Long Term Report

Suunto Vector Wristop Computer
Long Term Report
July 31, 2006

Biographical Information

Product Information

Field Conditions

Field Test

Summary

Vector

Biographical Information
Name	Jennifer Pope
Age	25
Gender	Female
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)
Wrist girth	6 inches (15 cm)
Weight	140 lb (64 kg)
Email address	Jennifer dot Pope at gmail dot com
Location	Los Angeles, CA
Backpacking Background Intermediate. I've been a car-camper as long as I can remember and started backpacking in Northern California when I was 16. I've been backpacking for a little over a year after a hiatus during college. I backpack in the Sierras as well as other National Forests and Parks in the Los Angeles vicinity. I also spend time in the California deserts and the mountains and coast of Northern California. I'm a tent camper leaning towards lightweight; but I'm also a fan of gadgets and I like being comfortable. I also frequently day hike close to home and while car camping.

Product Information (back to top)
Manufacturer	Suunto Oy
Manufacturer URL	http://www.suunto.com/
Year of Manufacture	2006
Color	khaki (black with a light tan detail)
Actual Weight	1.9 oz (54 g)
MSRP	$199.99 US
Warranty	two years against manufacturing defects not user misuse

For a complete product description please reference my Initial Report. For an account on my experience with this watch through the first two months of testing, please see my Field Report.

Field Conditions (back to top)

I wore the watch on a trip to Sequoia National Park. I car-camped the first night at 6,700 ft (2,000 m) where temperatures ranged between about 60 and 80 F (15 and 25 C)- thanks to the Vector I was able to determine this pretty accurately. The skies were clear and there was a slight breeze. The following night I backpacked for one night. Camp was at 10,300 ft (3,100 m). That night temperatures dipped into the 40s F (5 C) and there was a fairly strong wind throughout the night and morning. While hiking I wore the watch on the strap of my pack. I hiked to my backpacking destination in direct sun with temperatures around 80 F (25 C), perhaps warmer. This hike was uphill with 2,500 ft (760 m) of elevation gain; it was hard work for me.

I also wore the watch during a backpacking trip that was abandoned midway through. I guess this could best be described as a day hike with a full pack and all my overnight gear since we quit the trip part way through the hike in. We were at approximately 5,600 ft (1,700 m) and it was approximately 85 F (30 C) in bright sun.

I also wore this watch several times to the gym basically just as a timekeeping device. I've also used the watch in my house and on my bike.

Field Test (back to top)

In my Field Report I gave a pretty thorough account of how the watch worked for me in the field. I'm not going to rehash all those details here again. Instead I'll report on anything new that's come up or the things I find especially important.

One of the most used functions on this watch (other than the time) is the alarm. I use the alarm pretty much every night. I set it on the ground of the tent next to my head because I find the watch too large to sleep with comfortably (but I don't like sleeping in any type of watch). The watch has never failed to wake me up but I'm a pretty light sleeper (I can wake up to radio static on my home alarm). I haven't yet had the need to use all three of the alarms but I like having them.

In my experience I've only been able to use the altimeter for a general estimate of my altitude. For example, on my last backpacking trip I set a reference altitude at the ranger station just below the trailhead on the morning of the hike. I used the watch to judge how far I had to hike since I knew the elevation at a trail junction a little over halfway into the hike and at my trail camp. Unfortunately by the time I made it to the trail junction the altimeter was already over 100 ft (30 m) off. This meant that each time we wanted to officially check our altitude we had to break out the GPS. A difference of 100 ft (30 m) isn't too significant but it makes a big difference when I'm really tired and want to be in camp and when I'm trying to locate my position on a map.

Over the test period I really haven't been able to use the change in barometric pressure graph to attempt to forecast the weather. Barometric pressure readings are not all that accurate when elevations change and all of my hiking involves significant elevation changes. When I'm at a constant elevation at home I have people that tell me the weather every day on tv so I don't really need to figure it out on my own.

In my Field Report I reported on a fairly large scratch across the face of the watch. Since that time the watch face has not developed any more scratches. The best I can tell I just bumped the watch on something because I was not used to having something of this size on my wrist. Other than the scratch there are some small scratches on the plastic outside of the face (the black ring around the face on the pictures of the watch). Also, the printing of Suunto Vector on the khaki part of the watch has smeared slightly. I'm not sure where this happened or what caused it. Other than those minor issues the watch looks as good as new. These small imperfections are only noticeable from close up and don't interfere with the function of the watch in any way. The rest of the watch shows no signs of wear. I have not needed to change the battery over the test period as I expected.

I have found it fairly easy to remember how to use the features of the watch that are important to me. I can easily set alarms and reference altitudes without consulting the manual and I have been able to pretty much since I started using the watch. For me, the buttons on the watch are very intuitive and easy to remember.

One minor annoyance is that when the watch's light is illuminated in the dark the mode cannot be determined. The modes are printed across the center of the watch and there's a marker below whichever mode the user is in. So in the dark the mode isn't readable. This really isn't too much of a concern because it's pretty easy to figure out the mode by looking at the largest number on the display and just going by what it looks like (a time, altitude, etc).

Summary (back to top)

My overall impression of this watch has not changed from my Field Report:

I really like this watch. So far this watch is right on par with what I expected. I knew going into this test that barometric pressure was affected by elevation change and altitude measured in this manner wasn’t entirely accurate. For the large number of features I find the watch remarkably easy to use. I can use every feature of the time mode without the manual- and I could do this from almost the beginning. The features and button presses are almost intuitive and all with only four buttons on the watch. I will keep using this watch after the test period is over- if I can keep it away from my husband.

I want to thank BackpackGearTest.org and Suunto Oy for giving me the opportunity to test this item.

Read more reviews of Suunto gear
Read more gear reviews by Jennifer Pope

Reviews > Electronic Devices > Watches > Suunto Vector Wristop Computer Watch > Jennifer Pope > Long Term Report

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