Casio PAW2000T-7V "Slim Pathfinder" Watch Review

Every new Pathfinder I get tends to become my favorite, and the PAW2000T-7V is no exception. In fact, not only has it become my favorite Pathfinder, but it is also one of my favorite digital watches in general. I’ve typically thought of Pathfinders purely as outdoors watches in the past — watches you only wear while hiking, boating, stargazing, etc. — since all the features they pack have traditionally required large, knobby cases to accommodate sensors and circuit boards. But not so with PAW2000T-7V. Although still obviously a feature-rich digital watch, the PAW2000T-7V is the thinnest, cleanest, and most subtle Pathfinder I’ve ever owned.

The PAW2000T-7V shares a very similar set of features with the PAW1500T-7V we recently reviewed with the following exceptions:

•The PAW2000T-7V is water-resistant to 100 meters (330 feet) rather than 200 meters (660 feet). Although more is usually better when it comes to water-resistance, 100 meters is more than enough for anything but diving.

•The PAW2000T-7V doesn’t have the moon or tide graphs that make the PAW1500T unique, however in exchange, it does some other interesting tricks (see below).

•The digital compass on the PAW2000T uses a transparent LCD to overlay direction indicators over the entire face of the watch with numerical bearing information displayed underneath. The PAW1500, on the other hand, uses small squares around the parameter of the main LCD (see the photo album for pictures of the compass in action).

•The PAW2000T-7V has an additional Sunrise/Sunset Mode which lets you check sunrise and sunset times for any location on any date. In addition to the raw data, the PAW2000T uses the compass LCD overlay to chart not just sunrise and sunset times, but also the current time relative to the two (see the photo album for a visual). This is really a fantastic addition to the Pathfinder feature set.
The differences outlined above should help you decide between the PAW1500T and the PAW2000T, but there’s one more thing to take into consideration: size. The PAW2000T is about 2.5 millimeters thinner than the PAW1500T. 2.5 millimeters may not seem like much, but in the context of a watch case, it’s significant. So significant, in fact, that I’ve found the PAW2000T to be the first Pathfinder that doesn’t overwhelm my paltry 6.5″ wrist, and can easily be worn daily as both a fantastic outdoors tool, and an easy-to-read, lightweight, nice-looking, hugely functional timepiece. In other words, the size and form factor of the PAW2000T is a feature in and of itself, and one I’ll be very reluctant to give up in future models.