Review of the Casio GW

I usually keep the 3 o'clock LCD in date mode, sothis is a problem for me. If I want to see the time in the middle of the night,I actually have to change the display mode which is not easy when you're notfully coherent.Up means down, and down means up. This is more of a complaint about Casios ingeneral, but for some reason, the two buttons on the right side of the watchfeel to me like they are reversed. They are used for cycling and scrolling,like when you need to increment or decrement values while setting alarms andsuch. Now here's a little test. Would you expect the top button to increase a value,or decrease it? I say it should increase it, but on all the Casios I own, itdecreases the value. Strange. I have a Tissot sitting right here next to me witha big plus symbol on the top button, and a big minus symbol on the lower. I guessthe Swedes and the Japanese think differently. (This is a minor point, by theway -- just something you have to get used to when donning a Casio.)This line of G-Shocks brings four great features together into a single watch:solar power, atomic timekeeping, analog display, and a countdown timer -- all ina big, bold, and very cool looking case. If you like G-Shocks,this is a must-have. If you like small, discrete, delicate watches, you will wantto overlook this one and keep shopping.Additional ResourcesCasioGW-1100 photo galleryGW-1100user manual (PDF)Similar models (on Casio's site) GW1000DJ-9 GW1200A-1AV GW1200BA-1AV.I haven't trimmed mine becauseI often eventually pass my watches along to other people, but if you plan onkeeping yours for a long time, you'll probably want to take as much as half toa full inch off the end of the band.Although this is a very versatile watch, because it only has one small LCD tosupport several different modes (the other three LCDs don't really change muchas you change modes), you have to make some decisions on how you're going towear and use it. For instance, if you want to keep an eye on the time in twodifferent time zones, you can't see the date without changing modes. If you wantto see the date and the day of the week, you can't see seconds. You get the point.I don't think it's a huge downfall, however, since you can just change the viewmode to suit your current circumstance.The electro-luminescent backlight only illuminates the four LCDs, not the face.That means unless the display mode is such that the 3 o'clock LCD is displayingthe time digitally, even though the watch is illuminated, you still won't knowwhat time it is (the analog hands glow, but not enough to make sense of at4:00 a.m. in the morning).