I have this one as well (though I haven't had a match yet to use it) and while you definitely can turn off the beeps I don't believe there's a vibration mode, which is sort of a bummer. I found it for $30 online though (down from $120) so I can't complain too much I suppose.
Ouch. I bought it at full price to support a local store here in Canada. Apparently one of the identical-looking models has vibration, but Adidas has discontinued all of these watches now! I thought about the Spintso, but don't love the look of the watch face and have heard that it is buggy and has a lot of durability issues.
Hmm, yes there seems to be an issue with keeping the vibrate active. IT IS THERE. To get it, or get it back, do a factory reset. Hold all four main buttons at once for 5 seconds. (this is a guess): battery level might be disabling vibrate once it gets too low. Try a new full charge battery. I'll be doing this. Download the manual from timex.com. Then go through the motions of setting your sound pref. Referee mode starts on page 21. (mine is an ADP3076) Sound prefs (read SOUND or VIB, or BOTH) are on the main time set up just after date format settings. Right now I can't select anything but Sound, did a factory reset, now I can! Good luck. (and try a fresh battery - I'll let you know how my swap went). p.s. That will be $50.
If you don't like the look, then that's your preference, but SPINTSO fixed the durability issue (corroding buttons) and I'm not sure what you meant by "buggy" but I've never had any issues with mine. If you do get one, I would recommend getting it from Proreferee.com. They were nothing but nice to me. I went through 2 watches with the corroding button issue and they still got me a third one with the stainless steel buttons.
I have the ADP3076, and love it. Vibrate works. Since I am wearing it now I can tell you that from the main date/time screen hold the Set button until it goes into program mode. Cycle through Hour, Minute, Second, Year, Month, Date, Time Format (12/24 hour), Date Format (M-D, D-M), and finally the setting for VIB+SND (VIBRA, BOTH, SOUND). Turn the beeping buttons on/off using the view button on the date/time screen
I have the ADP3120: http://www.soccerx.ca/Adi-Power-TR-Watch--Black_p_2158.html The factory reset sadly does not work at all on my model. I tried it about 20 different times. There's also no SOUND, VIB, or BOTH mode on mine. It goes straight from the Date display option back to the hour setting. I'll try a fresh battery, but I'm thinking the ADP3120 doesn't have vibrate. The 3121 is supposed to, but the 3122 (which looks the same in a different color) does not. I'll try a few more things and report back.
That's fantastic. Honestly, I *thought* I liked the look of the Adidas better, but it's a bit of a clunky looking monster on my wrist. Oh well. We don't ever look all *that* stylish as referees. I'm glad to hear that the corroding issue isn't a problem and that you haven't experienced any bugginess (I had read somewhere about the watch freezing up mid-match). Now I'm kindof wishing I had got the Spintso instead!
Page 16. If you don't see VIB as an option after date format, looks like your model does not have vibrate. http://www.watchstation.com/wcsstor...didas/instructions/Adidas_Performance_Eng.pdf
Sorry to bump, but... My ultimate watch has one simple feature: the ability to DECREASE the number of minutes in a half. So far, every watch i've had only allows increasing half lengths, so that to go from 40 minute halves to 35, you have to press the button 95 times, and have it wrap around from 99 to 00. Do any watches simply let me click 5 times to go down from 40 to 35?
I spent three hours at three different stores trying different watches to look for one which did that. I did eventually succeed. Looking at the back of it, it's a Casio AE-1000W. It's not designed for refereeing, but it's cheap and it displays a clock even if the main display is on the stopwatch or timer. I spent three hours looking for the watch that will probably save me 30 or so minutes over its lifetime.
The classic RFT-100 has presets in the countdown timer mode for 10/12/15/20/25/30/35/40/45. Very quick to rotate through them. May the ones that are still out there, including mine, never stop working ...
Without digging out the instructions, I can't figure out how do it at all, much less quickly. Well, other than setting it for 10, starting it and waiting five minutes. But that doesn't mean there's not a way. There are a number of fairly unintuitive things about it. I didn't learn how to use the count-up timer for the first seven years I had it - and then only after someone here told me how to do it.
On the rft100 You can set your stopwatch part to alarm at time you can set- any whole minute interval.
OK I dug out the instructions. There's actually a separate interval-countdown mode that can be set fairly quickly, and you can have up to nine separate intervals. You could use that easily enough. Sheesh, I just found a new function ... it has an auto-illluminate feature you can set so that it automatically lights up momentarily whenever you bring it up and tilt it towards your face. Who knew?
Don't know about the RFT-100, but I had this feature on a watch years ago and it significantly reduced the battery life.
SPINTSO Edit: When I first read this, I thought that you meant that you wanted a watch that would shorten a really boring game...
The adidas 3127 I've been using has presets for various times (45/15/40/35/etc) along with three custom settings. Now that I've finally gotten a chance to use it I've been very satisfied, apart from the lack of vibrate. The stoppage timer is really easy to use and I've found it very useful so far.
My Casio and Timex watches allow me to decrease the time. Press and hold reset button on upper left. Time flashes, press button on lower right to decrease time. Casio Men's W756-1AVCR Digital Sport Watch has preset times and is available for under $20.00, http://www.amazon.com/Casio-W756-1A...&qid=1379439101&sr=1-2&keywords=referee+watch
My beloved rft-100 broke- the yellow button stopped working. I disassembled it to see what was going on, and the innards work fine but I could not get the button to slide freely. So, I've ordered an adidas adp 3075 (white stripes, not yellow)- hopefully it will have vibrate.
Got an adidas adp 3075, which is the same as the 3076, just with white stripes instead of yellow. $67 on ebay. Several things I like about this watch. It is very sturdy, with very nice buttons: construction definitely sturdier than the casio rft-100. Referee mode is well thought out: count up timer with alarm selectable at various intervals, and one timer keeps counting when you press stop, in case you have a long stoppage. Vibrate alarm does work after factory reset (hold down all four buttons). Watch automatically reverts to tone alarm when battery is low. Not so goods: it is heavy and bulky, needlessly so for a digital watch. Rubber bracelet does not seem replaceable, so hope it doesn't break easily. Can do countdown alarm, but it doesn't have the preset choices of the "referee mode." Overall, I am pleased and feel it gives a little more value in construction than the casio, for a little less money. If you must have vibrate alarm, this is a solid way to go.
Does anyone know if the rft-100 2ver does the same stuff as the original rft-100? The reason I ask is it is widely available in the UK. And silly me, I bought one on amazon.co.uk without looking at the 2ver part. With shipping and handling, it was 76 us.