Bit concerned about the negativity :(

[FrederickUK]

Hey all, I've just ordered a Core All Black, and I'm a bit concerned that all I've read about the watch is negative!

I'm going skiing in a couple of months, and I was wanting a watch that would be usable as a daily driver, but also one that I could rely on whilst giving it 10/10ths down the side of a mountain...

I'm still waiting for it to arrive, but reports of poor QC, loose bezels, iffy software and useless battery life are making me wonder if I've made the right purchase.

Has anyone had a core that's been faultless - that's done exactly what has been expected of it and that hasn't sucked down most of the national grid to keep running???

Cheers!

	Suunto Core - Click for more info The Suunto Core is the benchmark of Suunto's ABC (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass) wristop computers, furnishing the best features of top-selling Suunto predecessors, and then advancing upon their legacy with innovative environmental monitoring functions that any outdoor adventurer will find invaluable. The Suunto Core is the culmination of years of testing, research, user feedback from the field, and technological advancements in the Suunto laboratory.

[ejunge]

I admit that I may have been throwing fuel on the fire. I have seen a lot of people with trouble free Cores, I have also seen a lot of people with tons of issues.. I would be concerned about the quality, but no more...

The Core is unqusetionably a great watch in terms of function, design, usability, and looks. It is freakin awesome. But the Core has suffered from an increasing number of quality build issues.. and People on the Suunto Boards have been merciless.

Understand though that this is a monster of their own creation.. Suuntos have a reputation for being super pieces of equipment with a superior build quality. I have seen Suunto Vectors that have literally been put through the wringer and still work great.. With the introduction of the Core, production was moved to China, and many point to that as the chief reason for the lack of poor quality control (or more specifically percieved lack), and it there have been a wave of customer complaints..

YES!!! there are TONS of people who are completely stoked about their Core. There are also lots of people who have had one or more issue with theirs. Take comfort that Suunto has EXCELLENT Customer service and they are understanding about this issue and are working really hard to keep their customers happy...

	Suunto Visit SuuntoWatches.com to see Suunto's full line of wrist top computers and compasses.

	Suunto Core - Click for more info The Suunto Core is the benchmark of Suunto's ABC (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass) wristop computers, furnishing the best features of top-selling Suunto predecessors, and then advancing upon their legacy with innovative environmental monitoring functions that any outdoor adventurer will find invaluable. The Suunto Core is the culmination of years of testing, research, user feedback from the field, and technological advancements in the Suunto laboratory.

[FrederickUK]

Thanks for the reassurance mate I've got word it's been dispatched so I should have it by tomorrow!!

(Well, it's been dispatched by Royal Fail "Special" Delivery - so I *might* have it by tomorrow!!)

I wear a lot of fleecy clothing while at my job, and I've noticed a lot of references to a possible static problem with the Core, but that's not put me off - I'm eager to see what it's like, and plus being in the UK you have a statutory 1 year warranty in which you deal with the supplier, which will run concurrent with Suunto's 2 year RTB guarantee... it should be covered for all eventualities!

Bring on the Core!

	Suunto Visit SuuntoWatches.com to see Suunto's full line of wrist top computers and compasses.

	Suunto Core - Click for more info The Suunto Core is the benchmark of Suunto's ABC (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass) wristop computers, furnishing the best features of top-selling Suunto predecessors, and then advancing upon their legacy with innovative environmental monitoring functions that any outdoor adventurer will find invaluable. The Suunto Core is the culmination of years of testing, research, user feedback from the field, and technological advancements in the Suunto laboratory.

[deeyup]

Best of luck with your new watch. Hopefully You wont suffer the failures I did. I had 2 new watches in as many weeks, both affected by static whilst removing fleece jumpers.

Gone for a Casio Riseman now.

Hope it all works great for you. You'll know the cause if you see flashing 12:00 at least.

deeyup

[FrederickUK]

Hehe, here's hoping I'm not in the habit of spending £170+ ($240USD!) on stuff that doesn't work so we'll see...

And, as expected - Royal Fail have messed it up, got home to a "Sorry you were out" card. An 11:15am delivery isn't exactly special!

Have to wait 48hrs to get my hands on it, but I'm going to see if I can grab it tomorrow morning from the sorting office on my way into work!

[FrederickUK]

Well, I picked up my Core from the Post Office this morning and it's bloody brilliant!

It's a 849x-xxxx serial, so pretty recent off the production line too. I've left the scratch protector film over the battery hatch to try to allay the static a little bit, and after wearing my fleece all day it's still showing 6:11pm which is pretty much bang on (UK time anyway!)

Just need to set the reference altitude and align the compass for proper deviation and I'm off on the slippery slope of Core ownership!

One thing that does make me a bit suspect though, is that if you press the Backlight button, on the clock and alt/baro screen it's a perfect, solid backlight - but on the compass screen it's flashing... is this usual?

	Suunto Core - Click for more info The Suunto Core is the benchmark of Suunto's ABC (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass) wristop computers, furnishing the best features of top-selling Suunto predecessors, and then advancing upon their legacy with innovative environmental monitoring functions that any outdoor adventurer will find invaluable. The Suunto Core is the culmination of years of testing, research, user feedback from the field, and technological advancements in the Suunto laboratory.

	Compass Compasses are sensitive, absolutely crucial instruments to precision navigation. The earth's magnetic field, inclination, and your longitude and latitude all influence the horizontal plane of a compass needle. As a result, compasses are balanced for different geographical zones. Suunto Compasses overcome this limitation to traditional compasses by using a simple 'Two Zone System'. With a Suunto Compass, the only 'balancing zones' are the northern and southern hemispheres. In addition to this innovation, certain Suunto Compasses come equipped with useful features like luminous needles and marks, centimeter/inch scales, magnifying glasses, clinometers, sighting notches, and more.

[Joakim Ågren]

Originally Posted by FrederickUK

Well, I picked up my Core from the Post Office this morning and it's bloody brilliant!

It's a 849x-xxxx serial, so pretty recent off the production line too. I've left the scratch protector film over the battery hatch to try to allay the static a little bit, and after wearing my fleece all day it's still showing 6:11pm which is pretty much bang on (UK time anyway!)

Just need to set the reference altitude and align the compass for proper deviation and I'm off on the slippery slope of Core ownership!

One thing that does make me a bit suspect though, is that if you press the Backlight button, on the clock and alt/baro screen it's a perfect, solid backlight - but on the compass screen it's flashing... is this usual?

Yes the blinking light during compass operation is normal!

The compass and the light is the most power hungry function in existance in the watch world even more so then a GPS. Thats because of the extreme sampling rates, therefore Suunto has limited each session to 45 seconds and also since the battery is incapable of delivering full power to the compass and light at teh same time Suunto have choosen to alternate the power between the light and compass which causes the blinking effect.

This solution is better then some other manufacturers like Casio that just lock the compass completely making it almost useless to operate during the night. Suunto has the smarter solution thats for sure!

	Suunto Visit SuuntoWatches.com to see Suunto's full line of wrist top computers and compasses.

	Suunto Core - Click for more info The Suunto Core is the benchmark of Suunto's ABC (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass) wristop computers, furnishing the best features of top-selling Suunto predecessors, and then advancing upon their legacy with innovative environmental monitoring functions that any outdoor adventurer will find invaluable. The Suunto Core is the culmination of years of testing, research, user feedback from the field, and technological advancements in the Suunto laboratory.

	Suunto X9i - Click for more info Introducing the Suunto X9i - the new and improved version of the Suunto's X9, voted "Best Product of 2004" by Fortune Magazine. Now available in two colors, the X9i combines GPS functionality with an altimeter, barometer, compass, and thermometer ... all these instruments, packed into a single watch.

	Compass Compasses are sensitive, absolutely crucial instruments to precision navigation. The earth's magnetic field, inclination, and your longitude and latitude all influence the horizontal plane of a compass needle. As a result, compasses are balanced for different geographical zones. Suunto Compasses overcome this limitation to traditional compasses by using a simple 'Two Zone System'. With a Suunto Compass, the only 'balancing zones' are the northern and southern hemispheres. In addition to this innovation, certain Suunto Compasses come equipped with useful features like luminous needles and marks, centimeter/inch scales, magnifying glasses, clinometers, sighting notches, and more.

[FrederickUK]

I just read on another forum about the compass/backlight "feature"

I've managed to get everything set, so I'll take it out with my gps tomorrow to see exactly how accurate I have managed to get it!!

Edited to add - it's just made two 5 tone increasing beeps at me... no storm alert on the screen and a pretty flat barometric graph, so what's these beeps for, low battery????

	Suunto X9i - Click for more info Introducing the Suunto X9i - the new and improved version of the Suunto's X9, voted "Best Product of 2004" by Fortune Magazine. Now available in two colors, the X9i combines GPS functionality with an altimeter, barometer, compass, and thermometer ... all these instruments, packed into a single watch.

	Compass Compasses are sensitive, absolutely crucial instruments to precision navigation. The earth's magnetic field, inclination, and your longitude and latitude all influence the horizontal plane of a compass needle. As a result, compasses are balanced for different geographical zones. Suunto Compasses overcome this limitation to traditional compasses by using a simple 'Two Zone System'. With a Suunto Compass, the only 'balancing zones' are the northern and southern hemispheres. In addition to this innovation, certain Suunto Compasses come equipped with useful features like luminous needles and marks, centimeter/inch scales, magnifying glasses, clinometers, sighting notches, and more.

[eqmullaney]

FrederickUK...I know you have heard all the bad about Core and I hope you are the exception but somehow I don't think you will be happy with your Core for long. I have had 4 this past year and they have taken up to two weeks to make the round trip to the "repair" shop. I am currently waiting for a reply from a supervisor about having them ship my replacement watch before I send in mine. The current problem is dead columns of pixels so the watch is somewhat useable. I use mine as a backup for deep woods photo trips and don't want to be without it. This is the fourth style of Suunto I have had and only my first (Xlander) was any good. I also had an X6HRM the went blank after a year, an Observer that had an alarm that had NO volume but I was able to return that. I going back to Casio. GOOD LUCK.

	Suunto Visit SuuntoWatches.com to see Suunto's full line of wrist top computers and compasses.

	Suunto X-Lander - Click for more info The Suunto X-Lander watch is the combination of an altimeter, barometer, compass and watch - the same features as the award-winning Suunto Vector, but with a mineral crystal glass face, carbon fiber back, and a leather or polyurethane band.

	Suunto Core - Click for more info The Suunto Core is the benchmark of Suunto's ABC (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass) wristop computers, furnishing the best features of top-selling Suunto predecessors, and then advancing upon their legacy with innovative environmental monitoring functions that any outdoor adventurer will find invaluable. The Suunto Core is the culmination of years of testing, research, user feedback from the field, and technological advancements in the Suunto laboratory.

	Suunto Observer - Click for more info The shock-resistant Suunto Observer is a tool built for outdoor challenges, but its timeless design makes it wearable in any situation. The Observer is 1/3 smaller in both diameter and width than the first generation Suunto Watches (Vector, Altimax, etc). It also features a chronograph, which previously was only offered in the Navitech but is now discontinued.

[FrederickUK]

Well, it's happened...

The bloody thing has decided to stop beeping when you press the buttons - it made a really quiet beep when I was in the "hidden" menu hoping I could reset it, but that was all. I've tried taking the battery out, and still no beeps.

Going to buy a new battery tomorrow, hopefully it is just that - if not, I'll be having words with the people I bought it from

[FrederickUK]

And right on cue, it's started working again! Very odd, still on the same battery too... I shall keep a check on it.

[Clonetrooper]

The mysterious beeping might have been the timer...it beeps a bit strange.

[FrederickUK]

The beeping was just the mode change from baro to alti.

Since buying the watch it only once missed a beat (which was the non-beep on button presses I detailed above), other than that it's been spot on

It's been to the top of Mt. Blanc, it's withstood my ham fisted attempts at skiing (most of the time ending up skiing down with my watch, and most of my arm buried in snow, flying down on my backside!)

It's my daily wearer and will probably stay that way till I get my hands on a black/black seiko monster in the next couple of months, possibly even longer!



A pic of my Core at the Aguille Du Midi, Mont Blanc.

	Suunto Core - Click for more info The Suunto Core is the benchmark of Suunto's ABC (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass) wristop computers, furnishing the best features of top-selling Suunto predecessors, and then advancing upon their legacy with innovative environmental monitoring functions that any outdoor adventurer will find invaluable. The Suunto Core is the culmination of years of testing, research, user feedback from the field, and technological advancements in the Suunto laboratory.