Casio G7300 Tough Solar G-Shock, any good?

[MacTech]

I stopped off at wally-world this afternoon, even though i *HATE* them, i needed a new pair of cheap jeans and Wranglers seem to be the only ones that can stand up to my abuse, so a trip to the corporate Evil that is wally-world was in order

i passed by the watch counter on the way to the jeans, and figured why not take a look, what could it hurt......

i ended up taking one of these watches home;

I didn't have a G-Shock in my watch collection yet, and i liked the fact that it's a solar watch as well, it has some really cool features to boot....
solar powered
phonebook mode (stores names and phone numbers), it is cool, but i'm not sure if i'll ever use this feature
Sleep mode; puts the watch into hibernation after being in the dark for 30 minutes, saving battery power
Automatic Backlighting; tilt your wrist 45 degrees towards your face and the backlighting kicks on, no need to hit the backlighting button
World Time
5 alarms

the price?
$30, it was on clearance

It was a tough decision between the Atomic Clock autoset model and this one, but seeing as i live in kind of a dead area for atomic clock signals (my Seiko atomic desk clock has problems reliably picking up a signal), and digital watches (a pretty neat idea, if you ask me ) are generally quite accurate when set anyway, i'd be paying more for a feature that may not even work reliably in my area

Now, i've been reading threads here on CPF that some of the Tough Solar G-Shocks have been having battery charging issues, i'm wondering if i made the right decision, is this 7300 going to be reliable, or did i just waste $30 on a watch destined for the junk drawer?

maybe that was the reason it was on clearance?.....

of course, it'd end up costing me twice what this one cost to get a basic G-Shock model, as i don't need Atomic Clock syncing

ahh, frell it, for $30, it's worth the risk, even if i have to send it to Casio for repair....

.....and considering the 7300 is still on Casio's website at a price of around $90, i think i got a pretty good deal, besides, worst comes to worst, i can always keep the battery topped off with my UV flashlights anyway, i'd imagine it's the UV component in sunlight that charges up the watch battery anyway.....

 

[cal..45]

hi mactech,

a great deal you made there and an even greater watch you just bought. trust me, you will absolutely love that watch and you will find out that it will probably survive all other watches you have and that it also will get a LOT of wrist time, once you encountered the enormous advantages a digital watch offers.

don't be afraid about troubles with solar battery, this was a issue only for a few weeks but it did cost casio a lot of its otherwise great reputation.

your decision to get a this model instead of an atomic one was also pretty good, since otherwise you would have traded the countdown timer for it (one of the most useful features) and because of the accuracy a digital quarzt watch offers, not really necessary anyway as you already stated.

I think you won't regret the buy, enjoy your watch


regards, holger

 

[CeilingDweller]

I have had an MTG-900 tough solar with atomic time keeping for over two years now of constant abuse and wear. It's been a great watch. About a year ago though the backlight stopped working. I think it was the switch behind the cheap plastic button, which is now grey with wear. Haven't had any problems with the battery until now. It went dead and I left it in the sun for about 16 hours total sun time and it only charged back half way. It took two days for it to pick up a signal...So I couldn't set the date or time for a few days when it somehow came back to life. I'm still wearing it. I love that it keeps such accurate time. It's about time for a new one though. I miss having a backlight. I hope you enjoy your G-shock as much as I have.

 

[MacTech]

D'oh!, i got really concerned about the solar battery in this model, and i really was intrigued with the Autosync with the Atomic clock, so i took it back and got a GW-330A instead

I wasn't aware i'd be losing the countdown timer to gain the dubious functionality of the Time Memo (a feature i'll *NEVER* use) and Atomic Autoset (which has yet to prove it's worth), i can't get a signal, Southern Coastal Maine seems to be just barely outside the signal area of the Atomic Clock.....

<Edit>
After work today, i stopped back at wally-world, returned the 330 (i tried atomic sync in many locations today and it failed in every one, we're just barely out of range of the Atomic Clock radio signal) and got my 7300 back

and since "Two is one, One is None" i picked up another clearance model G-Shock, a basic battery powered model, the G-7500;

this one has all the basic features i'll need, date/time, stopwatch, countdown timer, and alarm, automatic backlighting (which is just plain cool no matter how you look at it) and a nice, clean, uncluttered display, it has world time and phone number memo (which it looks like all the G-Shocks have), world time is fun to play with, but phone memo will likely never be used

So, i'm happy now, satisfied with my choices and have no need for any more watches, in fact i'm thinking of selling a couple, bring myself down to the two G-Shocks, my Luminox 3000 series, and my Seiko Orange Monster, i'm done with watches....

 

[MacTech]

Heh, turns out that i actually like the 7500 *better* than the 7300, they're both nice watches, but the 7500 has a *cleaner* display, and it's auto-backlighting stays lit for a full second longer than the 7300

7300 likes;
Tough Solar power, "no battery to change, ever" (or at least until the rechargable cell has exhausted it's charge/discharge cycle lifespan)
displays the year as well as time and date
alarms can have text messages associated with them

7500 likes;
simpler display than the 7300, cleaner lines
stopwatch/timers are easier to use, thanks to a dedicated start/stop button on the right hand side
silent vibration alarm for times when i don't want the alarm beeper to be disruptive

the only "downside" to the 7500 is the fact that it uses a nonrechargable battery

i plan on keeping and using them both, now, how do i share wrist time between my 4 watches now...
(G-Shock 7300, G-Shock 7500, Luminox 3000, Seiko Orange Monster)
No, wearing two watches isn't an option, at least not during the summer in short-sleeved shirts, that is....

 

[alberto]

I've had a GW-300 for about 3 years and have had no problems with solar charging. Since I have other watches, I don't wear it all the time and I put the watch in a sunny window about twice a year, which is enough to keep it charged.

As for being on the fringes of the atomic time radio signal area, I live behind a mountain between me and Colorado and have always had some difficulty with all my atomic clocks and watches. First, successful signal reception only happens at night. Second, with the G-Shock, placing it face-down with the top of the watch facing West at night before bedtime has always resulted in a successful signal acquisition during the night.

With some of the cool new G-S models, it might be time for me to look at another new watch (just got a Luminox 3903 -- love the tritium dial).