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DIGIBEAT LED WRISTWATCH
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All your base are belong to us, and somebody set up us the bomb.

Digibeat LED Wristwatch, retail $129.00 (http://ledwatchstop.com...)
Manufactured by CW Watches (www.cw-watches.com)
Last updated 03-05-09

I've only reviewed one LED watch prior to this, so please bear with me here.

You might remember LED wristwatches from the 1970s, heck, you might still have one.

The Digibeat is an LED watch that features a large display comprised of ***BLUE*** LEDs!
It displays time in 24 hour (military) format; there appears to be no option to display 12 hour (AM/PM format) time.

It can display the time & date like other digital watches, it also displays the day of the week on that line of seven blue LEDs below the main display, and it has a beefy leather band.

It is waterproof and even submersible to 50m (~165'), and it has a blue-tinted mineral glass crystal (window) protecting the LED display on its upper surface.

SIZE

This picture shows the watch on my wrist, like it's supposed to be worn.

The LED wristwatch comes ready to use right out of the box. You may need to set the hour to the time zone you're in, but is otherwise ready to go right away.

The wristband is a standard leather buckle type; fasten it to your wrist & adjust the size much as you would use a belt on your pants.

To read the time, press & release the button on the upper right once. The time will be displayed for ten seconds, and then automatically extinguish. If you want to turn it off sooner, press & release the lowermost button.

To read the date, press & release the button on the upper right twice in fairly quick succession. The date will be displayed for ten seconds, and then automatically extinguish. If you want to turn it off sooner, press & release the lowermost button.

To set the watch, press both buttons simultaneously (at the same time) for at least one second, then release them.

The watch will show the hours & minutes; the hours value (the uppermost) will be flashing. Press the upper button to change the hours value from 00 to 24. You may hold this button in to rapidly advance the hours value if desired.

Press the lower button once to cause the minutes value to flash. Press the upper button to change the minutes value from 00 to 59. You may hold this button in to rapidly advance the minutes value if desired.

Press the lower button once more to get the year on the screen. Press the upper button to change the last two digits from 00 to 99; you may hold the button down to rapidly advance the last two digits.

Press the lower button once more to get the day & month on the screen - the month value will flash. Press the upper button to advance the month from 00 to 12. You may hold this button in to rapidly advance the month value if desired.

Press the lower button to cause the day value to flash; press the upper button one or more times to get the day to change from 01 to 31. You may hold this button in to rapidly advance the day value if desired.

Press the lower button yet once more to cause the day LED to flash; press the upper button to advance this LED marker from position 1 (Sunday) through position 7 (Saturday).

Finally, press the lower button again to finish up and turn your watch's display off.

It is not stated how the battery should be changed, so I don't have instructions for performing a battery change.
I did email the reseller on the afternoon of 08-02-07 about this, so I might hear back soon...and guess what, it's now "soon"!

From the reseller (who responded *VERY* promptly, I'll say again), comes this:

"To change the battery on the Digibeat watch, simply remove one pin connecting the watchband to the case to expose the watch back.

The watch back is secured by four tiny phillips head screws the must be removed to expose the module and the battery.

The lithium CR2032 cell is right on the top of the module and is readily removed by removing the metal hold down strap.

Quite frankly, this is one watch that really should go to a jeweler for battery change as it does require a special tool to remove the watchband from the case and most people that attempt this do not have the proper tools for the watchband removal or a small enough screw driver for the tiny phillips screws that hold on the back plate."

This watch has an advertised battery life of approx. 10 to 14 months when it actuated 20 to 30 times a day; this is a manufacturer's value though, and may be just a tad bit optimistic.

(Update 09-02-07): From a message I received from somebody at the LED Watch Superstore website:

"The watch can also be returned to our depot for battery change if the buyer includes cost for return shipping + $2 for the battery."

Because this is a watch and not a flashlight, I won't try to flush it down the potty, stomp on it with old or used bowling "shooz", viciously throw it at a wall or in the bathtub, smack it against a steel rod, run over it with my Celebrity motorised wheelchair, or perform other potentially destructive tests on it that might be performed on a flashlight.

I did attempt to cut through the crystal (top window that protects the LED display) with the blade of a folding knife, and I was not successful.
Would I really try to cut up the crystal of a brand spanken new wristwatch I paid perfectly good money for?
You bet your sugar-coated toilet muscle (sweet patootie) I would, if it's in the name of science.

It is rated water-resistant (submersible) to 50 meters, so I might actually attempt to drown it in the sink or cistern (toilet tank)...let's try "The Toilet Test" and see what happens...

Here's a photograph of it in the water - proof I really performed "The Toliet Test" on it.
The watch appears to still be fully functional - though the band is damp.
***DO NOT*** press either of the buttons while the watch is submerged; it will almost certainly leak if you do!!!

Again, this watch is waterproof and even submersible to 50 meters (~165 feet). That means if you get caught in the rain, you don't need to take the watch off and stash it away or take the time to cover it up with a coat sleeve. And if the dog takes a whiz on it, just douche it off under the faucet or take the garden hose to it...good as new!!!

As a wristwatch, I think it's quite nice. And to see real live LEDs in it, that's even better.

I love LEDs and things made with them, and this watch is no exception

I went out to the patio this afternoon, and found I could not read the watch in direct sunlight, but could read it in the shade. So if you're in direct sunlight a lot, this may not be the right watch for you; but if you are in or have ready access to shade, or if you spend a lot of time indoors or in the shade, no problem at all. This is a characteristic of ALL digital watches that use LEDs for their display, so I do not consider this a negative at all.

The "on" time for the time display is 10 seconds, and the date display is 5 seconds.
Yes, I used an analogue watch sporting a second hand to test these values.

A picture showing the watch displaying the time (2:46pm) & the day of the week (Thursday).
It displays time in 24-hour (military format) only.

A picture comparing the size of this watch with the watch I used to use.

A photograph of today's date: 08-11.
Note the final "1" looks like an exclamation mark (or an "exclamation point" as some people call it).
Although not a common occurrance, anytime the 1st, 11th, 21st, or 31st of any given month falls on a Saturday, this will be visible.

A photograph of yesterday's date: 09-11.
Note the first "1" looks like an exclamation mark (or an "exclamation point" as some people call it).
Although less common than above, anytime the 11th of any given month falls on a Tuesday, this will be visible.

A photograph of today's date: 12-18.
Note the first "1" looks like an exclamation mark (or an "exclamation point" as some people call it).

A photograph of today's date: 02-29.
This shows that the watch honours leap year.

A photograph of today's date: 03-01.
O NOOOO!!!! I spoke too soon about that leap year thing!!!

I'm going to leave the watch untouched for a couple of days just to see if it displays February 32 on Monday morning.

WMP movie (.avi extension) showing the watch displaying the time & the date 02-30.
Note that the "minutes" digits flash when the time is being displayed, but no part of the date flashes.
This proves that the date really is being displayed as 02-30; it isn't the time being displayed.

This clip is approximately 1.29 megabytes (1,331,638 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than six minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

An episode of Icarly was playing on the boob tube when this recording was made.
This product is not sound-sensitive, and the sound may be ignored or muted if desired.

A photograph of today's date: 03-02.
I'm going to leave the watch untouched for at least another day just to see if it displays February 32 tomorrow morning.

Spectrographic analysis of the LEDs in this wristwatch.
USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.

WMP movie (.avi extension) showing the watch displaying the time & day of the week.
Note how the "minutes" digits flash exactly every two seconds.

This clip is approximately 1.9 megabytes (2,045,812 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than seven minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

The Star Trek Voyager episode "One" was playing when this recording was made.
This product is not sound-sensitive, and the sound may be ignored or muted if desired.

TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased on the LED Watch Superstore website on 07-28-07, and was received on the afternoon of 08-02-07.

UPDATE: 08-12-07
The watch's display is reasonably bright - even slighly obnoxiously so when your eyes are dark-adapted and you actuate the watch with it held ~1 foot in front of your eyes. It can be used as an emergency short-range flashlight; such as to find a keyhole or an indoor deadbolt twist handle. But it is *NOT* an "eye killing toliet destructor" - it was meant to be looked directly at - that's why I said "SHORT-RANGE" earlier.

UPDATE: 08-13-07
I've used the watch in the shower since receiving it; but now that I think about it, I don't know how the leather band will fare over the long term when exposed to water from the shower on a day-to-day basis.

As a result, I'll remove the watch before showering, but if I do forget on occasion, it'll be, as they say: "no harm, no foul".

UPDATE: 08-21-07
The watch went through two real world water-resistance tests last night, and it passed them both.
The watch was first immersed in a swimming pool with a water temperature of ~75°F (~23.9°C), and was then used in a hot tub with a water temperature of ~104°F (~40°C), and no evidence of water entry was detected after either event.

UPDATE: 08-22-07
Digital watches are inherently more accurate to read than analogue watches (the kind with a circular or square face & hands). When you read the time on this watch, you'll see that it is 8:24 (in this case); however, when an analogue watch is registering the same time, chances are, you'll quickly look at it and think (or say) "It's 8:25", because the minute hand is really close to the "5".

UPDATE: 09-07-07
The leather strap that holds the end of the band in place seems to slip off several times a day and then requires being slid back over the end of the band. This is ***NOT*** a nuisance; it's just an observation. All watches with leather bands and this moveable strap will do this, not just the Digibeat.

UPDATE: 10-01-07
The watch was displaying "September 31" (09 31) this morning; it should have been displaying "October 01" (10 01).
To wit:

This was a very easy fix - when I changed the month value from "09" to "10", the day value automatically switched from "31" to "01".
Nothing whatsoever to become angry over.
The photograph above was timestamped "6:23am", so it's clear that the photograph is of the date, not the time.

UPDATE: 12-09-07
I attempted to set an illegal date (02-31), and was *NOT* successful.
Yes, this is a *GOOD* thing.

UPDATE: 12-20-07
I have decided to rate this product 4½ stars and place it in The Trophy Case on this website!!!
The only thing that prevented it from being rated a full five stars is the need for specialised tools to perform a battery change.

UPDATE: 01-09-08
This watch has gained just under two minutes since early-August 2007.

UPDATE: 05-01-08
The watch is indicating today's date as 04-31 (April 31); please see photograph directly below.
Because it has now been in error three times (the first was when it displayed September 31, and the second when it displayed February 30 and February 31), I must regretfully derate it and remove it from The Trophy Case on this website.

Photograph of today's date, May 01.

UPDATE: 05-11-08

Photograph of the time: 5:02pm (displayed as 1702).
This is the model number for a Commodore 1702 color monitor.

UPDATE: 07-02-08

Photograph showing yesterday's date (July 01), here being displayed as June 31.

UPDATE: 08-16-08
When reading the time from this watch (or any other digital watch for that matter), although it's inherently more accurate, you eventually begin to think as you might when reading the time on an analogue wristwatch. For example, when this watch displays "8:38", you almost automatically think to yourself "O it's twenty to nine".

UPDATE: 08-30-08
This watch is still MIA (Missing In Action); presumably it is still packed in a box somewhere from my recent move, and really isn't "lost" in the truest sense of the word.

UPDATE: 10-25-08
I found this watch in a box while packing for (yet) another move scheduled to take place in very early-2009. I placed it on my wrist - not because I dislike the other LED watch I've been using as of late, but because I enjoy some variety in my timepieces.
I found this watch at the bottom of the box approximately seven days ago.

UPDATE: 10-25-08
No, you aren't seeing things.
Yes, a same-day update.
Here are two photographs showing the time & the date.
Can you tell them apart?

HINT: The one at the top shows the time.

UPDATE: 11-03-08
Here's a photograph taken on 11-01-08 (November 01).
Note that the last "1" looks like an exclamation mark (or "exclamation point" as some people call that punctuation mark) because the "Saturday" indicator is directly below that last "1".

UPDATE: 02-07-09
Here's a photograph taken on 01-31-09 (January 31).
Note that the last "1" looks like an exclamation mark (or "exclamation point" as some people call that punctuation mark) because the "Saturday" indicator is directly below that last "1".

UPDATE: 03-05-09
Here's a photograph of the watch displaying February 31 (02-31) again:

And here's a video clip showing it displaying both the time *AND* the date (showing February 31) so that you know that I'm not just {vulgar term for having intercourse} with you.

WMP movie (.avi extension) showing the product alternating between "time" and "date".
This clip is approximately 2.018 megabytes (2,066,634 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than ten minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

PROS:
It's super cool!!! (or "kool" or "kewl")
Blue LED display is totally unique
Water-resistant - even submersible
Battery it needs is fairly easily available - for a watch battery anyway

CONS:
Specialised tools required for battery change

CW Watches

LED digital wristwatch

Blue LED (Dot-matrix-type LEDs)

N/A

Momentary pushbuttons for setting time, and date

Stainless steel body, mineral glass crystal, leather band

Mineral glass crystal (window) protects LED display

1x CR2032 lithium

Unknown/unable to measure

Yes

Yes, to 5 atmospheres (50 meters / ~165 feet)

Case width: 35.5mm, height: 44.5mm, thickness: 11mm

89 grams

1xCR2032 cell

1 year

Digibeat LED Wristwatch * http://ledwatchstop.com...

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