In my search for a bit of kit I haven't got yet I came upon these whilst in Nepal, now obviously it is a bit of a toy for your average Joe, but I still want one. So, I have been looking at the Suunto range which seem to be the standard, but are really expensive. Does anybody know what the differences are between these and the much cheaper Casio versions??

i have a suunto altimax (120 quid ish0 but i prefer my mates syncronic watch ( 50 ish)

mine does not have a compass but i dont think i would use it anyway.

I've got a Casio PRG-50. Its great and I've never had a problem with it. Its also solar powered which makes it even more of a bargain. Its accurate if calibrated regularly which is a simple task.

I've not used a Suunto so can't comment on them but will recommend the Casio to anyone that will listen!

I found my suunto from a mail order place in Mid Glam Called Time Zone

See Time Zone

or two other sites related to them
a href="http://www.specialistwatches.com" and Target=BLANK> Specialist Watches

or a href="http://www.singingchicken.co.uk" and Target=BLANK> Here

I found my suunto from a mail order place in Mid Glam Called Time Zone

See Time Zone

or two other sites related to them
Specialist Watches

or Here

The other 2 html liks work this time!

Sorry should have checked......

Ignore last site unless you require discount musical instruments!
(It was on the compliments sent with my suunto)

try Time Zone or Specialist watches

I bought my Observer from Timezone, went to the shop as I live down that way and the owner opened specially on a saturday and even knocked the cost of postage off the price (quoted prices include postage). I can't comment on how they compare with other brands, but aside from a truely feeble alarm sound I'm really happy with mine.

PS the owner at timezone was about as unbiased a salesman as I've had the pleasure of meeting, you could probably do worse than asking him what the difference between the casio's and Suuntos are. He tried very hard to sell me the MUCH cheaper altimax when I mentioned I wouldn't use the compass function - only relented when I pointed out it looks like a dinner plate on my small wrists!

PPS No, I'm not on commission, but hey I'll complain about bad service, so why not praise good!

I own a Suunto Observer and Escape 203 (not a watch) and I am very pleased with both, although if you want an alarm that you can hear, then don't buy the Observer! If you want a reasonably priced, quality electronic altimeter (and baraometer for when you're not moving around much), then I would highly recommend the Escape.

I've got an Escape 203. I looked at the watches but found them too bulky and expensive for me. I'd offer more opinions on the thing but I've not got round to working out how to use it properly yet!

Having used both Casio and Suuntos the main difference is that Casios (at least the older versions) aren't temperature compensated for altitude. When at a given altitude the temperature rises or falls (eg.when the sun comes out or a storm arrives) unless there's been a change of atmospheric pressure the reading should stay at the same hight. The Casios don't. The reading decreases as the temp. rises and increases as the temp. falls giving you a wrong altitude.
If you are using the altitude readings for navigation purposes this can cause a big problem.

My wife bought me A watch with altimeter but its based on mean barometric pressure of 1016(?) so low pressure or high its inaccurate unless you reset the barometric pressure!

I bought a casio one a few years back. As long as you check the altitude and reset when necessary when you know where you are it's been pretty accurate. In fact I've been surprised how accurate it is. I think the Sunnto ones cover a higher altitude though.
The temperature reading I find pretty pointless. Being a geek I love to know what the temperature is, but having the thermometer sensor on your wrist, your body heat throws it off. Finding out the temperature when it's really cold, the fun part, involves taking it off. The only problem with that taken away from your body heat, the cold kills the battery in short order. Does the Sunnto get round this somehow?

I have the Suunto Altimax and it's great. The user interface is a bit cludgy and it tends to need a bit of re-calibration at "lower" altitudes (i.e in the UK) but for higher stuff it's fine. IT's got a nice log book system which tracks a whole climb, tells you time and number of peaks as well as your rate of ascent / descent.

They are a little on the large side but you get used to it.

Other nice feature is it shows atmospheric pressure trends over long periods so over night you can see if the 'glass' is dropping, signalling poor weather on the way.

Only silly thing is that they have a temperature gauge. This is pointless as they are on your wrist, under you coat which means they usually read around 20 - 25 degrees C even on the summit of the Ben in winter!!

Definitely worth having but go for the basic models. Compass is a waste of time.

the thermometer on the suunto's can be quite amusing I was at around 1700m above sea level last year in Honduras and had a temperature reading of about +32, when a temp probe measured it to about 15 degrees!

If you've been working hard walking up a hill, or you've simply been in the sun, and then you check the temperature on your wrist, then of course it will read hot!

That's my point - it's a waste of time. In fact you don't need to be working hard. Just strap it to your wrist and stand still for a fwe minutes and the reading will be way off.

Thermometer is definately popintless. Copmpass. Well I wouldn't use that in anything but a dire emergency. Not sure I've even got it to work that well anyhow. Barometer is the only worthwhile part of that whole setup.