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26 of 26 found the following review helpful:
 Reliable and Affordable Mar 28, 2007
By Mattany
This is a great watch for someone who wants all the bells and whistles of a good, outdoor computer watch at a good price. I have several friends who own other brands with the exact same functions, and they paid two or three times as much.
The watch face is large and easy to read, and the functions and buttons are easy to use, making it a very user-friendly.
I have used it all over the world in a variety of climates and situations and have yet to find a significant complaint about it. I purchased it for the compass, altimeter, and thermometer. All have been accurate and helpful, especially the compass; I carry a GPS for more accurate orientation but it's nice to just glance down at my watch for a quick direction and heading.
I have been very happy with this watch and would highly recommend it to anyone.
13 of 13 found the following review helpful:
Best deal around for the technology Nov 11, 2006
By Jason R. Gallia
I've had the Alterra for a couple months now. It really is the best buy out there for all the features you get. It doesn't have heart rate, but the ski chronograph, altimeter, weather sensor, and compass work very well. They're all based on the atmospheric pressure gauge within the watch (except the compass), so the watch really needs to be calibrated every day. I use Google Earth to get my current GPS location and the NSPS website for declination correction. This works well. If you don't calibrate the altitude can be off my hundreds of feet. After things are dialed in the watch is really a helpful device that costs significantly less than any Polar.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Great Watch if you Understand Altimeters Oct 22, 2007
By L. Schlenker
"Schlenker"
This watch is a technical masterpiece. I am a private pilot, and have found the altimeter/barometer to be a more mechanically accurate instrument than the altimeter in my airplane ASSUMING you set the barometer to the correct current setting (a limitation inherent in all pressure altimeter/barometers). Also, the rate of climb indicator reads the same as the indicator on my airplane, except it lags by about 10 seconds. I wore a Timex Expedition electronic compass watch for nearly 10 years (repurchased several of them) and the electronic compass on this HighGear watch is much more accurate and reliable. But if you do not hold it perfectly level, it will be off by 5 or 10 degrees, so a tiny bubble level would have been a nice addition. The watch is about the same circumference as the Timex, but a little thicker. Until I tried this one on, I was afraid an altimeter watch would look too big on my skinny wrist, but I think the HighGear Alterra looks nice enough to wear every day to work (I work as an attorney). I purchased the grey/black version with shiny stainless-steel-looking "graphite" metal bezel and trim, not the all-black one. My 15-year-old fashionista daughter confirms that it does not look nerdy. The biggest drawback is that it does not have a countdown timer, which I used extensively in my previous watch. The second biggest drawback is the instruction manual, which does not have enough background information for a more advanced user to understand how the watch's computer brain is manipulating the barometer setting, nor is it adequate for a beginner to understand how a pressure altimeter/barometer works. If you are a novice, get a flight training manual and read how the pressure altimeter works in an airplane, so you can understand the limitations of this watch. The altimeter and barometer are essentially just one instrument--an air pressure sensor. It does not know whether a reduction in air pressure is because you are going up in altitude (thinner air up-high), or because lower air pressure all around you is blowing in with a change in the weather (a low-pressure center). So this watch's little brain makes an educated guess on what is causing the pressure change, based on data that is available to it. Keep in mind that the "sea-level-adjusted" barometer setting and the altimeter are essentially hooked together like the two hands on a clock--if you change one, the other will instantly change. If you know the current barometer reading (adjusted down to sea level, to compare apples-to-apples), this watch will tell you your exact altitude with amazing precision, within ten feet (based on my first two weeks of use). If you know your current altitude, it will tell you the exact sea-level barometer reading. A computer in the watch interprets fast pressure changes as altitude changes, and slow pressure changes as weather-related barometer setting changes (at least this is what I am guessing, because the manual provides few clues about how the little brain thinks). I wish I knew so that I could anticipate when it has been "fooled". I also wish it had a manual over-ride, to allow me to "lock" the barometric setting when I want to use the watch like an aircraft altimeter. I can easily get the current barometric setting close to my present location from any airport by radio or telephone, or off of the internet from a weather site. The watch is easy to manipulate between functions, but I wish that it had an option to display the "sea-level adjusted" barometer setting on the time page (instead of the actual barometric pressure) because the latter is meaningless junk-data for any practical weather-related purpose. The sea-level adjusted barometer reading can be easily found on the barometer page, however. Over this past weekend I went backpacking and driving from 4000 feet to 9200 feet. While I was driving or walking it interpreted all of the pressure changes as altitude changes (which was essentially correct) and while I was sleeping in my tent it interpreted the pressure changes as barometric pressure changes (also correct). So, almost two days after its last adjustment, it was still reading the altitude within 100 feet of the correct altitude. I have a little more confidence in the little brain now. The weather predictive function has not proved very useful to me, probably because when you are going up and down a lot the watch does not have time to see a trend in barometric pressure changes. For that, you would need to stay at the same altitude for a while. This is my best watch ever, and I would recommend it over a Rolex.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Stylish and Functional- Great Watch Feb 17, 2007
By George Erwin
I've had this watch for a little less than a month and I am still very much impressed by all of its features. I have yet to calibrate the altimeter, but every time that I have been around an elevation sign it has been very consistent and is only off by about 30 feet. The altimeter log is incredibly easy to set and recall, and is a great way to keep track of elevation changes while backpacking, biking, and especially skiing. I would definitely recommend this watch for any outdoor enthusiast, particularly a skier.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Beware! Apr 16, 2008
By W. Farrell
If you do not buy this watch from one of the retailers listed on High Gear's website, the watch is not warrantied! Their customer service is exceptionally unhelpful. The quality is poor enough you will need the warranty...or look at another brand.
I had a problem with the buttons not working, so I contacted High Gear for a return authorization number. They refused the return authorization under warranty because "it was not purchased from an authorized High Gear dealer". Who knew? I perused their website with this new tidbit of information, and did not see Amazon listed as an "authorized on-line dealer". I contacted the BBB, and they were unable to convince High Gear to honor the warranty.
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