Let Watch Battery Die and Just Use Cell Phone?

I wear a Casio Data Bank 150 - I've worn it for years. It's been a great watch. Before it I had an almost identical Casio Data Bank 50, it never died, I just upgraded.

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The only problem with the watch for me is replacing the battery. Say it's $10 once a year an an hour out of my life to go to a watch repair store and have it replaced. No big deal right?

Well, I'm starting to think I should just let the battery die. Let's be honest, my cell phone can do everything the watch can, and a lot more. Show the time? Check. Stop watch? Check. Calculator? Check. Store a lot of phone numbers? Check. But my phone is also a phone, a radio, a camera, a game machine, you get the idea.

So, why should I spend time and money to keep my wrist watch going? I even have a Casio Tough Solar watch I bought as a back-up a few years ago I can wear - I haven't had to replace the batteries on that watch once yet (does it even have a battery?) It would also be one jess thing to carry. What do you guys think? Has the wrist watch gone the way of the vacuum tube? Have many of you guys already ditched your watches?

The watch is the only piece of jewelry a man can wear, though this doesn't really apply to a Casio Data Bank..

And once a year is way too often for battery replacement, even a watch that sees a lot of use should make it at least three.

StarHalo said:

The watch is the only piece of jewelry a man can wear, though this doesn't really apply to a Casio Data Bank...

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Actually, that's not true. I always wear one of these when I travel:


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Don't give up on the wristwatch!

Wear the Casio Tough Solar - it does have a battery - but is recharged by the solar.

If replacing the battery every year is your worry - try this on: My daily watch is currently a Garmin fenix. I have to recharge it by USB every 6 weeks if I use it just as a watch, but each night if I use it as a full GPS (which is what it is, really).

If you love your DataBank, don't throw it away for a smartphone...

BruiseLee said:

Actually, that's not true. I always wear one of these when I travel:


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I had a watch that used a battery every year and when it finally needed a new crystal for the second time I shopped around to get a 5 year lithium battery based watch from Casio and it runs for longer than the watches usually hold out. I'm on my second watchband on the current watch with the original battery I had one lasting over 7 years and had a broken pin holder for the band so I tossed it in a drawer and haven't checked it could still be running. Any more I wouldn't buy a watch that the battery needs changing often and I wouldn't buy one that I couldn't do it myself.

I'm of mixed opinion on using a cell phone as a watch. While almost everyone carries one and they generally get very accurate time from the network, it's nowhere near as casual nor expedient a movement to check time on a cell vs a watch. There's also the perception - check your watch and you clearly want to know what time it is ... whip out the cell and someone else might think you're texting or about to play angry birds.

Depends on your age and your environment I suppose.

I have a cheap(ish) Casio solar G-shock that's been going strong for more than a year without any special effort on my part to keep it charged. It's nothing fancy visually, but quite steady. Not sure what the replacement interval is for the rechargeable battery that runs it - suspect the watch housing may have given up the ghost by time that needs replacing.

StarHalo said:

The watch is the only piece of jewelry a man can wear.....

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That is my reason. I like to wear them, and different ones as the mood strikes. Using my cell phone for time just feels so tacky.

Bill

It's a lot easier to look at a watch on my wrist rather than drag my phone out of my pocket.

Norm

I know one thing a cellphone cannot do that a watch can on a wrist...look goooood! Don't bring up watch phones because they look terrible.

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Well, I came up with anther reason to wear a watch. Support you local watch repair guy! I was actually leaning towards not replacing my watch battery, when I walked by a watch repair shop while I was doing some Christmas shopping. I asked the local merchant how much to replace the battery, and he said $8.00, so I said what the heck. He was a nice guy, second generation, his dad owned the shop about 30 years ago!

Having said that, this is probably the last time I'll do it. I had him give me the old battery, so I guess I can try and do it myself next time. I may not even bother. I just figured I should copy down those 150 numbers down just in case I had something important stored there.

Get a citizen and never worry about a battery again.

Or a Seiko Kinetic.......

I replace my watch with the same model every 3-5 years - Casio Edifice analog/digital combo. I know, not the best use of money but it's pretty cheap on Ebay around $30. The band breaks beyond repair or just gets too beat up but I really like it. I've worn a watch every single day of my life since 1st grade, so I could never replace it. It's on your wrist for the day, there's no dead battery (well...), can't be misplaced and quickly viewed.

Reliability could also be an issue with the phone. Often when I'm backpacking along Lake Michigan I'm picking up central time throwing me off an hour. I guess a tower's signal bleeding from Wisconsin. No big deal really since that's when time matters the least to me, but you get the idea. And just a few weeks ago I was in southern Indiana on the Ohio River and it would jump back and forth from Eastern to Central time every few minutes. Very annoying!

I like watches. I just used a phone for years but ended up getting into watches again. I love automatic watches. So technically you don't need batteries as long as you keep wearing it to keep it going. Many do require maintenance, which can be costly. If you want simple and cheap, get a Seiko or Citizen auto.

Many activities you want to know the time, but don't want to bring a phone along.
Never leave my bedroom without a watch on my wrist.
In a meeting you can casually glance at your wrist, not so easy to turn on your phone & check the time.

BruiseLee said:

I just figured I should copy down those 150 numbers down just in case I had something important stored there.

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If you're also carrying a cell phone, why aren't the numbers stored there?

Launch Mini said:

In a meeting you can casually glance at your wrist, not so easy to turn on your phone & check the time.

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That's a good point; if you're in an area where your cell is supposed to be off, you can't keep pulling out your phone to check the time..

The thing that cell phone proponents intentionally fail to mention is the fact that it takes 1.5 seconds for someone to tell the time using a wristwatch-- any time, anywhere, in any position...as often as one likes.

With a cell phone, however, you have to dig it out of your pocket, then look at it, then put it back into your pocket. That takes 4+ seconds and annoys me. I also hate digging my cell phone out of my pockets, which are difficult to access while sitting. I mean, we are talking about time savings and ease of life, right? So yes, the difference between 1.5 seconds to look at a wristwatch versus 4+ seconds to dig out, read, and put away a cell phone does matter, correct? Glad we agree. I win this discussion and therefore you will continue to invest in a watch and not purely a cell phone.

No cellphone ever and I mean EVER, can replace a good wristwatch for me. If the battery thing is your main concern, well, ther are countless great alternatives out there. If only telling the time is important to you, a simple mechanical Seiko 5 (lots of great models from that series) is all you will ever need. If you are looking for a digital watch again, I recommend to get one with a CR20xx Lithium battery (preferably a CR2025 or CR2032). A Lithim battery powered watch will run 10, some even 15 years (depending on use and capacity of the cell of course) . My experiences with solar watches have been rather bad, so I won't recommend those, but they are still better than all those tiny silver-oxide button cells powered watches.


cheers

Numerous reasons why a wrist watch still beats a cellphone. Biggest one being that the battery in your watch isn't going to go dead if you use your cellphone or forget to recharge it one day when you step out to head to work.

I have been wearing the same Seiko automatic chronograph for 44 years since buying it in Taiwan while in the military. Had it cleaned and adjusted about 20 years ago. LOL Been thinking about buying a new Seiko digital but why retire a working piece of gear?