Casio F91W Wrist Watch

This $11 watch is the simplest and most utilitarian timepiece I have ever worn. It is easy to read, has an adequate (not blinding) illumination, is small, light and comfortable but also tough, and has a battery that will last up to 8 years (with many other reviewers noting that it lasts even longer). The F91W is a distillation of a digital watch. It has three features: tells date and time, has an alarm clock, and works as a stop watch (only up to an hour before it turns over). The functions are easy to use, and aren't distracting. I originally purchased this watch to use while running, but found that I liked it so much that I now wear it all the time. It has replaced my larger, more expensive Citizen Eco-Drive which is now reserved for dressier occasions. After swimming and showering while wearing the watch I trust its "water resistance" and am impressed with its durability. It's also cheap enough that I don't worry about it breaking or getting stolen. If you are looking for a simple, capable digital watch that will last for years, this is the one to get. -- Oliver Hulland Casio F91W Digital Watch $11 Comment on this at Cool Tools. And don't forget to submit a tool to the Cool Tools Holiday Contest!

MORE: casio • Gadgets • watch

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Anonymous

The wrist watch is far from dead. Far too many born-yesterday types who think that their personal habits are universal.

I used to wear the cheap-o digital watches but couldn’t stand the resin watch bands; they were hard to keep clean, and they always broke after a year or two of wear and tear. Replacing them was a hassle.

I much prefer the metal watch bands; easy to keep clean and they last forever.

For the past five or six years I’ve been addicted to Casio G-Shock Wave Ceptor Tough Solar watches (can’t recall their model numbers; there are a lot of them). These are very tough, durable, solar powered, and synchronize their time wirelessly with the atomic clock in Colorado. I can wear these watches forever and never have to worry about having to correct the time. Perfect.
narddogz

There’s a nice Shorpy photo of a old storefront filled with surplus WWI Army wristwatches:

http://www.shorpy.com/node/8131

The caption reads “Wristwatches, which saw widespread use during the First World War as ‘trench watches’ were entering the mainstream as the era of the pocket watch began to wind down.”
Anonymous

I have a Casio like this. They last forever, are cheap and functional. This is my third one, previous two lost or broken outdoors.

Mine is “stainless steel case” model, but it turns out the steel is only fraction of a millimeter thick, so I have scraped it off while climbing. Now my “stainless” model looks exactly like this one: gray plastic case.
Mark Temporis

I stopped wearing a watch because I use a computer all day. It’s incredibly irritating and painful to have the watchband continuously scrape against the edge of the desk.

I really can’t understand this love for analog over digital watches, though. It’s less efficent to have to figure out the time than just have it fed to you.
- Ito Kagehisa
  
  I really can’t understand this love for analog over digital watches, though. It’s less efficent to have to figure out the time than just have it fed to you.
  
  That’s very interesting; I would say the same thing, except with the words “analog” and “digital” transposed.
  
  I guess it’s probably mental conditioning from when we were both children. I never saw a digital timepiece until I was already past the point of instantly reading an analog clock without conscious thought. My mind conflates the two hands pointing at the twelve with a vertical stick casting no shadow; I know the position of the sun (which is what timepieces reflect) simply by remembering whether daylight slavings time is in effect.
  
  When I look at my analog pocketwatch, I know what time it is. Zero effort. But when I look at a digital watch, I have to do math to figure out what the numbers mean – let’s see, 11:53:21, that’s sevenish minutes till noon. Hmmm, 2:43, it’ll be quarter of three in a couple of minutes.
  
  The best things about digital watches are cheap accuracy and a cheap stopwatch function. This watch has both, and is reasonably sturdy, for a wristwatch.
RadioSilence

i got one of those when i got a christmas job in a department store. i’d just use my phone to tell the time but the shop had a no-phones-on-the-shop-floor policy so i got the cheapest watch i could find.

i ended up wearing it for about five years until the strap snapped. great little watch.
the strap can end up getting a bit sweaty in hot weather though.
Anonymous

I got my (checks back of watch) F201WR, which is very similar, because I needed a dual-time whatch while vacationing overseas…and then started wearing it on bike rides and jogs…and now wear it almost all the time.

You’d think the anti-terror people would realize that this watch was used by terrorists because it was extremely common, not the other way around. These watches are very common all over the third world because they are reliable and cheap.

It’s cool because it’s good technology that does its job insanely well. And so cheap you could replace it every month for less than the cost of a fancy jewelry watch. (FD, I have some fancy automatics, and I love them, but none of them actually KEEPS TIME as well as this little wonder.
warreno

And the best part is that its beeps and alarms sound every bit as good as a Casio keyboard!
pjcamp

Why do you need a watch?

Don’t you have a phone?
- Jonathan Badger
  
  Because a watch takes a fraction of a second to check the time and doesn’t require hands to be free – just a twist of the wrist/forearm.
  
  I *know* that some people use their phone as a watch, but that requires 1) digging around in your pocket 2) pulling out the phone 3) If you have an iphone/android, pressing a button to activate the screen 4) turning the screen back off to conserve battery 5) putting away the phone. Why do all this? Isn’t the point of new technology to allow us to do existing tasks faster, not slower?
Anonymous

If you can show me an $11 phone that you can take into the shower, use safely while riding bike, and run continuously for 8 years without recharging, then yes, the watch is dead.

Not everyone carries a phone. Not everyone wants to.

Thanks for posting this. I am going to get this watch – it’s exactly what I need.
AnnieGetYourFun

I love digital watches, because I’ve never been good at telling time on a regular one (once the hour hand gets close to the next hour, I can’t help but read 4:50 as 5:50), but this… this is an ugly-ass watch.
gths

Are people seriously saying that it’s easier to fish your phone out of your pocket to look at the time than to flick a quick glance at your wrist? Apple’s relentless marketing has softened your brains.

I had a friend who didn’t wear a watch but seemed to treat me like his personal timekeeper because he was always asking me what the time was. Should’ve gotten him one of these.

(I’ve been rocking an analogue watch forever, but these babies do have a utilitarian cachet that makes them a design classic.)
Anonymous

Proud F-91W owner, I’ve had it since 2006 when it was given to me by a kid for volunteering in latin america. It soon became my main watch. I have some fancy watches in my dresser, all the batteries are dead. So I don’t exactly know how old this one is, but I’ve worn it every day for ~4 yr with the original battery. I put a timex band on it a few years ago when the original plastic strap disintegrated. This one is cloth velcro and works great. It hasn’t worn down at all. Better than a cellphone or a heavy metal fancy watch. I did notice some time last year that it dropped about a minute off the time when I originally set it. 1 min / 3 yr seems good enough for all practical purposes.
ackpht

Dude, that’s my watch. I do have my share of man-jewelery, but it’s all out in the garage.

I’ve been using wristwatches a lot longer than I’ve been using cell phones, and if you ask me for the time I’ll give it to you while the kids are still fumbling with their power-on menus.

And anyone who complains of the additional weight on their wrist needs to get out in the sun more often.
Anonymous

I’m actually wearing this watch. I’ve chosen it wisely (That was an Indiana Jones related joke, this watch is like the holy grail of watches :D)
taosk8r

Huh, while many people have remarked on the reason this watch has become infamous, I am really hoping anyone her isn’t naive enough that they haven’t realized that this was probably the majority of the reason behind the recommendation.
Stickarm

Cellphone vs. wristwatch is sort of apples and oranges, a more accurate comparison would be cellphone vs. pocket watch.

Saying that wristwatches are useless is an incredibly poor criticism. Watches like the one in this post are actually required equipment for most emergency services jobs, so there are reasons why people might take the time to consider their specific merits. That discussion might not apply to every reader on Boing Boing, but there is an opportunity for insight here that can still be meaningful to non-participating observers.
Quibbler

Yes I’ve had one of these for about 20 years (the model without the alarm). I’m on my fourth battery (maybe they don’t last as long in the tropics). I work with strong magnets and the analogue watches quickly freeze when magnetized.
I cannot understand who have there cell phones with them all the time it’s weird.
Anonymous

why does anyone still use a phone when you can now make phone calls on wrist watches?

why does anyone still use a camera when you can take pictures and video with a wrist watch?

why does anyone still use a gps… etc etc
zikman

I think the people that say wristwatches are dead have never worn one regularly for a long period of time. I’m in college and I got the calculator version of this casio watch and I’ve been wearing it for two years now. I’ve had a cell phone for quite a bit longer than that. I wear the watch every single day and consider it a lot more convenient than pulling out my phone every time I want to know the time.
- peterbruells
  
  Well, a wristwatch obviously has its uses, but as a former wrist-watch-user, I see that value dwindling.
  
  If you need to look at the time all of the time, sure. It’s also convenient where a hand-cranked pocketwatch (what I use) or a cellphone (what I also use) could fail. (Wilderness as an example.)
  
  Otherwise: Time displays are ubiquitous. Classrooms often have clocks, bus and train stations have clocks and a lot of people work in front of computeres and telephone which more often than not display the time.
  
  And why would I even want to check the clock all of the time?
Anonymous

WOW! I’m not the only one who loved this watch! It survived my basic training in the military better than I did, then on my first posting I was amazed to find my first Group Captain had one.

You’ve just made my day.
Ant

I still wear CASIO Data Bank calculator watches (currently a 150 model). I don’t need smartphones, PDAs, cellular/cell phones, laptops/notebooks, etc. for simple stuff. I rarely go out anyways. I do agree that they last long. I have had this current one since 2002, 2003, or so. I had a previous one that lasted since my high school days! :) Oh and nerds/geeks FTW!
Dorkomatic

What? Is there no love for mechanical watches?
My smartphone does tell the time – but needs a very regular spurt of electrons to help it keep doing it. My watch is a 1970s mechanical wind-up affair from Russia and can be powered for nearly two days simply by winding the knurled adjuster on the side. It’s also far prettier and more distinctive than a phone. Go figure.
penguinchris

As a guy, I’m never going to pierce my ears (or anything else), wear a necklace, bracelet, or any piece of jewelry really. I will wear a wedding ring when I get married. I will wear cuff-links if I ever wear a shirt with french cuffs (I have one, but have never had occasion to actually wear it – and I haven’t found any less-expensive cuff links I like).

So: enter the watch. I can wear one every day, and make some sort of statement with it like people might with jewelry. As it turns out though, I avoid anything flashy in general, and greatly appreciate function – but I love excellent “industrial” design. Understated, classy kind of stuff.

I had a cheap, very simple and elegant (though obviously cheap) looking analog Casio for years and years. When the band wore out, I looked at the scratched and beat-up plastic “crystal” (from years of geology trips and field work and other outdoor activities, working with tools and machinery, etc.) and decided to try something different.

I considered this watch – I like its case design, simplicity, etc. However, I don’t feel that digital watches can ever be particularly classy (except the old LED ones), and especially not with a plastic band (which I don’t like for several reasons). I ended up choosing the same model Citizen Eco-Drive that’s also mentioned here. I got a different band for it. Cost ten times as much, but… I’ve never even come close to losing or destroying my old cheap one, so I’m not too concerned. And the features and functionality are great, and very cool.

I also got an early 70′s manual (wind-up) watch for about $25 on ebay to wear as something dressier. It’s really classy – I have some macro shots here – but it needs to be lubricated (stops and starts) and runs ridiculously fast (hair spring magnetized). I have worn it a few times anyway for the looks, but almost immediately missed having a reliable time display on my wrist. The cell-phone thing just doesn’t work for me.
Mitch

I love cheap practical stuff like this. They make a nice looking analog watch with clean black numbers on a white background for $10, too- the MQ24-7B. I’d have a hard time choosing between the look of an analog watch and the longer battery life of a digital watch.
cservant

Casio watch is flagged as a terrorist item. Chances of getting detained are higher when wearing this watch and passing through TSA lines. Of course, if one really was a terrorist, they’d be using cheaper and much more easier to aquire parts then using a stupid Casio watch. When this was announced, they were even flagging the more expensive Casio watches which had pressure sensors. Again those watches are much more expensive (+100) and it’s much cheaper and easier to get actual pressure sensors ($3-50). Or use a balloon and some wires… Or the cellphone (now the public is more aware of it)

This is the type of watch that started Casio’s G-shock brand. I think it was the early 80′s when it started, different model number and parts of course. I was more a Timex kid those days. Now I’m back with Casio, currently wear a Gulfman GW-9100.

Watches btw are the only “MAN JEWEL” we men in almost all cultures can wear.
monopole

Back in the day, I generally wore a Casio Calculator wristwatch usually with the database capability. Very handy, especially when you are a Physicist with dyscalculia.
The database has shifted to my phone and constellation of Android devices, but the timekeeping stays on the wrist. Currently I sport a Casio MTG-9300A G-Shock, a cheap, zero maintenance, near indestructible watch, nothing more, nothing less.
The wristwatch is a much faster way to check the time than a cellphone especially when your hands are full, or you are on the run.
As Dick Tracy would attest, the wrist is just too valuable a plot of information real estate to give up. I suspect that at some point I might end up with with a bluetooth watch simply to add to the info I can get at the flick of my wrist.
Appreciation of the Casio F91W Wrist Watch is also a good thing in that it recognizes that even with as simple an item as a watch a broad range of different aesthetics can coexist. Long live the Casio, the TokyoFlash, the Rolex and the Movado! To quote Kipling “There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays, and every single one of them is right!”.
- Anonymous
  
  omg that is so inspiring. i have for a while been considering giving up on my decision to be a chemist because of some of my learning disabilties. thanks for reminding me it is possible.
skeletoncityrepeater

I have had some variation of this watch for about 20 years.. I’m wearing one. My preference is a vintage Seiko Automatic, but if I lose another one of those I will regret it. Losing a Casio is losing 10 bucks. It means I don’t have to take my phone out of my pocket to see what time it is.
skeletoncityrepeater

Actually I got my current watch because I was using a bike as my primary transportation, and I could not safely look at my phone for the time! The digital watch is neither ironic nor dead…
Anonymous

I have a Casio AW49H, simply because I prefer an analog face to a digital one. Aside from that, it’s basically the same watch.

http://www.amazon.com/Casio-Mens-AW49H-1BV-Ana-Digi-Watch/dp/B000GAWSG8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=watches&qid=1291422028&sr=1-1
manicbassman

the watches are fine, just the straps suck… they start to crack at the holes where the catch pin goes… replacing the straps is a pain (very few places carry spare casio straps) and the watch case design makes it impossible to use alternative straps, which I would prefer as I go sailing and would really like a large wrap round velcro closure so I can wear the same watch OVER my waterproof jacket… (I have one of the Casio sailing watches with the correct countdown sequences for sailing starts)
Anonymous

Woops, this is the exact model of AW49H I have. That one above is nearly identical. I don’t know why they’re priced differently, but I didn’t mean to misrepresent myself. Lookit:

http://www.amazon.com/Casio-Mens-AW49HE-2AV-Ana-Digi-Watch/dp/B000AQVRVK/ref=pd_sim_watch_2

Sorry for the double-post.
dangertam

i’ve owned this watch for over 4 years. i’ve owned other versions of casio watches (mostly without calculators) previous to this one and this F-91W somehow hasn’t managed to get broken or lost. i keep it because i hate having to waste my cellphone battery checking the time. also, it runs slightly faster so it sometimes trips me up to where i can actually get to places on time.

thank you, casio. thasio.
Donald Petersen

This looked so much like the watches my buddies wore in 9th grade, that I had to check Wikipedia to find out how old this timepiece is. Apparently it was introduced in 1991. About five years too recently for my inquiry, but scrolling down the Wikipedia entry showed me the most unexpected tongue-not-in-cheek link I’ve seen all day, the text of which is:

“For more details on this topic, see List of Guantanamo Bay detainees accused of possessing Casio watches.”(!)

Caveat emptor, I guess.
txhoudini

Before cellphones this was the timer device of choice for many terrorists as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_F91W#Claimed_use_in_terrorism
- Mitch
  
  Oh, now I’m afraid to order one.
Anonymous

I’m fan of the Casio ABX-20 twincept myself.
Anonymous

I suppose the calculator version is $13.
Anonymous

This is nice, but once you start regularly wearing a calculator watch, ordinary watches just start looking plain inferior.
sloverlord

I’ve tried wearing watches like this, but I hate rubber wristbands. If I sweat underneath them even a little bit they feel slimy and it drives me crazy. Leather ones have the same problem, and fabric ones are just irritated. I’ve found the metal bands are all I can stand. Unfortunately the “dirt cheap” companies like Casio don’t put out a lot of watches that fit the bill, but I found a decent one at Target for $20.

On an aside, it sounds weird, but it makes me kind of happy to see a “celebration of mediocrity”: it’s a solid, well-designed, inexpensive device that meets basic needs and will last for a long time. Things like that don’t get nearly enough hype these days.
David Estlund

Say it isn’t so! I’m shocked to find out that anyone at BoingBoing still thinks digital watches are a pretty neat idea.
- magnetsandlasers
  
  I see what you did there.
jphilby

Phone, phone, phone. I’ll make a little bet: watches will still be around long after the phone trend is long dead. In 20 years the idea of toting around a little slab of plastic and glass, and yakking away annoying everyone within earshot will seem hilarious. Corset, anyone?
bhtooefr

I rock a Casio CA53W-1.

Models based on the same “movement” came out circa 1985… and Casio still mkaes the damn things. Picked up a second one for a hack (that never ended up happening) for $11.

YY-MM-DD date format, “perpetual” calendar out to 2079 (80 = 1980,) a calculator, a stop watch, two time zones (with arbitrary offset, even, not just hours, but minutes,) and durable as hell.

(I also have an Orient slide rule automatic watch that’s falling apart… need to figure out why the slide rule knob doesn’t want to stay on and that mechanism is jamming, and get the clasp replaced.)
Anonymous

watches are moving out of market, being replaced by multi utility gadgets giving services on time related matters. No longer is it a status symbol. It appears this machine is going to be extinct.
- mccrum
  
  And yet people are still selling pocket watches and using horses. I even know people with landlines that use rotary phones.
kettledog

I had a very similar Casio with little solar panels on it. Loved that watch, hate most watches as a general rule. The band just disintegrated on the thing one day.
empollado

Waaay back in the ’70s, I bought my first Casio digital — it was very much like this one.

I was an early-adopter geek at a school of regular kids who weren’t so much into the new tech. I kept my Casio set to beep-beep on the hour, and I used the alarm (beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep) as a reminder at every opportunity.

The dulcet (albeit monotonous) song of my little friend (beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep) probably annoyed the hell out of everyone (perhaps contributing in some small way to my mates’ decision to pull a chair out from behind me one day; but if a little concussion was the price for my Casio, it was worth it).

The following year I acquired my second gadget: my first calculator, a Casio of course. It was (like my brain) a bit slower than it should’ve been; but its power consumption was impressively low, and the very first Duracells I put in it survived for many years indeed.
Razzabeth

It seems to me that, since we all have the time in our pockets nowadays (cell phones) watches have fully lost their functional aspect and become mere status symbols. This renders cheap watches 100% pointless. If you’re gonna wear a watch, it’s gotta be bling, otherwise why would you wear one?
- chudez
  
  if it’s a matter of personal choice, then of course, you should do whatever floats your boat.
  
  but as a generalization, i find the “cellphones already display time, therefore watches are redundant” too simplistic. if this was true, then the wrist watch should never have been invented because we already had pocket watches. it’s really just easier to glance at your wrist than to dig out some timepiece from your pocket or watch.
- Punchcard
  
  Watches already moved once out of the pocket and onto wrists once and it wasn’t because they were status symbols, it was because they were functionally more useful there. We could make this a “dedicated unitasker that does one thing superlatively ” vs. “multifunctional devices that do many things adequately”, but that is kind of a tired topic.
- Cruxx
  
  I don’t think watches have to be status symbols or blingy, but since they are fairly redundant if you own a cell phone a watch is a chance to show a little style. Especially for men who don’t wear much jewelry.
  
  Casios like this are fine for disposable watches, but the look is a little too ironic-hipsterish for me.
- Lucifer
  
  I disagree about cell phones being the new timepiece of choice. If anything, cell phones as watches are throwbacks to the less practical pocket watches that were then replaced by the more ergonomic wristwatch.
  Wristwatches remain superior for those whom need frequent time checks.
  - RadioSilence
    
    not only more ergonomic, safer.
    
    wrist watches were introduced in the first world war to replace army officers’ pocket watches as having a small chain hanging across the front of one’s uniform was thought of as a hazard.
  - OoerictoO
    
    if a cell phone is only as useful as a pocket watch then this argument holds water.
    
    i rarely need to know time quickly enough when i don’t have a cellphone to warrant a watch. exceptions are while exercising, and my wristwatch doubles as a heart monitor. for those who do check the time often, i get them wearing a watch. i also understand wearing a nice watch to go with an outfit. i wear a tie because it goes with my suit(s), not because it has any functional purpose.
    - Ito Kagehisa
      
      Silk ties function as signets of power; they show you never have to work with physical engines and processes that would grab your tie and snap your neck, they show you are not afraid to wear a deadly noose right out where someone could quickly and easily use it against you.
      
      Of course, being the only guy in the boardroom without a tie shows yet another level of power. Steve Jobs doesn’t take off his turtlenecks when he visits the IBM boardroom, or the White House either.
      
      And if you are wearing an undetectable clip-on or breakaway, you are a devious rascal, and subverting the system!
  - Donald Petersen
    
    When I was young, I always had ridiculously scrawny wrists. I always had to punch an extra hole in the band of my wristwatch, even my precious Star Wars LED watch I had when I was seven. I always hated how loose and clumsy wristwatches felt, so I started wearing a pocketwatch when I was 13 or so. I rarely needed to check the time instantly, so I was content. It’s true that since I started carrying a cellphone, I’ve stopped wearing a watch. But I do miss my old pocketwatch habit.
    
    I was the only person I knew who actually used the little Fifth Pocket in my Levi’s. Made a perfect watch pocket.
    - cservant
      
      Yes, LEDs in the 60-70′s were power drainers. Consider this: Pulsar the first digital watch uses LEDs. It cost about 300USD at the time and you had to push the button in order to see it’s dim (compared to today’s LED standards) glow.
      
      LCDs didn’t become common on watches until late 70′s. Once it did LEDs were push out. In my time, the 80′s, I didn’t see any LED watches at all.
      
      I like your LED Star Wars Watch. Must be worth something now?
      - Donald Petersen
        
        I suspected as much.
        
        I don’t know how much it’s worth, really. I just checked eBay, and somebody appears to have paid $199.99 for one a week or two ago, including the original packaging. I still have mine somewhere, but certainly not the original packaging.
    - Anonymous
      
      they need to enlarge theat fifth pocket just a little bit, then it would be ideal for a cell phone!
- Anonymous
  
  Checking your wrist is still a lot quicker and easier than grabbing your phone from your pocket, or bag, or holster or bedside table.
  
  I’d agree it’s not AS useful as it once was, but when I need to know the time I glance at my wrist rather than fishing my phone out of my pocket.
  
  Also remember a lot of phones don’t display the time without interaction.
  
  I’ve got one of these bad-boys, and I’ve owned another one in the past; great little watches; especially if you’re rocking the retro look.
  - Donald Petersen
    
    Also remember a lot of phones don’t display the time without interaction.
    
    Believe it or not, my above-linked Star Wars LED watch didn’t, either. I don’t know how primitive the LEDs were, but I guess someone figured they were big battery-sucks or prone to premature burnout, because you had to press a button on the side to light them up so you could read the time. Otherwise, the screen was black by default.
    
    It occurs to me that LEDS must be much bigger power consumers than LCDs. I guess LCD watches weren’t quite so commonplace in the mid 70s.
- mccrum
  
  It’s certainly more difficult to take a cell phone scuba diving. Personally I hate reaching into my pockets or wriggling around in my seat to find out what time it is when I can just lift my wrist or just glance down. My watch is not stylish (far from it my wife claims) but it is eminently practical.
Anonymous

On Amazon they sell these, but in different colours. I like the grey one best
Anonymous

wear this watch and the government will detain you as a terrorist
Anonymous

If analog/digital is more your taste, this Casio waveceptor is, I think, the best (i.e. most practical/ useful) watch in the world. Feather light, both solar powered and atomic-accurate–a flawless perpetual motion machine.

http://www.amazon.com/Casio-WVA430J-1-Waveceptor-Atomic-Ana-Digi/dp/B001870P3Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1291411602&sr=8-4
Anonymous

Watches are great when you’re out in the wilderness where your cell phone will get no signal, continually roam, and drain itself dead. But I prefer analog watches.
Kyle H

You think a hipster watch would be digital?

This is solely for squares. Uncool since the day it was born. At least get a Swatch, for God’s sake.
Grey Devil

I think Casio’s databank watches are much more useful than the one listed above. They are able to save calendar/appointment information, as well as phone numbers, emails, names, etc. Some of them have more features built in like calculators but i prefer the one i owned over all the others, it lacked the calculator which made it look nicer.

This is the particular model i owned and you can find gold/silver versions instead of the normal plastic kind, though i prefer the regular black plastic: http://www.casio.com/products/Timepiece/Databank/DB36-1AV/
Anonymous

* During capture, the detainee had in his possession a Casio F-91W Watch.
* The Casio F-91 W has been used in bombings that have been linked to al Qaida and radical Islamic terrorist improvised explosive devices.
Apreche

While many watches are cool, I feel there is no practical use for watches anymore. If you have a phone, you have a watch. Why have something uncomfortable wrapped around your arm, when the time is in your pocket? Also, I like using phones better, because it feels more like a pocket watch than a wrist watch. Maybe wear a monacle and tie a gold chain to your phone.

The watch is dead.
- howaboutthisdangit
  
  As other have already noted, it is much faster and easier to rotate your wrist around than it is to fish a phone out of your pocket, especially if your hands are full. As far as comfort goes, I usually don’t even notice my watch – unlike my cell phone which is more than a bit of an annoyance.
  
  Modern tech is all well and good, but the right tech for the job is better.
Shay Guy

Several weeks ago, while I was waiting for one of my classes to start, somebody asked me for the time because it was faster than looking at his cell phone. Then I looked around the room, and as far as I could tell, I was the only one there wearing a wristwatch. Quite a surprise. If my campus is any indication (I checked in my other classes too), they’re way less common than they once were.

That one wore out recently (the Velcro part of the wristband having been sewed back on too many times), leading me to buy one of these. The only thing I don’t like is that the band is shorter than my old one and doesn’t use Velcro, meaning instead of being able to just slip it on and tighten it, I usually have to lay my left wrist on the table, palm wide up, while I thread the hook with my other hand.

Other than that, very nifty. And looking at its readout, it just occurred to me that it may have inspired a Calvin and Hobbes strip.

“I suppose they figure if you don’t know what month it is, you’re not the type who would wear a watch.”
Anonymous

I’ve been wearing a Casio F-84W for decades. It’s very similar to this F-91W, the differences seem to be cosmetic only. My watch is on its third CR2016 cell, I think, and I’ve lost count of the number of plastic wristbands I’ve gone through (unlike previous commenters, I actually prefer plastic to metal or leather).

I don’t have a cell phone, but even if I did, I would probably continue to wear my watch for the same reason I wear a wrist watch instead of a pocket watch — it’s easier.

So it’s not studded with diamonds, and it doesn’t have a pricey European brand name on it. I’m lucky enough to work and live with people who don’t care about such things. I do have a fancy watch I wear when I dress up (it was my Dad’s), but I wouldn’t wear it every day.
Yaruki Zero

I don’t wear a watch anymore, but when I was younger I used to wear one of these 24/7. I could wear it in the shower or the swimming pool, and it just kept on going forever. I think the wristband gave out well before the battery.
Anonymous

F91W is known in Turkey as the soldier’s watch. Almost every conscript wears one during his service because it’s cheap and durable.
Anonymous

yup! wear mine mostly as it’s lightweight and does it’s job (tells the time)!
http://www.marksy.com/downloads/f91w.jpg
buhbuhcuh

Positive reviews of this watch from Gitmo detainees:

‘More than a dozen detainees were cited for owning cheap digital watches, particularly â€œthe infamous Casio watch of the type used by Al Qaeda members for bomb detonators.â€
Detainee 651, Usama Hassan Ahmend Abu Kabir: I have a Casio watch due to the fact that they are inexpensive and they last a long time. I like my watch because it is durable. It had a calculator and was waterproof, and before prayers we have to wash up all the way to my elbows.
Detainee 298, Salih Uyar: If it is a crime to carry this watch, your own military personnel also carry this watch. Does this mean theyâ€™re just terrorists as well?
Detainee 228, Abdullah Kamel Abudallah Kamel: When they told me that Casios were used by Al Qaeda and the watch was for explosives, I was shocked…. If I had known that, I would have thrown it away. Iâ€™m not stupid. We have four chaplains [at Guantanamo]; all of them wear this watch.
Detainee 154, Mazin Salih Musaid Al Awfi: Millions and millions of people have these types of Casio watches. If that is a crime, why doesnâ€™t the United States arrest and sentence all the shops and people who own them? This is not a logical or reasonable piece of evidence.’

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_F91W#Claimed_use_in_terrorism
http://motherjones.com/politics/2006/07/why-am-i-cuba
lecti

It’s a safety issue: I’m not going to whip out my iPhone in public just to check time. Also, I’ll look stupid if I drop it.
nixiebunny

But it doesn’t use Nixie tubes!
Anonymous

Find me a cellphone that is:

a) waterproof to 200m
b) can survive a 4 story drop onto concrete
c) is solar powered
d) has a built in altimeter and thermometer
e) displays multiple time zones
f) weighs 95g

and I will consider retiring my G-Shock Mudman.
Anonymous

There are times when you can’t carry a mobile around with you: playing sport, being in the wild, so a cheap, hardy watch like this is perfect. It’s a lovely, classic design too.

Andy