I have been looking for a feature rich watch (ie alarm, stop watch, count down timer etc... a digital watch), but wanted a watch that I could use for work especially with travel. I do 90% of my travel outside the US, so a second time zone and an always with me alarm is a blessing. This watch is a very classy, yet practical and functional watch. It has a rubber strap so it is more sporty vs. the bracelet style. It is quiet (some are loud when they tick) and it has a host of features (some listed above, all shown in the demo at [...] The operation is simple once you read the instructions (don't lose them). A very nice bonus feature that I am surprised more watches don't have is the diary feature, you can set an alarm for a future date (a month, 2 or 3 from now to go off at an appointed time). In this day of PDA, iPods, and BlackBerry, it is nice to know that if you simply have your watch (which some of us never leave home with out) you won't miss the important call, meeting or what ever it is you don't want to forget!).
Key features you don't see in the book, the hour markers and hands are treated with a light activated luminous material (maybe Super Luminova - but not sure). They glow - not as bright as my Luminox, but continue to glow for 7 hours on my longest 'test' and were easily visible from about 2 feet away with my poor uncorrected vision (that is I could see it with out my eye glasses on!). They also do list the digital watch having a light, this is needed in dim light as the LCD display is not visible in anything modest amounts of ambient room light. The buttons require a firm push to cause an action and give a satisfying tactile feedback (click) to let you know you pushed it in for the function to happen. I do not see these buttons accidently being pushed due the the force needed to activate. The same is true for the crown, which when pushed activates the digital light feature. One caution, the crown must be pulled out to set various functions (time, countdown timer, alarm etc..) and if left in the out position, you run the very real risk of having water or other undesired debris in to the watch, so keep it pushed in at all times.
The design is very clean and considering all that it can do, is not too cluttered. The lower digital window appears more prominent in the pictures then it does in real life due to the angle of the light. If it catches it just right, the window border is easily seen, otherwise it just fades into the face of the watch (not the case with the yellow face). The bezel is easy to rotate with good tactile feedback, and not lose or prone to accidental rotation. It has a lum dot at the top for night time use. The hour hand is long enough that the lum tip does over lap the hour markers so at night it takes an extra second to identify the longer hour marker so you now where the hour hand is. Alternatively you can just use the digital light to read the time.
On the negative side and why it is not 5/5, the lum on the hour/minute hands are very faint vs. the hour markers and can be hard to see. This is mitigated as described above with the digital option. A bigger concern is the band build quality. The band itself seems to be well made, but the small piece that the strap tucks into seems to be very thin and I am concerned over time it may rip and come off. It also is a textured rubber so that it seems to 'stick' to itself so moving the band on top of itself when you are putting it on is somewhat difficult vs. other strap watches I have (rubber or leather). I looked on Amazon.com for replacement Tag bands for this model and they were in the $200 range! Lastly the alarm is fairly quiet. I think this has to do with the substantial case that the chime must pass from to make it to my ear, but it is quiet enough that one may not hear it.Get more detail about TAG Heuer Men's Aquaracer Chronotimer Watch #CAF1010.FT8011.
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