# Timex Expedition Grid Shock Anyone?



## Tsarli (Apr 13, 2007)

Any early adopters out there? Would love to hear your inputs. Specially if the *vibe function* works with the *hourly chime*. The Instructions & Downloads menu is empty so no help there.


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## Rocat (Sep 17, 2013)

That watch is based off the old WS4ABC watch. It is massive and not what I would call and every day watch choice.

53mm wide, 40mm lug to lug, and a 30mm strap. If it is the same as the other Timex vibe watches. The smaller cased one is better, T49851. I have the T49852 which is just black and green in color.

https://www.watchuseek.com/f296/battle-vibration-watches-casio-vs-timex-918015.html


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## Tsarli (Apr 13, 2007)

I had a T49851 once. It was nice (except for that faux compass bezel). But the real deal breaker for me was the absence of an hourly vibe function. My GD-350's hourly vibe is one of my fave features of that G-Shock. Still waiting on a Timex that has that feature. Shouldn't be too hard to implement I hope.


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## Rocat (Sep 17, 2013)

Tsarli said:


> I had a T49851 once. It was nice (except for that faux compass bezel). But the real deal breaker for me was the absence of an hourly vibe function. My GD-350's hourly vibe is one of my fave features of that G-Shock. Still waiting on a Timex that has that feature. Shouldn't be too hard to implement I hope.


I agree about Timex not having an hourly chime. you wold think it would be easy. My T5K584 does not have one and it is missed when I wear the watch. The 852 is actually my alarm clock so the hourly chime is never missed.


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## Alan From New York (May 5, 2006)

Got one coming in camo grey. 

And yes, the hourly signal is a choice of beep, vibe, or combo.


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## hiker (Nov 18, 2012)

shape is copy of timex WS4 series.
I wonder why timex does not release a decent sized smart looking ABC watch.ws4 did not succeed In market but it does not mean that they should give up.the huge size and non user friendly menus were main cause why ws4 did not succeed that much.


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## cal..45 (Jun 4, 2006)

Alan From New York said:


> And yes, the hourly signal is a choice of beep, vibe, or combo.


Is this 100% confirmed?

cheers


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## Alan From New York (May 5, 2006)

cal..45 said:


> Is this 100% confirmed?
> cheers


I get the watch Wednesday and then I'll know for sure. The manual says, "Yes."


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## Gill Bates (Jun 24, 2015)

Good ol' Timex. They build a "tough" watch, but put a cheap plastic crystal on it instead of mineral...


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## Rocat (Sep 17, 2013)

Gill Bates said:


> Good ol' Timex. They build a "tough" watch, but put a cheap plastic crystal on it instead of mineral...


Get a tube of Polywatch and have at it. In a lot of applications, a resin crystal is superior. Every three months, after polishing, you can have a new looking crystal.


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## Gill Bates (Jun 24, 2015)

Rocat said:


> Get a tube of Polywatch and have at it. In a lot of applications, a resin crystal is superior. Every three months, after polishing, you can have a new looking crystal.


Good to know. Do you like it better than mineral?


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## ChromeFreeDisco (Aug 9, 2013)

Rocat said:


> Get a tube of Polywatch and have at it. In a lot of applications, a resin crystal is superior. Every three months, after polishing, you can have a new looking crystal.


I have a watch where the crystal sits proud of the case and there is minimal bezel. It easily picks up scratches, but since it's resin they polish out easily with Polywatch. Mineral crystals are very hard to polish out for the home user, and where they're not circular - and therefore replacements difficult to source - then I prefer resin also.


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## cal..45 (Jun 4, 2006)

I prefer acryl over mineral simply because of the much lesser glare. That said I also prefer it (mostly) over sapphire which is theoratically the best crystal for a watch but ONLY with a proper AR coating (idealy double or triple) on the inside. Based on my experience an acrylic glass turned out to be the best solution for a field watch.


cheers


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## Rocat (Sep 17, 2013)

For a field watch, I agree with Cal.45.



Gill Bates said:


> Good to know. Do you like it better than mineral?


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## Watch_Geekmaster (Oct 4, 2014)

As I read, mineral crystal is prone to be damaged by the sparks from welding. Acrylic however can withstand the sparks better. So that's another reason for acrylic, especially for those who work as welders.

Also mineral crystal is more prone to mineral deposits. I have two watches already got some kind of harden deposit along the edge of the crystal. Those are my work horses, which I wear and wash all the time. I suspect it's something from the water or soap. My old work horse, a Timex with acrylic crystal, however even though subjected to the same conditions for years, no deposit on the crystal at all.


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## xevious (Feb 1, 2008)

This watch is HUGE! Specs say 50mm width, but some people say it's closer to 52mm.









I'm curious as to why it has to be so large. It doesn't appear to have much functional difference from a T49900, aside from vibration. I wonder what the "HYD" indicator means?


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## Alan From New York (May 5, 2006)

xevious said:


> This watch is HUGE! Specs say 50mm width, but some people say it's closer to 52mm.
> I'm curious as to why it has to be so large. It doesn't appear to have much functional difference from a T49900, aside from vibration. I wonder what the "HYD" indicator means?


HYD is an additional alarm telling you when to hydrate.

And "large" is easier to read, yes?


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## cal..45 (Jun 4, 2006)

HYD(dration) is basically a second countdown timer. The difference to the "normal" timer is, that it has a maximal duration of 60 minutes and that it will repeat indefinetely once you start it (no "stop at end" function). Personally I find it quite useful, especially for 10+ kilometer runs.


cheers


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## cal..45 (Jun 4, 2006)

About the size of the Grid Shock: economically it doesn't make sense, since there is no additional data of any value on the display compared to - lets say - a much smaller Ironman. The irony is that even with the huge screen the digitis are actually smaller in comparison...

The big case and screen made sense for the WS4, since a lot of data has to be displayed on an ABC watch. It looks to me that Timex went the "easy and cheap" route and put an (updated?) module of the T-49851 into another but already existing case. 


cheers


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## xevious (Feb 1, 2008)

cal..45 said:


> About the size of the Grid Shock: economically it doesn't make sense, since there is no additional data of any value on the display compared to - lets say - a much smaller Ironman. The irony is that even with the huge screen the digitis are actually smaller in comparison...
> 
> The big case and screen made sense for the WS4, since a lot of data has to be displayed on an ABC watch. It looks to me that Timex went the "easy and cheap" route and put an (updated?) module of the T-49851 into another but already existing case.


Yes, I had that impression as well if there was no functional difference. Nice feature on the repeating countdown, but I'm not feeling like I'll use it enough to warrant such an enormous timepiece. You're absolutely right, they should have enlarged the font of the digits to better utilize the real estate.


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## vicko5000 (Feb 27, 2011)

Tsarli said:


> I had a T49851 once. It was nice (except for that faux compass bezel). But the real deal breaker for me was the absence of an hourly vibe function. My GD-350's hourly vibe is one of my fave features of that G-Shock. Still waiting on a Timex that has that feature. Shouldn't be too hard to implement I hope.


How long does a battery last on a watch that has hourly vibe enabled?

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk


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## vicko5000 (Feb 27, 2011)

Alan From New York said:


> Got one coming in camo grey.
> 
> And yes, the hourly signal is a choice of beep, vibe, or combo.


There was a deal on these on black Friday / cyber Monday and I almost bit but I thought would be too big... Ended up with a cheaper smaller watch..

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk


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## james walters (Jul 11, 2015)

For real???


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## Alan From New York (May 5, 2006)

Time signal is beep only.  Also, if alarm is set on "Combo," first, the watch vibrates, the beeps and flashes simultaneously.


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## Alan From New York (May 5, 2006)

Tsarli said:


> Any early adopters out there? Would love to hear your inputs. Specially if the *vibe function* works with the *hourly chime*. The Instructions & Downloads menu is empty so no help there.


Grid Shock just arrived. Twin brother of the WS4, but that was an ABC and the Grid Shock concentrates on timekeeping and alarms. I still think the beeping alarm is a bit on the quiet side, but it is audible. The vibration alarm is a bit gentler than the G Shock 350, but it is noticeable.

Two distinctive features are when you are done using a mode, the watch returns to timekeeping. The "Hide" feature hides modes so that you can cycle through them faster.

And the time signal beeps, but does not vibrate.

It also, I think/hope it lives up to it's "Shock" name. It seems durable and the strap feels tough.

I kinda like like it.


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## cal..45 (Jun 4, 2006)

Alan From New York said:


> ....And the time signal beeps, but does not vibrate.


That I feared and presumed, but was hoping to be wrong....:-(

Nonetheless, I wish you great fun with the Grid, I love all my Timex's for sure...;-)

cheers


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## kmbijit (Jun 29, 2015)

Alan From New York said:


> It also, I think/hope it lives up to it's "Shock" name. It seems durable and the strap feels tough.
> 
> I kinda like like it.
> View attachment 6368265


Anything with an acrylic crystal can never be a beater. I myself own quite a few Timex watches, but I wear them less frequently due to the fear of damaging or scratching the crystals. Thats why my G-Shocks get more wrist time as compared to my Timex'es.


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## Alan From New York (May 5, 2006)

bbsrailfan said:


> Anything with an acrylic crystal can never be a beater. I myself own quite a few Timex watches, but I wear them less frequently due to the fear of damaging or scratching the crystals. Thats why my G-Shocks get more wrist time as compared to my Timex'es.


There's always Polywatch for a quick cheap fix. Since I've retired, I tend to leave the G-Shocks in the house and use them sparingly. Timex gets my attention, but this is the first one I've bought in about a decade. I love my new Tissot T Touch Expert Solar. It's sort of like my "well dressed" G- Shock.


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## Rocat (Sep 17, 2013)

That is the silliest thing I've read today. Acrylic crystals make perfect sense for an outdoor beater watch. It will not shatter and the scratches can be polished out.



bbsrailfan said:


> Anything with an acrylic crystal can never be a beater. I myself own quite a few Timex watches, but I wear them less frequently due to the fear of damaging or scratching the crystals. Thats why my G-Shocks get more wrist time as compared to my Timex'es.


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## cal..45 (Jun 4, 2006)

bbsrailfan said:


> Anything with an acrylic crystal can never be a beater. I myself own quite a few Timex watches, but I wear them less frequently due to the fear of damaging or scratching the crystals. Thats why my G-Shocks get more wrist time as compared to my Timex'es.


If that would be true, you could also forget 99% of all G-ShocK's as beaters, as they have minerals. If you want the best protection against scratches you have to go the sapphire route. If you want the most reliable crystal in general for hard duty watches, nothing beats acrylic.

cheers


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## kmbijit (Jun 29, 2015)

Rocat said:


> That is the silliest thing I've read today. Acrylic crystals make perfect sense for an outdoor beater watch. It will not shatter and the scratches can be polished out.





cal..45 said:


> If that would be true, you could also forget 99% of all G-ShocK's as beaters, as they have minerals. If you want the best protection against scratches you have to go the sapphire route. If you want the most reliable crystal in general for hard duty watches, nothing beats acrylic.
> 
> cheers


Rocat, Cal.45 - that depends on the type of dings and hits your watch takes. Yes, the regular scuffs and hairline scratches can be gotten off. But the deeper ones which result from a scrape are impossible to get rid of. A mineral glass would survive better, and if a crystal in a g-shock would get shattered while you were wearing it, I'd be more concerned about the condition of the wearer's hand rather than the condition of the watch itself.


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