Saturday, April 25, 2009

Casio G-Shock GL-7000RF-1DR Review


So, what you see above is a GL-7000RF-1DR G-Lide G Shock.  Not many of these around, it seems.  It was released outside Japan in late 2004, and was discontinued less than a year later.  I have seen some attribute it to a line of Gs known as "Inner Force" but my research has not turned up much about that lineup.


The GL-7000RF does have a 5th light button, but it has no "G" emblem on it, and is polished to blend in with the other polished parts of the case.  If you didn't know it was there...you'd probably miss seeing it.


I have no idea what the Japanese symbol is on the back, but it looks cool.  Anybody have thoughts on this?


Here you can see the other polished parts on the case (just above the buttons).  There is very little on this watch that reflects light...so I consider it quite a "tactical" watch.  Also, notice the gray ring an dhow it sits about 1mm above the rest of the face of the watch.


On the 12 o'clock side of the case, the first link in the bracelet has a stylized G logo with a lightning bold passing thru it.  Another strange logo...I wish I knew what it meant.



The GL-7000RF has the exact same features as the G-2300 series.  What it does not have is the exact same module.  The 2300 line uses the 2184 module.  The GL-7000RF uses a 2594 module.  One thing that is very different is the legibilty and the crispness of the digits.  I would bet that the GL-7000RF uses a higher contrast polarizing film.  This one looks crisp from nearly every anlge I try, where members of the G-2300 series always seem to look a little out of focus or fuzzy to me.



Below are some borrowed pictures from Brian D. on WatchUSeek (see this original thread).  He compared the size of the GL-7000 to the G-2310.  When alone, the GL looks like it would be the bigger of the two watches.  And with the extra weight due to the steel outer case and bracelet, the thought of it being bigger is reinforced.  But if you directly compare a 2310 and a GL-7000, the 2310 comes out ahead in size.


Here, you can see the GL-7000 on top of a 2300 which is on top of a 2310.


This time, the GL is on the far left, with a 2310 and 2300 in the center/right respectively.


This shot shows two things clearly: the size of the 2300 is much wider than the GL.  Also, you can see the crispness of the GL display.


Again, this shot shows two things clearly: the size of the 2310 is much wider than the GL.  Also, you can really see the crispness difference of the two displays.