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 Nike Men's Lance Armstrong 4 Watch #A0020-013 By: Nike Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 8 More Information I was stupid enough to by a second when the first failed.  On: 2007-10-02I agree with other reviews, that this is a difficult piece to master. The altitude dirfts from -150 to +250 feet per day. I live at 5005 feet in elivation and have to set the watch at least once a day to keep it accurate. The temperature function is always off. The compas seems to work well. All of this is nothing compared to the time when it became necessary to replace the battery (less than one year with both watches). I didnt have the necessary special tools to replace the battery. Replacing the battery was a major accomplishment. I could not get the first watch to work after replacing the battery. The second watch quit working when the factory battery failed and I finally threw it away, as I had done with the first one. If you want to buy a watch that will work for the life of the factory battery only, this is the one for you. Awesome  On: 2007-02-05I have had my watch for two years now and it is by far my favorite outdoor watch. I make regular use of all the features. Compass: Once calibrated it is accurate, within 1 degree of my GPS. I used it exclusively to complete an all day orienteering event and numerous camping trips without complaint. Altimeter: The altimeter, despite the proprietary "zero drift" technology, will drift over time, as all barometer-based alitimeters will. On a four day hiking trip in Colorado, I set the altimeter at a known elevation and it worked flawlessly for the whole trip. Based on map readings and GPS, the watch was never more than 200 off on a trip that regularly ranged from 10,000 to 14,000. Another feature not mentioned in the manual is an alarm system that goes off whenever you attain an altitude of a famous mountain. For example, when I hit the altitude of Mt. Fuji, the alarm sounded and "Mt. Fuji" scrolled across the face. You will have to set the altimeter to a known point for it to be accurate. As a helicopter pilot I have flown numerous times with it and it is fairly accurate, but the sampling rate of 60 seconds is kind of slow - you can change it, but I dont seriously use it in the aircraft, and 60 seconds is plenty of time when youre hiking. Temperature: Like any wrist mounted temperature sensor, the watch will react to your body temp. This watch has a feature that allows you to compensate for this by lowering the temp by a known factor. I have mine set at -8 degrees so it is relatively accurate on my wrist. This is the only watch I have found to have this. Barometer: Accurately shows trend data - no complaints. Alarms: I like having numerous alarms, and the alarm is sufficiently loud to hear while hiking in 30mph winds with the watch under layers of clothing. The watch also has a feature to shut off the display after 1 hour of no button pushes. This saves battery power and my battery display shows a full charge after two years of consistent use. The manual is not very clear, but the interface is user friendly once you play with it. The titanium bezel does show some wear, but the mineral face is as clear as the day I bought it and I am extremely hard on watches. Overall, I am extremely pleased with this watch. I think I will buy a second one when the first one bites the dust. Wot a watch! On: 2006-11-10This is one of the best looking most functional watches I have purchased! Quite an eye catcher! A major disappointment from Nike  On: 2006-09-15Before I bought this watch, I did a lot of research on the offerings from Suunto, Polar and Nike, and finally ended up choosing the Lance 4 watch for my cycling-specific activities. And I have to say, my disappointment began within 2 minutes of opening the shipping box. Here are the three major ways this watch (and Nike itself) have failed me: 1) This is a complicated, multi-function instrument. But if youre expecting a detailed instruction manual, forget it. What you get is an elaborate pictograph that illustrates which buttons to push. It skims over the setup procedure and many of the most important functions, and omits many features entirely. 2) Relative to the above complaint, I contacted Nike customer service about the setup. Since Im a cyclist, I was particularly interested in the altimeter function, and dismayed by how thin the "manual" is. The instructions say you can select a 60-, 10- or 2-second sampling rate of the barometric pressure in order to determine altitude. What it fails to mention is what the ramifications are for choosing one over the other? Is one more accurate. Does one use more battery power? Well apparently never know, because Nikes customer service failed to answer the question. While they admitted that they had received several complaints about the manual -- and were considering writing a new one -- they simply sidestepped my question about the altimeter function in their email reply. 3) And then theres the performance of the watch itself. In most cases its impressive -- that is, in every case except the one for which I purchased it: the altimeter. On my group rides, there are always at least three other people with altimeters. A post-ride comparison of altimeter results always puts their readings within 3 percent of each other. The results from the Nike are at least 20 percent off. That means the altimeter results are not to be trusted. While the watch is attractive (thats why it earned 2 stars instead of just one) and has an excellent band, it simply doesnt give me the accurate altimeter results I need. And since the altimeter results are so far off, I can only assume that its built-in weather sensor (also based on barometric pressure) is hugely flawed, too. With the manual being as light on information as it is, with Nikes customer service either unwilling or unable to shed any light on the watchs usage and with the flawed performance of the altimeter function, I can only say that this watch represents a major disappointment. It may meet Nikes standards for fashion, but it fails my standards for performance. One HUGE Flaw  On: 2006-09-04I love this watch. In fact, I would go as far to call it perfect...except for one huge thing...the titanium case is about as durable as wet toilet paper. Ive had this watch for about 4 weeks and the titatium face looks like Ive had it about 15 years...and no, this is not from any kind of extraordinary circumstances. I just wear it to work at a normal job every day and it sees the regular wear and tear that any watch would see. Yet the titatium face shows scratches, gouges, abrasions, etc. Unfortunately, it dropped off my bathroom sink the other day and fell to our tile floor...well now its sporting a nice gouge where it should be beveled. As for the watch itself, I love it. It does have rather short battery life, but with all thats running inside this thing, that can be expected. So if you dont care how beat-up your watch looks, then Id give this a 5/5 for you. But if scratches and abrasions on your new $250 watch will bug you, then I give it a 2/5. Appealing to the eye, easy to use...  On: 2004-10-19A very interesting watch with useful features, plus it is Nike! However, if you will be easily offended by seeing scratches appear on your watch face, then look for another watch. Ive not been able to determine if it is a defect or not, but my watch scratches very easily. Reaching for a pen, I bumped the watch against a plastic desk organizer... SCRATCH. The face of my watch is peppered with scratches. Perhaps these can be buffed out. Some other little hangups... the temperature is not very accurate. Of course you can calibrate the watch to take into account body temperature... but that will surely fluctuate with activity. Another downfall is the backlighting. You can activate extended backlighting by holding in on the button a few seconds, but the moment you press another function button, the light will go out. I think this is a great watch, but if little things like the things I described above will bother you, I suggest NOT getting this watch. Excellent Watch - But Hard To Master On: 2004-09-16The watch itself is made by Seiko, so you know it is excellent quality. Works as described but you will need some time to understand how to use all of its functions. Once you do that it is a very useful tool. The product documentation is a bit light on content but thankfully the watch is fairly intuitive to set up. The barometer does seem to drift a bit more than the Suunto Advizor that I own. However, I havent done a side by side comparison so take that with a grain of salt. This watch is a direct competitor to the Advizor and fits the bill very well. The only feature this watch lacks in comparison to the Advizor is the Heart Rate Monitor. I got the impression that the Nike Lance 4 is a bit less functional overall than the Suunto product but that really hasnt been the case in my experience. At the end of the day though, which would I prefer to have on my wrist when hiking in the woods...Ill take the Suunto. However, if I want to have a watch that is well made, has nearly the same functions, looks better and has Lances approval then count me in. Thats why I own this watch. Excellent Watch - But Hard To Master On: 2004-09-15The watch itself is made by Seiko, so you know it is excellent quality. Works as described but you will need some time to understand how to use all of its functions. Once you do that it is a very useful tool. The product documentation is a bit light on content but thankfully the watch is fairly intuitive to set up. The barometer does seem to drift a bit more than the Suunto Advizor that I own. However, I havent done a side by side comparison so take that with a grain of salt. This watch is a direct competitor to the Advizor and fits the bill very well. The only feature this watch lacks in comparison to the Advizor is the Heart Rate Monitor. I got the impression that the Nike Lance 4 is a bit less functional overall than the Suunto product but that really hasnt been the case in my experience. At the end of the day though, which would I prefer to have on my wrist when hiking in the woods...Ill take the Suunto. However, if I want to have a watch that is well made, has nearly the same functions, looks better and has Lances approval then count me in. Thats why I own this watch. Really Cool but vey confusing On: 2004-08-23This watch is exactly what I thought it would be, really smart, full of gadgets but very very confusing, I havent a clue how to calibrate the compass or the alti meter and im not sure ive done such a great job with the temp gauge but it tells the time, looks good and seeing as im the UK its well unique which matters doesnt it!!.....?? |