The packaging:

The Fossil PDA watch comes sealed in a plastic box, and includes all necessary hardware to get you started. The instruction manual can also be found on the bundled CD that contains the synchronization software. The box also includes a number of batteries for the watch: the autonomy of the battery is about 1 months or so. Finally the watch resides on a black supporting piece that can be used for synchronizing the PDA with the watch.
No cable is included as the watch connects to your peripheral through IrDA (infrared).

   

The Software:

   

The Fossil PDA watch comes with a special edition of Peacemaker. This version of Peacemaker will only allow you to synchronize your PPC with Fossil watches and not other PDAs. Peacemaker allows you select different synchronization items as well as define filters. It also lets you select the clock display mode. You can select from a variety of displays; the display on the watch will automatically be updated on the next sync.
The software installation will take seconds and is performed through the Active Sync installer. The size of the program file is also minimal but you can always select the storage card as install location.

   

Synching the watch:

After installing the software on your PPC you'll need to setup the items to be synchronized and the clock display. Once the initial setup is performed, you will only need to activate synching when needed (but you can always go back to the option menu and make some changes).
The synchronization process only takes seconds, depending on the amount of information stored. If you make changes to the watch or the PDA you can sync again when needed or on a regular basis. To synchronize the watch/PDA you will need to launch Peacemaker to accept or send data, and perform a similar function on the watch (select the "Beam" or "Receive" option will perform the tasks).

       

Using the watch:

Using the watch is nothing easier, especially if you already know how to use a PDA. The watch features two navigation buttons that can be used to activate the different menu items, backlight and cancel function of the watch and a larger directional keypad that allows you to scroll through options, names and menus.
The learning process should only take you minutes and after an hour of use you'll feel comfortable with the navigation and menu items.
From a design standpoint, the watch looks very nice with smooth curves that will blend on your wrist.
The watch feels very comfortable despite its large size and can be worn in any situation as it offers shock and water resistance (up to 30m). Its light weight also helps keeping the watch on at all time.
The buttons did feel a little stiff at first but after some use they do soften a bit.

       

My biggest concern was the sometimes slow access time; selecting an option with many entries (such as contacts) did result in a delay in opening the application. This only occurred when the number of entries were substantial and the watch memory was loaded with PPC information (all appointments, contacts, all tasks). In order to avoid this situation, I would recommend selecting only the necessary items and filtering all the others.
The watch is capable of holding 190kb of information. Synchronization time can be as long as 6-7min if you need to completely fill the memory but as short of 20-30 seconds on a regular update basis.
My two favorite features on the watch were the backlight, making the display very attractive and readable in any condition, and the alarm function. Once you synchronize your watch with appointments that have reminders, the watch will automatically warn you when the preset time comes, and beep until you dismiss the reminder.
Another great feature is the ability for the watch to send and receive vcard (read contact information) from anyone using the Peacemaker software (including Palm users).

Conclusion:

The Fossil PDA Watch looks like a true companion to our mobile computing lives and will surely help you become even more productive and despite its large appearance, the watch will probably feel like the most comfortable watch you'll ever wear.

Pros:

Cons:

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