| Product: Advizor Wrist-top Computer |
Company: Suunto |
| Web: www.SuuntoUSA.com |
Phone: ??? |
| Platform: Mount McKinley |
SRP: US$300
Street Price: same |
Cred Rating: | Special Award: |
The Suunto Advizor is the Swiss Army knife of watches. It has everything the outdoor adventurer needs. On top of the time-keeping functions, it has a digital compass, an altimeter, a barometer, a temperature gauge, and a heart-rate monitor. There is a reason Suunto doesn't call this a watch, with all the functions, it really deserves to be called a wrist-top computer.
The watch part of this wrist-top computer serves the usual time-keeping functions, as well as providing a dual time-zone display and three separate daily alarms. It also displays the date and day with the pre-programmed calendar function. No big surprises here. It's when you look at the other features that you start to see the product of Finnish ingenuity.
The altimeter displays your altitude in either feet or meters, and it's accurate to 10 meters. While the altimeter functions are based on the barometer, the altimeter is adjusted separately so that changes in pressure don't affect the altimeter. The altimeter is also adjustable, so it can be set at a reference altitude like the base of a mountain, and then it will display the difference between the reference altitude and current altitude. The altitude function also displays the rate of ascent or descent, which is really cool when going up an elevator (1000 ft/min!). It can also be set to sound an alarm when a certain altitude is reached. The Suunto keeps a record of altitudes, depending on the interval of measure, of up to 10 days, average ascent/descent rates, as well as "number of runs" for skiers.
The barometer is probably the coolest feature. It displays the current pressure in either inHg (inches of mercury) or millibars, and the LCD around the edge of the watch, which normally displays seconds, acts as a pressure gauge. While in the barometer mode, the watch also displays temperature, though if the watch is worn on the wrist, it is not accurate (body temperature affects the temperature readings, but does not affect pressure or altitude functions).
The best part of the barometric function is the small LCD graph window (visible in all modes) which displays the barometric trend - either increasing, decreasing or remaining stable over the last 6 hours. This can be used to predict the weather (in rough fashion) so long as you stay at the same elevation. The barometer also keeps a log of the past four days, so you can review the longer-term barometric trends.
The compass works like any standard compass, and displays your heading and true north. The compass can be adjusted for the difference of true north from magnetic north (declination), which changes depending on your latitude & longitude. For figuring out what the proper declination is, try GeoMagnetic Info for the Palm OS. It also has a "tracking" mode that allows you to set your heading, and display how far you've traveled off course.
Rounding out the functions is the heart-rate monitor. Working with the wireless chest strap, the watch displays your current heart-rate, and can be set to signal alarms for maximum and minimum rates. A little LCD section on the watch goes on with every heart beat. The heart-rate is viewable in the time and altimeter modes as well, so you can keep track of your heart-rate while watching your ascent. There is also a split timer and a countdown timer.
The Suunto is a marvel of technology and design. Although the watch is a little on the large side (think: G-Shock X 2) it is absolutely the coolest looking watch I've ever owned. The super-large LCD makes reading all of the functions very easy, and the controls for all the functions are handled with only four buttons in a very user-friendly way. The only complaint I have is the backlight, which is not very bright. While still readable in low-light conditions, it is not as bright as that nice Indiglo backlight that I've become so fond of. The brightness could be the result of a lack of available power because the screen is so large.
For those who don't need all the functions of the Advizor, there are other models available that offer just the compass, just the barometer/altimeter, or everything but the heart-rate monitor for between US$170 and $200.
The Suunto line of "wrist-top computers" is a solid purchase for those who want a full-featured watch for hiking, skiing, trail-running, or any outdoor activity. Now I've just got to get out more to actually make use of all of the cool features!
- Nate Heasley [7/3/00]
Check out:
Today's Tech Term
Today's Software on Cool Tool of the Day
Street Tech's Digital Living Today
|
