Description This easy-to-use watch has it all--including the finest materials, reliable performance and Suunto's renowned precision ltimeter function ranges up to 9,000 m in 5 m increments, featuring vertical ascent/descent rate of climbs/ski runs. Automatic 24-hour memory stores altitude and ascent/descent rate for every hour.
Summary: This is a terrible watch. The display sucks... I had to return the first one directly to Suunto (they sent me another one) because the display was so bad. If it's really hot, the characters dim to the point where you can't even read them. The compass sucks. It's never right. I compare it with real compasses whenever I get a chance and it's always off. Sometimes it's even 180 degrees off! Even though this watch looks cool... it isn't. Look around for another watch and NEVER BUY SUUNTO. My girlfriend also had a Suunto and display got all messed up and wouldn't render characters correctly. They sent her a new one, but after all the problem we've both had with Suunto, I would never buy another one.
Customer Service: Not too bad... the web site sucks and it's a little mysterious when you have to send you watch back. It goes to Finland or something like that, and the entire process is weird.
Would you like to Comment? Join OutdoorReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Summary: i bought a Vector a year ago and was the worst purchase I ever made. The altimiter and baromiter quit working and would adjust extremely. The bezel broke off during shooting and the face scratches very easily. Also, don't get sun block on it, it will remove the bezel numbers!!! I just bought an X-lander. From the reviews I am sure I will be pleased. I will post again with onfo. on the watch.
Customer Service: Buy from an Authorized retailer or someone with the warranty card for registration. If you don't you will be stuck with the repairs.
Similar Products Used: Casio G-Shock and Suunto Vector.
Would you like to Comment? Join OutdoorReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Anyone ANYONE who complains about a non-GPS altimeter varying with barometer would not be a climbing partner of mine. An altimiter/barometer IS ONLY USEFUL when used with a good topo map and a compass - there's redundancy there.
That said, they are invaluable. Just being able to see barometer change overnight (or the drift that occurs during the day when recalibrating)can help one predict the weather the next day. For short periods, they give you a good idea of your rate of ascent.
In closing, barometer altimiters are one insturment of many, the most important being the human brain to see the data and make a good call. This watch is only a tool - it won't save you in trouble on its own - it just provides raw data. But it's data you'll be happy to have when you need it!!
Rip it for aesthetics, lack of second hand, or whatever, but PLEASE stop ripping the concept of the barometer altimiter. It's sad to see!
Thankyou, and I hope the moderator will allow this post of mine!
Would you like to Comment? Join OutdoorReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Review Date July 8, 2007
Overall Rating 3 of 5
Value Rating 2 of 5
Reviewed by: Michael Smith(Unregistered User)
,
Car Camper
Summary: I bought the X-Lander with the negative face. Its a fine watch but the readout is so dim that you must have the watch directly in front of your face about 16 inches away in a well lit area to see the numbers. If you want to find out the time at night forget about it.
Must agree, the readout so dim its a joke.
And nothing like the photos that present it in the adverts. Suunto, you made a boo boo here, and when will they get into the new technology of solar power and timing from atomic clocks? Suunto is resting on its laurals. As for the leather strap, a little leather balm once a week, keeps it
in pristine condition.
Nokton
Would you like to Comment? Join OutdoorReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Summary: Why are you reading this review? Because you're a gear freak. And this watch is the ultimate peice of gear to get any gear freak salivating. All those buttons, all those functions.And its big, shiny and silver.
Its crap, but does that matter? Im with stinks, a few posts below. This watch is for poseurs and gear freaks only.
It tells the time, but doesnt have a second hand. Its a personal thing, but at work I have to time things so I can work out what to do. Other people might not care.The alarms effectively dont work, which has to be a strike against it.
The temperature gauge is against the skin, so it doesnt record ambient temperature, only skin temperature, which as stinks says will let you know if you're alive, but you probably already know that.
Like all these things the altimeter is linked to barometer and they will vary together. The watch cant tell if the barometers dropping or if you're climbing, so if you're climbing up mountains and down valleys whilst the air pressure is changing, the watch gets completely lost. That means you cant predict dangerous weather, or know how high you are. If you know the altitude you're at (ie a waystation or map point) then you can reset it, but then why have the watch? In the Indian himalaya the road engineers put up frequent and accurate altitude markers, and I was often out by dozens of metres.
And it is unreliable. My buttons also got stuck, and when I took it to a SUUNTO dealer they wouldnt repair it because I was in the UK but had bought it in Australia. So what?
Buy a decent watch, and get a great GPS system. These things have all the gtreat features and more.
Customer Service: Poor, basically absent
Would you like to Comment? Join OutdoorReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
1 of 5
1 of 5
4 of 5
4 of 5
3 of 5
2 of 5
Comments
