window opens up that allows you to edit that mode’s settings. Above I double clicked the “Countdown Timer” mode. Here I can program Up to 200 timers / sets and give each one a name and program each action, etc. In the Alarm mode, you can program 200 different alarms, when the alarm goes off, weekdays, daily, weekends, etc. How often it happens, etc. There are TONS of settings that are very easily set using the software. This is AWESOME in that you don’t have to do all this on the watch itself. Some of the things I have programmed into my watch are cooking interval timers. When I cook pasta, I have one timer list run through all the steps, the watch then displays the names and beeps and displays “boil” then 5 minutes later “add noodles” beeps and displays, a few minutes later “stir noodles”, etc. You can program whatever you want. I also have all US holidays, TV show Schedules, birthdays, appointments, passwords, account info (with optional password protection on the watch), some with alarm reminders, etc. One side of the watch has contacts for the USB connector. The other side has the mode button, stop reset and crown. There is a start/ stop button on the lower front face. The crown also acts like a button that triggers the indiglo light when pressed. You turn the crown to scroll through data and pull it out to activate the change settings feature on the watch (for each mode). To enter words you move the cursor over a space and roll the crown to get to the letter / number you want. So yes, it’s 1000x easier to just use your computer and key it all in there and transfer it over. Above shows a typical birthday date with scrolling display. The other is a calender wrist app that shows a visual calendar (day dot blinks) and you can scroll through months by turning the crown. Above shows a couple of alternate watch faces you can have on the watch. You can also scroll through different faces with the crown when you are in this mode / wristapp called “mywatch” Check it out here http://datalinkwristapps.free.fr/index.php5?n=Wristapps.MyWatch Here is a magic 8 ball wristapp / mode where you click the start button for your answer. The other is called “antikythera” which calculates moon phase based partly on the Antikythera Mechanism equation (an ancient discovery) that incredibly shows the moon phase accurate to a few days in 500 years (I think it was) google it.. haha. Just some of the modes available (you can choose the modes and which order they appear)… It’s crazy for a $60 timepiece, each mode that has settings is programmable via software or the watch itself. You can password protect certain modes like notes, alarms, appointments, etc. In comparison to some other current databank watches from Casio. The Casio models are great, however they are not 100 meters water resistant nor can you backup / hook up your watch to your computer. At each battery change you have to re-key all your data into the watch. With the Timex, you just swap the battery and re-sync via usb. The quality of the watch compares with the Casio databank models. This means an all plastic case, plastic clear window on the face (as opposed to mineral glass for example). The Timex model I got was the one with stainless steel bracelet, but the watch itself is all plastic. If you are expecting a very high quality all stainless steel heavy metal watch like a Seiko monster, you will be in for a disappointment. Remember what this watch gives you in the data department and it’s price of only $60. I would have loved to have a slightly better quality watch with metal case and glass face, but the price and lightweight feel of the watch can have it’s advantages. Like you buy 2 in case you break one if you wear it during hard outdoor / indoor activities. So in a world of PDA / smart phones and other data devices that only last 2 days between charges and can’t go underwater… having a watch that takes up no extra space on your person with all this data on it is great. Ever think what you would do if you lost your cell phone ? haha MORE PHOTOS AND INFO BELOW: Wrist shot showing the timex “stock” watch face. Some Timex datalink watches of the past that used the light beam transfer. USB model on the right. Some Timex data link links: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/timexdatalinkusb/ http://datalinkwristapps.free.fr/index.php5?n=Main.HomePage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timex_Datalink http://www.rayandanja.com/Toys/TimexUSB/TimexUSB.htm Info: * It takes a special watch to whip your schedule into shape. It’s a sport watch that thinks it’s a PDA. It’s the Ironman* Data Link USB * USB system is a powerful, yet easy to use, sport watch and a personal organizer * When connected to a PC through the USB link, all settings, functions and options can be set through simple-to-use, free PC software, and workout data can be uploaded to the PC * The sport features include a 200-lap chronograph with multi-session memory and display flipping for easy viewing * Up to 200 countdown timers with messages and an optional halfway alert * Linked interval timer for up to 200 reps * Event counter * Up to 200 alarms with 5 minute backup alarm * A synchronized timer to time events that have run and stopped time * The personal organizer functions include a schedule mode, holds hundreds of phone numbers, up to 200 appointments, up to 200 occasions, up to 200 contacts and multiple notes of up to 100 characters * The PC software and USB connection allow the user to customize the watch features by turning off unwanted modes, reordering modes so the most frequently used modes come up first, selecting custom alarms and melodies, and Custom Wrist Applications * Demo mode * 12/24-hour time * Month/Day/Date * Day of week, year, leap year smart * All-day white reflector display * Silver round resin case with integrated USB port * Black resin or Stainless strap with stainless steel buckle