GW4000 and GW-A1000

[chrisek]

Only took one photo this morning for Rutteger, let me go more in depth tomorrow and flesh this out if that's OK by all.



Because of lead times for production, etc. I feel the 4000 was merely a stepping stone to the 1000. The 4000 introduced tough movement, 3-G Resist (though that feature was much more publicized on the 1000), and the case/bezel size and straps the 1000 uses. If you don't already know, the straps are interchangeable. While the case was adapted to accommodate the requirements of the smart access (crown, etc).

 

[chrisek]

OK, using camera but still a little quick and dirty. I wanted to show some differences but also some similarities between the GW-A1000 and the GW4000. At this time my only 1000 is a special edition RAF model. I will be working around it's uniqueness pointing out features across all the 1000's. I'll be using two different 4000's to show different things. You might be wondering why the time is slightly different, in this part of the world we are too far away from any of the towers to sync. Here they are together:



The bracelet 4000 (GW4000D) has a face similar in color to the GW-A1000RAF, so I will be pairing these to up for the face and bezel. The orange 4000 (GW4000-1A4) has a similar band to the 1000 and is easier to photo the caseback with. First the face of the 4000.



Whichever version of the 4000 you look at, the face is nice. You will see marks on my watches as they are a "wearing" collection . So you look around the ring and see the city codes, then into the bezel under the crystal nice chunky markers or "tines" and onto the face itself. The upper left subdial is really to establish AM and PM. Very useful when you are changing time zones or recovering from a crazy/messy night. The lower right subdial is your world time you set up. and on the right is the subdial that is the most awkward yet the arrow makes it visually interesting. I feel this re-worked subdial is one of the nicer advantages of the 1000, but I'll get to that. This arrow tells you the mode you are in, the hundredth of a second on the stopwatch, and the day of the week. It is really easy to get lost on which mode you are in with this watch.



On the 1000 we'll again start from the outside ring, again the city codes, then inside to the innder bezel, markings for temperature, and the stylized "tines" (which I happen to like a lot) under the crystal. You'll notice we are down to two subdials, the 24hr up top, and the reconfigured mode/day of the week subdial below. That lower subdial is just so much more intuitive to use, but less interesting than the arrow. But that is where the stylizing of the face and the raised horizontal section come in to add some interesting features. Also there are a few different sets of hands on the 1000's to further spice it up and differentiate the models within the range.

"But what about the stopwatch, how does that work now?" Ahhh, now you've hit on the true showmanship of this series. I think it started on the 4000, but it is ready for primetime on the 1000! Here is a Tanaka video showing the operation of the watch and the strikingly awesome "flyback" feature of the stopwatch. It's OK, go to the fridge, get a beverage and a snack, and watch the video if you haven't seen it. I'll be right here.

 

[chrisek]

Impressed? I know I was when I first saw it! OK, on to some of the other stuff, like the buttons. The buttons on the 4000 are almost hidden. You can see some visual influences from current Frogs, but they are not the same.



See what I mean? Nice and all, but nothing like: "Dude, you need to see the buttons on this watch!". The 1000 is more like that I'm happy to say.



That center button on the 1000 also known as a Crown is the new OS for the watch. It is a huge upgrade over the 4000 that cannot be understated. For me, it's use is easily overstated though as I don't use many features on my analogs and do not think to. Maybe as I "grow" in my usage of the watch, it will become more valuable to me. I readily admit the 4000 is awkward, but the fact is that if it is your only watch you will master it and it will be "normal" for you not slowing you down at all. Again, since I just look at the watch and the time I do not run into it's limitations too often.

The buttons on the other side of both watches are boring, let me blast through the photos here:



and the 1000:



The casebacks. Well, let me just show you. If you do not know, then you are in for a treat. First the 4000, pretty much what you would expect from a Casio non-screwback.



Now for the 1000



WOW! That has to be the nicest 4 screw caseback I've seen! On this piece, the picture is the 1,000 words and I do not have to add. I love cool casebacks. Count this one twice!

For whatever reason, people just don't want to believe the bands are the same and interchangeable. I'm tired of this fight. I'll just show the photos. First the 4000:



Then the 1000:



"oh, they're totally different, the 1000 is grey". Yeah, well that's just the RAF, the others are black other than the new FC-2. Mind you, that new combi bracelet on the "FC" 1000's is cool! And they happen to fit the 4000's since the bands are interchangeable.

OK, thoughts and observations shared. I know quite a few of you have both, so I am looking for further comments/conversation. There is no question from me that the 1000 is the cooler version of the watch, I just feel the value of the 4000 is heavily under-rated.

 

[rutteger]

Thanks for taking the time to do the side by side comparison Chris. When lined up like that I'd certainly agree the GW-A1000 looks like a step on from the GW-4000. The caseback and buttons especially look heaps better.

How do you find the smart access system? Is it intuitive? Guess that's one issue with owning a few Gs / watches, when I wear one with a more complex set of functions (like the Giez I have on now) I generally can't recall which lenghty series of button presses I need to do to access a certain function.

 

[chrisek]

The easiest way for me to tell you is through my own example. The most frustrating experience i had was with my 1st GW4000. I purchased it at an AD (Macy's) and it somehow didn't sync on it's way out to the island. I spent TWO days setting the time. Had the infamous resetting to an incorrect time overnight when it couldn't sync. I learned it pretty solid though.
I had pre-ordered my RAF and it is a Japanese release. Which means it came with a Japanese manual (i don't read or speak Japanese) and while it did sync in Japan, i was able to set city code in the car. Much more intuitive. Much easier.

 

[rutteger]

The easiest way for me to tell you is through my own example. The most frustrating experience i had was with my 1st GW4000. I purchased it at an AD (Macy's) and it somehow didn't sync on it's way out to the island. I spent TWO days setting the time. Had the infamous resetting to an incorrect time overnight when it couldn't sync. I learned it pretty solid though.
I had pre-ordered my RAF and it is a Japanese release. Which means it came with a Japanese manual (i don't read or speak Japanese) and while it did sync in Japan, i was able to set city code in the car. Much more intuitive. Much easier.

Nice. Assume you get no sync in Hawaii ? If I ever get the funds for an aviator based on this thread definitely going to hang out for a GW-A1000