Pretty good, if you don't care about accuracy

Author's Rating:

Pros: Excellent build quality, nifty band design, distinctive negative LCD display, good analog timekeeping

Cons: Iffy digital timekeeping, unsynchronized digital and analog readouts

The Bottom Line: 
Buy it only if you love the look and do not put a premium on timekeeping accuracy.

Author's Review
UPDATE October 3, 2005
The Timex will be returned. Though the replacement watch I received does perform better than the one I originally bought, it still requires a "resync" every other day in order to maintain some semblance of cooperation between the analog and digital timekeepers. For me, it's a dealbreaker because the watch I wear has to keep good time. I've also grown to dislike the band on this watch, a rubbery, cheap plastic thing that seems like it would tear easily if subject to some stress. And the watch case itself is heavy on the arm, and though it implies sturdiness, it never lets you forget you're wearing it, unlike the Casio.

UPDATE September 20, 2005
Timex may be earning a reprieve...thanks to EXCELLENT customer service, which is quite difficult to put a value on nowadays with so much of it being downright crappy. As promised, Timex has shipped me another watch for evaluation. They did not require a credit card or any guarantee in order to ship it. Because I'm honest, they have nothing to worry about...but who's to say somebody unscrupulous would not take advantage of this situation? Sorry for the digression...Additionally, the Time Factory store in Myrtle Beach also earns kudos for giving me the option of sending the watch back to their store for a refund to my credit card. But I haven't done that yet...

...because it does appear that the new timepiece is performing a bit better than the original watch I purchased. After about twelve hours, the new watch is very, very close in its analog/digital synchronization, while the original's digital display is already falling behind the analog.

Given my new Casio Wave Ceptor's EXTREME crystal fragility, it's possible that this Timex may yet find a place in my heart--and on my arm. I'll keep you posted.

Here's my original review:

I bought the Timex 56381 analog/digital combo Ironman watch at the Time Factory store in Myrtle Beach, SC, on Sunday, September 11. It was in the display case with a price tag listing full retail of $69.95, but an advertising placard in the store indicated a 20%-off discount. The price of the watch then was $55.96.

What drew me to the watch was its appearance. While the case is sturdy, heavy metal with a stainless steel back, the band is a nice, pliable resin/rubber-type substance. The face of the watch is unique, with a traditional analog layout against a black background. The background conceals a negative-display LCD with multiple functions, including simultaneous display of the current time to go along with the analog representation of the time. The digital display can be disabled to create a solid black background against which the analog time is represented, which is quite attractive. When the LCD display is active, it can be read in darkness with the Indiglo backlight feature. I have owned an original Timex Ironman Triathlon LCD-only watch for over 10 years now and have been very satisfied with it. This new watch was intended to pretty much replace it as my casual/work watch.

The watch has a lot going for it feature-wise, though several of the features are of debatable usefulness. The chronograph has 42 slots for lap times--not sure when I would ever use that. The stopwatch is very handy for timing how long my fat-ridden steaks are on the grill, however. There's countdown timers, dual alarms, dual time zones...features which have been of limited utility to me in the past on my old Ironman Triathlon. The band is cleverly designed and addresses one gripe I've always had with plastic and rubber bands. The loop that is designed to secure the excess length of strap once it's buckled has a nub inside it that mates with a notch on the strap, thus securing it in place. And as I mentioned before, the case of the watch is hefty, implying sturdiness and ability to sustain a reasonable amount of wear and tear without breaking.

After having the watch for a couple of days, however, its Achilles' heel was soon revealed--its accuracy as a basic timepiece is quite bad. I set the watch at 6 PM on the day I bought it with the nist.time.gov website, and synchronized the analog and digital time displays so they were in agreement. One day later, the digital side had lost one second to the analog readout. Two days, and another second was gone. A check of the NIST website indicated that the analog readout was almost right on the money with my original setting, while the LCD readout was the offender. An inquiry to Timex customer service resulted in this response: "All of our combination watches are comprised of 2 separate mechanisms for digital and analog time and are not designed to function cooperatively. The standard accuracy for Timex watches is +/- 30 seconds per month for LCD watches and +/- 15 seconds per month for QA watches. It means that should your watch be adjusting within these specs, it is functioning at its normal expected condition." My conclusion is that Timex spent its engineering money on the bells and whistles, but forgot completely about the timepiece's main mission, which is to keep accurate time.

It is for this reason that the Timex will be going back to the nearest Time Factory store, which unfortunately is nearly 100 miles away, and my next watch purchase will be a Casio Wave Ceptor digital/analog model of some variety.

My recommendation for somebody in search of a Timex: don't go combo, and if you're flexible, go for analog since they're slightly more accurate than their LCD models.