EEVblog

[@pjakobs]

I wish you could bring someone in for an interview who hast designed a product like this and go through the product and their memories together.

[@EEVblog]

It would be great

[@francoisdastardly4405]

Fantastic idea.

[@airmann90]

I gotta throw some thanks to you for teaching me all kinds of stuff about electronics. You've helped me work through tons of books by either helping me with concepts or helping me with the traps for young players lol. You, applied science and w2aew have me addicted to building things in my lab. Thanks for all your great vids, I'm gonna watch this one now!

[@EEVblog]

Glad to hear, thanks.

[@Mirandorl]

As its a metal casio watch strap aka a wrist epilator, you know have at least 5 less hairs on your arm

[@Spector_NS5_RD]

ouch.....ouch.......ouch.

[@EEVblog]

In my best Maxwell smart voice "and loving it"

[@Mirandorl]

@@EEVblog From the moment you put that watch on, your wrist hairs will be in constant danger of plucking! Lets hope they come out leaving a nice EEV Blog logo :)

[@xenonram]

@Dave Micolichek it's those weird metal tank track style watches, not regular watch bracelets. The stretchy/bungee style bands were even worse.

[@thekaiser4333]

That is how we detect capitalist spy. Look for missing hair on left wrist.

[@DextersTechLab]

Great vid Dave, never seen that model before. It's amazing how many watch models Casio pumped out in the 80s and they were usually pretty reasonably priced too, perfect for schoolyard bragging rights!

[@EEVblog]

I love to know the number of models produced in the decade!

[@Pommster]

My favourites were the thermometer watches.

[@thanthanasiszamp4707]

@@EEVblog why you didn't show the microprocessor of the watch?

[@xenonram]

I don't know where you went to school, but kids were mean to kids with calculator watches. Certainly not "schoolyard bragging rights."

[@RedTopProductions]

Wow! I've completely annihilated so many electronics by dissecting and tinkering with them and inevitably break some tiny fragile connection or component and don't understand it well enough to repair it...yet I've also fixed a number of things in the process. Watching you de-construct such a legacy piece of precision equipment from the 80s seemingly with ease... I'm so jealous. I strive to meet your skill level, Mr. EEV Blog! Keep up the great content, folks like me learn a lot from them!

[@zx8401ztv]

I had the one with the tiny rubber buttons, you needed a matchstick to do calculations :-D. Casio was always clever.

[@thedave7760]

I always wanted a calculator watch for cheating in math exams but they went allowed obviously, with this watch it would have been possible because of stealth.

[@raindogred]

I've been a Casio fanboy since primary school. I'm 54 in May. Currently sporting the Casio world timezone watch (with 31 timezones) which I have been wearing continuously for 5 years. Invaluable if you live overseas and travel a lot. The beauty of a casio is the price. When the battery dies, throw them in your junk box and buy another. Far cheaper than the bother of having battery change and pressure test, which will cost you more than purchase price if done at a jewellers :) They have zero coolness factor!! They are a functional workhorse, and you don't get upset if the band breaks and you lose them, or break them..they get the job done... you just go out and replace them.

[@DejanTesic]

I understand where you're coming from, but throwing away perfectly good watches (and things in general) is wasteful. That will be the downfall of our civilisation.

[@cuteswan]

+Dejan Tesic Perhaps one of many, _many_ things that will be the downfall of human civilization. However at least the alien archaeologists will be happy we left them so much to work with. ;)

[@raindogred]

Actually not throw any iaway. They are in a junk box here at home. Some could be considered collectible..i should see what they are worth on ebay..maybe a few bob to be had :). Point taken about our disposable society we have these days. I don't buy the theory the world will be screwed by putting this stuff in landfill, thats a semi-responsible way to dispose of our trash. I recently returned from living 5 years in sumatra..there they don't even have landfill tips..same as the rest of Indonesia and plenty of the worlds poor countries. Garbage is burnt or thrown in creeks and rivers..most ending in the ocean. Ocean's are full of plastic, horribly fished out due to zero regulations..decimated in much of SE Asia. The land has been stripped for palm oil /cocoa/coffee production, oil and coal mining. Animal species are dying off as we speak as there is little habit for them to survive in. Fireants bought in container ships are killing native species of insects, which has impacted bird populations, bees...thing i noticed the most was silence in the mornings up there...no bird noises, whereas here in Australia you wake up to crows, galahs (at least my place). anyways imho, we have a lot more to worry about than stuff ending up in landfill. Anyways on that happy note...

[@scotshabalam2432]

I always bought into the Timex sales line "Takes a lickin'" and to their credit my Timexs' only reasons for retirement were dead battery, worn appearance, and better functioning/looking model. Timex is a decent price too.

[@Peter_S_]

I had one of those back in 1983-1984. The electrodes are not etched into the glass. A layer of clear conductive material is deposited on top of the glass and the electrodes are etched into that. I scratched the face on mine and to use the calculator with all the keys I had to fill in the scratch with pencil lead before use.

[@MarianKeller]

They etch the ITO-coating, that's what he meant.

[@WanJae42]

lol. Exactly the same here. Watch was a present from my parents and they were pissed I put a scratch on it within days of receiving it.

[@johanlaurasia]

Yep, had one back in the day. In '83, I was just out of high school, and my "rich" friend had one, and I asked how much it was and was surprised to hear it was so affordable. Even with my just out of high school, low wage that I earned back in the day, $30 bucks (I think I paid $25 actually) was really affordable. I liked calculator watches, but didn't get one because it just screamed GEEK with the keyboard and all, but the TC-500 and it's fancy pantsy capacitive touch screen was as high tech as you could get, and, like you said, didn't look like a calculator watch, and so I was able to have the on-wrist ability to calculate w/o the Geekburger with cheese look. I think I owned two or three of them throughout the years as they'd wear out or I'd loose it, but it was easily replaced. Definitely takes me back to my early geek days for sure. Great teardown as I never got much past the main cover to replace the battery, and its very interesting to see the technology employed back then to make it all happen.

[@rich1051414]

It saddens me that 'geek' is an insult. This is mostly an issue in the US, it is taboo to be smart.

[@thedave7760]

@@rich1051414 The only people who think that geek is an insult are NERDS.

[@johanlaurasia]

@@rich1051414 There's a difference between smart and geek. I'm smart, but I don't look, act or dress geeky.

[@GamingWithNikolas]

@@rich1051414 I think it's because the u.s. education system, in general culture is prioritizing muscle and appearance over brains. I would say that's the country's biggest problem. This country is just sad.

[@rich1051414]

@@GamingWithNikolas Why would anyone be jealous of constantly being socially abused? They are scared, not jealous.

[@tonerotonero1375]

Always loved the Casio watches. They were always introducing nicely finished sophisticated and innovative stuff. You own a jewel, thanks for sharing.

[@radry100]

This must be the most epic digital watch ever

[@clazy8]

Most of what Dave says goes over my head. I think I watch these videos mainly because I get a kick from his enthusiasm. Thanks, Dave!

[@EEVblog]

Go buy a multimeter and oscilloscope and join in the fun

[@bovinespongiformflu]

I always wonder how much engineering time goes into building something like this.

bovinespongiformflu and without the help of a computer nor cad tools

[@scotshabalam2432]

I would think after it's designed the real engineering has only just begun. The next step is designing a system for mass production and I think Casio was better at this than designing the watches.

[@dtiydr]

@ They had cad tools and computers but not near as advanced as today.

[@dtiydr]

Think that you have to invent something that doesnt exist, it takes years.

[@thorham1346]

@ - No CAD tools? No computers? There's a computer in the the actual watch.

[@randynovick7972]

Man, I totally wanted one of these, back in high school. A real trip down memory lane. Thanks!

[@deltoid77-nick]

$29 in 1983 → $73.11 in 2018

[@mishelklauce]

but in the reality it's vintage -> very many $.

[@userPrehistoricman]

Could you buy a similar watch today at the same price?

[@JamesPotts]

It was $79.99. books.google.com/books?id=f0Hw30gTTckC&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=casio+tc-500&source=bl&ots=6mcsOVkZuv&sig=RIVZuzYUom8RZ6guGCxfmA5lL0g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwij-bHY1N3fAhVoooMKHbMiC0UQ6AEwGHoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=casio%20tc-500&f=false

[@mishelklauce]

@Spiritpoweredinternet where? pls give me url.

[@gustavfenk4021]

I hope that you did that calculation on a calculator watch.

[@flymypg]

During this era Casio briefly had a calculator watch on the market where you drew the digits over the face using a finger. The touch consistency and the stroke recognition both sucked, so the product was promptly withdrawn. For me, the big downside of calculator watches was they were always stuck on the arm! I often needed to write and calculate simultaneously, which a watch made impossible.

[@EEVblog]

Oooh, product part number?

[@Damien.D]

@@EEVblog kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5m5cqanncubp7c

[@Damien.D]

@@EEVblog All the best things are(were?) definitely made in Japan...

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

BobC Did you wear the calculator on the wrong arm?

[@captainwin6333]

@@johnfrancisdoe1563 Maybe he's just got the one arm which would suck for, ahem, 'one handed surfing'.

[@TobyDeshane]

Loving the Microgramma typeface on the virtual calc buttons. It's such a great font; timelessly futuristic.

[@arthurbesnard1536]

I would wear this one without hesitation, still a big fan of casio watch ...

[@otakujhp]

Jesus, you count fast.

[@maxsnts]

I had a CFX-400. I loved that thing.

[@davidf2281]

Dave is a man who still thinks digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

[@zx8401ztv]

Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy? :-)

[@somedude4122]

They are.

[@Intermernet]

​@@zx8401ztv "my left arm's come off too.' A frightening thought struck him: 'Hell,' he said, 'how am I going to operate my digital watch now?"

[@zx8401ztv]

Intermernet LOL yep he was a silly sod and a tea-a-holic. 'Is there any tea on this space ship?' Mind you, i'm a tea-a-holic too :-D

[@iRepairElectronics]

amazing, i cant remember ever seeing SMD's back then, or flex printed resistors for that matter. such a great find. thanks for sharing this one.

[@westelaudio943]

Panasonic "Mr. Thin" radio from 1977, already used tons of SMD components. That's the earliest instance of them in everyday electronics I know of.

[@XFolf]

This is one sick af watch/calc. I love all the beyond careful hand soldering. Just beautiful.

[@GonzaloCobos]

Hi Dave! What a cute watch! I wanted to comment about the rubber strip connector having so many (more than needed) wires. It's mainly for two reasons, one to avoid misalignment between the two ends, the other is that each of the single wires must be thinner than the separation between traces on the PCB, to avoid the rubber strip to short-circuit them.

[@ptronix]

Been waring casio watches since 79, love them! I now have the radio controlled one so always exactly right

[@bluerizlagirl]

I used to have one of those watches! I won it in a charity auction, on the local wireless. It lasted about 10 years, before the touch screen failed. I remember it could display the time VCR-wise

[@douro20]

Trimmer cap in the back for fine adjusting the quartz oscillator...you almost never see that anymore

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

douro20 They quickly figured out how to do this on-chip via menus.

[@douro20]

@@johnfrancisdoe1563 Any of the better quartz movements will have a trimmer for fine adjustment.

[@macieksoft]

It's easier to do by software, no need for any extra parts that you have to fit in there.

[@stevesibaja3123]

Casio Watch Technology of the 80's Era

[@arsen3783]

A thing of beauty! I love old watches.

[@funnlivinit]

I've got one of those in a drawer somewhere. I never wore it because the wristband always ripped the hair out of my arm!

[@kermit30au]

Got this watch in 1983 and still have it in the original case. In calculator mode the recessed button silences the calculator beeps and in time mode press and hold the mode button to alternate time/calculator display.

[@EEVblog]

Nice!

[@timothylynch1380]

Thank you for posting this and taking me back to my childhood. I saved up my paper route money and bought a Casio Touch by the end of the year they came out. Which was actually in 1982. I know it was 1982, because I had it for Winter and the next Summer (1983) I wrecked my bicycle playing chicken with friends, broke my arm and scratched the screen on pavement. While the clock, alarm and chrono all worked, the calc was dead. Central Ohio, it cost me $299us. I only wish it was $29.99 :). Mine was all chrome though. I can't remember if it was a TC-500. Mine said Casio Touch on the top. We got a lot of electronics "early" in Central Ohio. I think it's because we were also a food test market for brands like McDonald's, Borden, Kroger, Big Bear, Pepsi, Coke, etc.

[@Saxie81]

Anyone else see the spot on the camera lol. Love ya Dave. I had one of these watches given from my Father. Still works!

[@EEVblog]

Noticed that during editing

[@SeanBZA]

Still using a Seiko from around that era. The watch would be no longer manufacturable, not because the design files and moulds are not around ( they would be on paper and the moulds probably in an archive, and also used partly for other models) but the machinery to make the LCD display, the IC fab to do the custom ultra low power CMOS ASIC no longer exist, though they would probably still have the original photoliths for the LCD and the original mask set for the ASIC. But the actual machinery to make them would have been repurposed over the years , upgraded and replaced. Biggest thing would be the LCD, as that uses 3 layers of glass in it, one in the middle that is ultra thin and coated both sides with ITO, and then 2 regular LCD panel glass layers. However, it is likely there is a warehouse, inside the Casio company, that has a few hundred of the spares to make complete units sitting in a corner.

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

SeanBZA There are still factories making 4000-series CMOS logic. One of those should be able to run the Casio ASIC masks.

[@atmel9077]

A recent low power microcontroller could probably do the job.

[@ewcm1878]

@seanBZA cool story bro.

[@TheRetroBen]

I really enjoyed this video, when I was in 3rd grade some one had one of these watches and I was amazed at the technology back then and to see it now in the tear down was just great. As a kid I was always fascinated with technology and electronics, and so that is what I did for a job for many years repairing electronics of all types in a repair center , until around 1999-2000 when everything just about went to throw away and buy new :( I ended up shifting my career to computers which at that time was just a hobby. Keep up the great videos!!

[@jamescaperelliiii4620]

The 80s was a special time for me. I truly believe it was the "hockey stick" point of the digital revolution. In those days I read everything I could about personal computers (dreaming about owning my own since the late 70s), programming, and the latest technology. Each year (just prior to Christmas) I could not wait to see what new products Sony and Casio had to offer for us consumers. And at the end of the day I think most of us owned something Casio since it was affordable.

[@TheMrVicist]

Casio stuff was the absolute bees knees when I was a kid in the 80's. We loved it.

[@richardgoebel226]

That is one for the trophy case.

[@W0mpa]

I got a Seiko "Running Man" from the 80s. And I love it! Digital vintage watches are the real deal!

[@shyleshsrinivasan5092]

MIB wore them ? That's still modern enough ! Thanks a lot for this tear down sir !

[@JerryEricsson]

I still have several Casio watches, however my calculator watch went with my son to college, and I haven't seen it again, not sure if he still has it or lost it, you know how wild those college kids were back in the 90's.

[@bobwhite137]

Just a quick note about the overflow results... When you get the E overflow, take a look at the decimal point. If you shift it 8 places to the right you’ll get the proper magnitude. Still only 8 digit mantissa but you effectively get a max exponent of 16.

[@BigDaddy_MRI]

I had both of the watches you mentioned here. Love this vid, brings me back to my younger years. I used the CFX-400 a lot, but the use of the scientific part took a bit of time to be comfortable with. I had that watch for about 2-3 years, and then, when I started working on MRI system, I would take it off when the MR magnet was on, and somebody grabbed it along with my beeper, and that was all there was to it. I gave my best friend the "4 banger" TC-500 (which was in perfect shape, no scratches, no dings) when he lost his watch into a lake, and that is an interesting story too. I like the Casio "WaveCeptor" watch, and I have about 4 of them all working perfectly. I like that watch a lot, because every night at around 12 midnight, it will set its time via Fort Collins, Colorado's WWVB signal. You know. The one that was created in 1945, and our ever so smart POTUS is considering cutting funding for keeping the station on the air. Also, considering killing the atomic clock there also. UGH. Don't get me started. {bleep, bleep, bleep idiot....} Love the video, and thanks!!

[@ChrisG3253032]

Nice. Always been a fan of Casio. I have a gold Casio calculator/databank watch. DBC-611G module 3228. A Chinese vintage reproduction I think. The calendar goes from 2000-2099. Has 13 languages, 5 alarms, auto-illumination function.....tilt 40degrees and the light goes for 1.5sec. And holds 25 name/phone number contacts. Dual time, stopwatch, day date etc. Gold colour metal case w/ matching metal bracelet strap. Pity it's not an original made in Japan watch, but I really like the look of it and it cost only $59(NZ).

[@elm9391]

Amazing watch, bringing back memories, My father was wearing the same when he was alive. So sad i never get it from him.

[@KanalFrump]

The dual layer LCD is such a neat trick. I wonder if OLED fabs can make segmented , transparent two-layer sandwiched displays with individually selected emission wavelength for each layer and the light from one layer shining through the next.

[@PecanPie1102]

The Casio Data Bank was the ultimate best. I had it for 10 years

[@hugeshows]

Hey Dave, if you love that watch you'll want to replace that O-ring with a fresh one. Sweat and gunk, which you saw when you opened it, will make its way in and corrode things faster than you think. Now that it's been opened, bad things can happen if it's not cleaned of all that gunk and properly re-sealed.

[@atmel9077]

The LCD is (probably) made out of two stacked LCD glasses, but as in a normal LCD there probably are only two polarizers. The liquid crystals shift the polarization by 90 degrees but are transparent, and the symbols thus appears on the top polarizer, so you can't see the two layers.

[@pault6533]

Great overview Dave. I lusted after the next great Casio in my pre-teens and would save allowance money. I can't believe I missed this one, perhaps I was lusting after cars and girls by then. I share your enthusiasm for calculators and 80's technology.

[@petroldevo9934]

I seen those watches back in the early 80's. Never owned one, though i did own the black casio with the regular keypad. They were amazing for their time, especially that watch with the touch screen. Cool watch.

[@TheShivABC]

Awesome vid, brings back great memories, I still have my cfx-400 to this day, although the watch band part is broken I can't seem to toss a great piece of vintage tech

[@TheShivABC]

@Lassi Kinnunen The band is not the problem the hole is broken out in one of the catches

[@EEVblog]

It's still worth big money broken

[@TheShivABC]

@@EEVblog Awesome, good to know!

[@ScottEvans-vk7hse]

In 1985 I was envious of the guy next to me who had the Casio 400 scientific calculator watch! Until tragedy struck during tee-ball and it was destroyed by some rather impressive between base running resulting in the watch being destroyed!

[@NetworkXIII]

I was surprised to learn that Casio still sells calculator watches. I owned a Texas Instruments calculator watch in the 80s, I wish I had stockpiled a pallet of them.

[@cuteswan]

The big question is: Did Dave remember to put the spring back in the piezo hole before he closed up the watch? If not, maybe he can put the spring in his electronic safe so he won't lose it… ever. (50 Internet Points to anyone who remembers that precious teardown moment. 😊) Thanks for the great teardown & discussion, Dave.

[@timmgiles]

Great video Dave, interesting for us 'younguns' who remember and saw the watch but were not able to own one back in the 80s or take it apart. In terms of the hardware design, did they just draw it out, have it stamped out of a metal sheet, bend it, try to fit it, rinse and repeat? Its hard to comprehend how they managed to take in to account all the bends and still manage to end up with something that fits together better than most of what we buy today.

[@Petertronic]

Stunning watch. I found the 2 layer LCD fascinating - I've never seen that in anything else and it seems to be very effective, so I wonder why it didn't catch on?

[@tenlittleindians]

Damned you Dave! You got me hunting for a replacement watch on eBay. I must have wore out the buttons on at least five different Casio calculator watches in the 80's.

[@talaminia]

highly collectable now, nice find.

[@WacKEDmaN]

i had one of the casio watch calcs back in the day...cant remember which model...pritty sure it was just a 4 banger..but with physical buttons...iirc i pulled it apart to see how it worked...and it never worked again...and i got my ass kicked by my parents for screwing it!...thanks for the retro memories Dave! :P

[@Zadster]

Casio were absolutely on fire at this point in the 1980s, both their calculators and their watches had some superb design and functionality. It seemed though, when they made the IR remote control and data bank watches that they just lost interest somehow. Such a shame that they didn't progress to a full dot matrix display and programmability. I wonder if the core design team retired or moved on to something else instead? Always preferred the CFX-200 form factor, even without the hex conversion, having physical buttons rather than ZX81 type "touch" keys seemed so much better.

[@scotshabalam2432]

The 80's was a great time to be making wrist watches period they were in extremely high demand. Seiko, Casio, Swatch, Timex, and others were all doing well.

[@truthseeker3907]

Thank You and Keep up the Good Work! Thumbs up Indiana USA.

[@ryche.rising]

I Had and loved my DBX-100 for over a decade. But this touchscreen was amazing.

[@trulyspinach]

Well, still looks better than Apple Watch

[@Palikroked87]

I'll take a Casio over an Apple watch anytime, or i'd sell the damn overpriced piece of crap and buy a couple of Casio watches with that money instead

[@tzisorey]

My favourite watch was the Casio DB50 - it wasn't a calculator, but it had the ability to hold 50 schedules (like alarms, but for a specific date, with arbitrary text you could set) and 50 phone numbers - and the ability to generate the DTMF tones to automatically dial those numbers. Came in handy, back in the days before mobile phones.

[@EEVblog]

Wow, didn't know about the DTMF

[@tzisorey]

Yeah, it came out of a speaker between the Back and Forward buttons on the face of the watch - I was going through boarding school at the time, so having easy access to important phone numbers was really handy. And don't tell anyone, but the "incoming call only" phones at the school were just ordinary Telstra TouchPhone100 with the keypad replaced with a blank plate, so if you had *other* ways of generating the DTMF.... ;)

[@victorpalacios1017]

So awesome for the time, casio is a master, thank you for sharing such detailed video. I have the DBC-600 and the vdb-200 but this one shown is so cool.

[@hemanthkumarreddymedapati5887]

Feels like epic... Even now there is a market for thus kind... I love it

[@EEVblog]

Agreed, I'd buy a new one

[@richardbrobeck2384]

Well Dave I have always loved Casio and old Timex watches I have a collection of them .Anyway thanks for sharing

[@kevinvo3843]

I have the successor 1986 model of the Casio watch you have, the TC-600. It has the same exact dimensions and module, different bracelet, but no front black plastic bezel. Bought it broken without a screen and replaced it with a screen from another non-working TC-600. I wear it daily but the touchscreen doesn't register any of my touches even though there are no heavy scratches on the glass screen. May get around to fixing it in the future.

[@electronicsNmore]

I remember that watch......I was 11.

[@AntonyTCurtis]

Casio had a great repair centre in London which would repair their watches even years after the warranty had ended. I broke the case of my databank watch and they were able to replace the case. Fast, efficient and strangely deserted little repair centre.

[@peterr.7429]

Happy New Year , wow EEV Horology channel, I love it ... perhaps a review of a Patek Philippe next? Great video as always, thank you for posting

[@martinda7446]

Dave Jones...Casio....Yep, that makes sense.

[@kieferonline]

I was wearing a Casio watch when I started this video. It's a Casio DBC-32. It's got the basic 4 math functions and can the phone numbers of up to, get this, 25 of your closest friends! Who needs Facebook when Casio's got you covered?

[@thisnthat3530]

I had the Casio Tele Memo 50 - it could store 50 phone numbers with names (max 8 chars + 12 digits). The case ended up snapping near the band mount. It lasted about 10 years. I haven't worn a watch since.

[@-Dash-]

Awesome. I just found this video as I wanted to know what battery to buy for my Dads old TC-600 which is basically the same, so thanks for sharing this info.

[@Meatlips527]

Holy crap! I had that watch when I was a kid! It got one teeny tiny scratch on the display and that ended like three numbers. The scratch was really small too, but you could see it severed three of the embedded contact lines in the screen. I was really disappointed.

[@reprapmlp]

Not specifically related to the watch, Dave: I trust you regularly get your skin checked - the closeups show what looks like a lot of sun damage on the back of your hands and wrists. (I grew up in NQ and it's _really_ a big deal there; perhaps not so much in Sydney.)

[@IvanStepaniuk]

I still have the all-plastic version! Unfortunately, even a small scratch on the surface ruins the traces that makes the touch trick work.

[@EEVblog]

Didn't know they had a plastic version

[@IvanStepaniuk]

@@EEVblog the TC-50. There was a also a really nice TC-600. The design really stayed relevant, IMO.

[@Zodliness]

That's pretty cool, in my younger days I proudly wore a Casio WR DBC32 database watch!.... It was horrible to use with shovel-like hands! It's a far cry from the Galaxy watch I use nowadays!

[@robertgaines-tulsa]

I was five years old in 1983. It was an interesting time to be alive. I only got to see it as a little kid though. It was around this time I saw a record player work. My brother had bought a used turntable and connected it to his boombox. The thing was like magic! Cable television was so much cooler back then too. None of that digital rubbish. The picture was grainy, but it was worth watching. Not like today. There was no IR remote either; just a wired selector box about a foot long. It was forty channels from the comfort of your lap. Cable television is just expensive garbage now. The digital and high definition doesn't save it from how crappy it has gotten.

[@danz409]

just bought a TI-108 off amazon for only $9 best nostalgia impulse buy ever.

[@jovangrbic97]

Dave you say that the watch gives an error when you multiply numbers to large to fit the screen. This isn't true, the example you tired, 25236522x5525=139431784050, is given as 1394.317E by the calculator, the E standing for 10^8.

[@Northern5tar]

Ha! This made me remember a watch I had as kid that also used the light button for other functions. Was a battery eater.

[@okaro6595]

I do not get why Casio puts the 12/24 mode for the key. Citizen has it in the time settings so you will not accidentally touch it. On my current Casio if you press it before noon, you have no way to notice as there is no AM or 24H sign. Nobody uses both modes, one uses just one of them for all time.

[@ethanpoole3443]

Okaro X On most of the displays of that period there were frequently AM/PM indicators on the LCD, and sometimes a “24”, but the “24” was much less common if there were “AM/PM” indicators since the absence of them would infer “24”. That said, many Casio LCD watches today still include at least am “A” and “P” on their display. But I think the main reason they placed 12/24 on an external button was partly because the could and partly because a watch that could be both 12 and 24 hour time was pretty novel in the 80s. Over time this setting did tend to migrate to the internal time setting programming menu rather than an external toggle. But as far as not knowing whether you were in 12 or 24 hour mode in the morning, it really did not matter and once 13:00 came around you would know you were in 24 hour mode and could just tap the toggle button if you wanted 12 hour time - though I don’t recall ever accidentally toggling the time mode despite having worn such watches from the early 80s up until the mid 90s as the buttons had to be fully depressed and required a bit of force to fully depress.

[@okaro6595]

@@ethanpoole3443 Yes, that was at the time. Current ones that I havbe have only P for PM. I have set alarm on 14:00 so I can tell which it is. I do not use the alarm and I actually silenced it. I have pressed it several times accidentally.

[@RelativisticVelocity]

Many Casio watches will activate all LCD elements when pressing all physical button simultaneously. Have you tried it on this one?

[@CyberlightFG]

I still got a cfx 400. I don't know if it's repairable. The keypad fell off and the battery is probably leaking.

[@scottfirman]

Casio was my favorite until they started making the case from chrome plated plastic. I owned 4 of them! I worked as a building maintenance person and did auto mechanics so most of my watches were ruined because I wore them all the time. One was electrocuted! One was destroyed by chemicals( carburetor cleaner) and one was busted by a pulley on a car( missed my arm anyways). My last one stopped working and after that, I found they were made with cheap plastic. I did have a caculator one and used it too. I swore if I ever found a prestine one again ( in metal) I would buy it.

[@Jedda73]

I don't understand how that thing is still running. All my Casio watches eventually died. They lost segments, or started growing mold under the glass, or simply would not come back to life after a battery change. I remember back in the early 90's paying about $50 to have my cherished watch restored, only for it to die again a short time later.

[@rahimkvayath]

wow, marvellous tech

[@ats89117]

Wearing a calculator watch in the US identified you as a super geek...

[@ethanpoole3443]

But I was a proud calculator watch wearing geek from 1981/2 onwards. Though, truthfully, for a period in the early 80s these watches were such novel geekware that even in middle school most were fascinated by the watches until they became more common and the kids more cliquish with high school.

[@scotshabalam2432]

If you wanted to be cool you wore a Swatch. www.retroland.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Swatches.jpg

[@ats89117]

Swatches were very popular with junior high and high school girls...

[@ibanezleftyclub]

I wonder if a polarized filter would help you see the glass traces better. We used to use polarized lamps to see where the plastic flowed in injection molded lenses.

[@MatthewSuffidy]

When I was little I always wanted calculator watches, then later I thought it was too geeky and got ones with hands. I still use ones with hands today...

[@Krishna-of1hv]

nice video. thank for antiquity watch video

[@pasixty6510]

times have changed... Nowadays we have expensive smart watches doing almost everything (you might consider useful) on their screens, emptying the battery in a few hours. In the eighties we had smart engineers making cheap but brilliantly built little machines like this doing something (considered) useful with a battery living for months. None of both are really useful, only nice to have... There's one significant difference besides of battery life: The watch shown here will probably work when powered on again in 30 years. The smartwatch probably won't. Great technology and also a great video. I like it.!

[@AM-dc7pv]

Fucking awesome. I remembered wanting one of these well into the 90's and by then, handheld gaming devices were getting commercial and I ended up getting a couple of those instead. Oh, the nostalgia of past glory days....

[@dtiydr]

8:34 So cool, it looks EXACTLY as in my DBA-80 bought -91, minus the round thing above the battery and the plastic bezel is non existent.

[@hi-friaudioman]

You shoukd do a side by side comparrison to an apple watch to track the improvements and differences in watch construction techniques. Idk, i think it would be cool.

[@MusicFanatical1]

Really sci-fi for 1983 but more than that I would love to get one of those CFX-400s!

[@denispol79]

Wow, that's 007 tech back in 1983!