Review of the Casio GW

Worldtime uses the LCD at 3 o'clock to show you what time it is elsewhere in world whichallows you to keep your eye on the time in two different places as once -- imperativefor anyone who travels with any frequency.There are certain limitations on your ability to receive a time calibration signal,both here and in Japan. You might experience difficulties receiving a signal whilein a building, while moving, while near certain electronics, while under or nearhigh-tension power lines, or while in the mountains. If you don't already own anatomic clock or watch, and you are wondering if you will be able to calibrate whereyou live, you might want to buy an inexpensive atomic device at your local Targetor Wal-mart just to make sure you can indeed receive a signal before spending $300or $400 on a high-end atomic Casio.More on Atomic TimekeepingI've had much better luck calibrating this watch than I had with the GW-300forsome reason. Both watches are equally capable of receiving the radio signal (accordingto both signal strength indicators), however the GW-1100 is much more likely tointerpret the signal, and to do so much faster. I can almost always get the GW-1100to calibrate the first time I try, however the GW-300 often requires at least threetries. I even tested both watches side-by-side a couple times, and the GW-1100was always calibrated itself faster and on fewer attempts. This particular model was purchased in Kyoto, Japan (the all-black is hard tocome by in the US), and I was worried initially that it might not be able to receivethe signal broadcast from the US atomic clock since it uses a different frequencythan the clock in Fukushima. I was pleasantly surprised to learn, however, thatthis watch functions equally well in the US and Japan. The watch automaticallyadjusts based on your home city setting. If your home city setting is LAX, DEN,CHI, or NYC, the watch uses the 60kHz frequency broadcast from Fort Collins. Ifyour home city is TYO, the watch uses the 40kHz signal broadcast from Fukushima,or the 60kHz signal broadcast from Fukuoka. This is a big improvement over olderCasio atomic watches I've had which actually require you to set the frequency directly.It's worth noting that your home city setting is different from the world timefeature. Your home city is used to determine the atomic clock broadcast frequency,and your offset from GMT (the number of hours difference between where you areand Greenwich Mean Time). Your home city is a setting as opposed to a mode. Worldtime is a mode, and does not effect time calibration or the analog time.