2010年7月27日星期二

Panerai PAM339 Radiomir Composite Marina Militare 8 Giorni Watch

The hardness is a little bit harder that standard zirconia ceramics, and way harder than steel. In terms of weight, Panerai Composite weighs less than titanium, and just a bit more than aluminum. In fact, the material is said to be a ceramic based on aluminum - but much harder. In reality while wearing the watch, the lightness makes itself clear. The watch doesn't feel like it weights much at all, the opposite of the standard Panerai watch feel. At 47mm wide, the PAM339 Radiomir Composite Marina Militare 8 Giorni (8 Day) watch isn't small, and again, it is very light.In images of the watch the first thing you are likely to notice is the color brown.Comparing the watch releases of SIHH 2010 and Baselworld 2010, I would have to say that for the most part I was more impressed with the releases at SIHH, and it was a significantly smaller show. Why that is I am not sure, but here is another one of the good things that I spotted. This isn't just another Panerai watch, but rather the PAM339 in a special ceramic case. While it doesn't surprise me to see Panerai going ceramic, it just sort of happened without notice.Panerai doesn't even call their material ceramic really, but rather "Composite." Why? Not sure, there must be some sneaky marketing decision. One of the reasons likely has to do with the fact that Panerai uses a different type of ceramic. It is very light, and stated to be much harder than standard ceramics.

Marvin M103 Watch Review

This is always a tricky thing. Because if you make the hands on a chronograph watch stick out too much, they obscure the chronograph, and if they are too thin, they are hard to read. The lume on the hands is thin, but existent. The Marvin M103 is not the best timepiece for night viewing, but it is manageable. The watch case is water resistant to 50 meters - enough for a watch like this. The matte black leather strap is a good match for the character of the watch, and tapers from 22mm wide at the lugs down to 18mm near the bottom for comfort. Tapered watch straps tend to be more comfortable to wear - which is why Rolex has been doing it for year with most all their metal bracelets.And with that comes some requisite polish and shine - which I like. I am going through one of those "check out my watch" phases, and I like a little sparkle. This is a trait that Marvin is good at, and the brand certainly has it down when it comes to presentation. From the packaging, to the advertising, Marvin does a fluid job at *** you feel good about getting and owning their products. Still, I need to remind you that the watches aren't available in the US, but they will be soon I predict.Usability for the watch is good. The chronograph like I said, is easy to read. The hands of the watch could use a little bit of a size increase maybe.
the strap has a really high quality made buckle - again with the Marvin logo. One reason that I keep mentioning where the Marvin logo is placed, is because many watches that don't have these "signed" piece feel too much, as though they are made from sourced watch parts (this is especially the way I feel when I see a watch strap buckle without a brand signature on it). Marvin has the feel of a more brand dedicated product that isn't part of a common parts bin. Thus you get this special attention on the crown, buckle, and on the back of the strap.Even though the watch is retro and sporty, it is still a nice watch. On the other side of the case you'll find an engraving of the initials of the original founders of the Marvin brad - a detail you find on all Marvin watches.Having a thin polished bezel gives the M103 a large look given the 44mm wide case. The sapphire crystal is raised and nicely beveled. A look that is common in Marvin watches. For another piece of brand identity you can see the red number "8" on the watch dial, as well as the color of the reserve side of the leather watch strap. Like all nice Marvin watches.

Marvin M103 Watch Review

This is done for style (to remind of a bi-compax layout), but is also there to help keep your eyes on the right dials when you are using the chronograph timing function. Using the chronograph is easy with the large classic shaped oblong pushers - while the wider and flatter than usual crown is also retro inspired. You'll love the Marvin crown logo that looks embossed into the watch crown.This watch may be a sleeper hit in the watch world - and one of my favorite Marvin watches in their current collection. It has the feeling of a classic sport chronograph watch - but in a modern package. Sized large at 44mm wide, the steel case feels solid while the leather strap feels soft. Looking at the various colors on the dial, I am reminded by one of my favorite sport chronograph watches that are no longer made. The Zenith El Primero Rainbow. The name was a bit deceiving, as it didn't have THAT many colors in it, but enough to make the dial stand out more. The Marvin M103 watch shares that look. Most of the dial is black with the steel tones, while there are splashes of red, white, and yellow.You also get the classic looking framed chronograph subdials, while the seconds subdial is not framed in a white ring.

2010年7月14日星期三

Review of the Abacus Wrist PDA (AU5005)

The first time I calibrated by Wrist PDA,I was too hasty, and I didn't tap close enough to the center of the targets whichmade the watch pretty frustrating to use since the ensuing configurationscreens have you tapping tiny arrows which are very difficult to hit if the screenhas not been calibrated properly. Don't worry, though -- if you screw up your firstattempt, you can always go back and recalibrate anytime you need to (go to "Prefs"and select "Digitizer" from the menu). Once the touch screen has been accuratelycalibrated, I found the watch to be surprisingly easy to navigate.The next thing you're going to want to do is set up the desktop software. Thereare two parts: the Palm Desktop (which you can replace with Outlook, if you want),and the HotSync Manager (the software that manages the process of synching thewatch with either Outlook or the Palm Desktop). There are a lot of different possibleconfigurations: Windows, Mac, Palm Desktop, Outlook. It might even be possible to get the watch to sync with Apple iCal and Address Book using iSync,though I didn't try it. In fact, I only tested the plain vanilla installation ofthe Palm Desktop on Windows XP Professional, and everything worked just as expected.4 MB flash ROM memory + 8MB RAM memory (7.7MB RAM available for use).Touch screen LCD with 160x160 resolution and 16-level grayscale display.Lithium-ion rechargeable battery.ApplicationsThe Wrist PDA comes with the following 12 applications installed:Address. Manage contact information. Calc. Why buy a calculator watch when you can have an entire PDA on your wrist? DateBook. Manage appointments. HotSync. Initiates the synchronizing operation with your PC. Jot. Configure Jot preferences, tune Jot for improved handwriting recognition,and practice with the Jot tutorial. MemoPad. Manage *** memos. Prefs. Configure and customize your Wrist PDA.Security. Lock your Wrist PDA, and assign a password. Skills. General tutorial on the Wrist PDA and the Palm OS. ToDoList. Manage lists of to do items. Watch. Puts the watch into watch mode (details below). Welcome. Go through the initial setup routine.Getting Started with the Abacus Wrist PDAOne of the nice things about the Wrist PDA (over, say, an MSN Direct watch) isthat you don't have to wait for it to fully charge before you can start playingwith it since it can easily be operated while charging. When you first plug thewatch in, after a couple of Palm and Fossil branding screens, you are asked tocalibrate the touch screen by tapping in the center of three little targets. Takethis step very seriously and tap as accurately as you possibly can. On full sizedPalms, it's not such a big deal, but with the Wrist PDA, you are working at sucha small scale that every pixel counts.