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BGonline.org Forums
Can anyone recommend which types of clocks to use?
Posted By: Henrik Bukkjaer In Response To: Can anyone recommend which types of clocks to use? (Lucky Jim)
Date: Tuesday, 16 February 2010, at 10:08 p.m.
You should also consider the new Garde Digital clocks.
They are very easy to use (no buttons except for plungers to operate once started, you pause it by levelling the plungers - great for old speed chess players), and the display are very large, readable and clear. The clock is sturdy and solid. Impossible to power off or reset by mistake.
It's nothing like their old digital clock, which was hopeless (the one with analog hands moving in steps of whole minutes).
It comes in two variations, with the expensive one having a third plunger in the middle to pause. Maybe there's a little difference in how the pause operates - I'm not sure which version is best suited for backgammon though I suspect it might be the cheapest one (I own the 3 plunger version).
I also have a DGT clock (the Easy+ Kramnik version), and that's a great clock for backgammon EXCEPT the mechanics for the plunger bar cannot sustain many matches with heavy plunging! Mine worked for around 40 17-point matches, then it started to do strange things every 40th move (double plunging when pressed once, typical). It's almost the same "software" and "display" as DGT 960, making the 960 Ok for BG use, but a little stupid to pause, and then the smaller buttons to press when plunging just don't feel right for an old chessplayer. I expect it to be somewhat like the iPhone variation, which is great, but just feels wrong for some odd reason. (BTW: I guess one Japanese world class player can hurl an iPhone much longer than a game clock! It will certainly not be my iPhone taking such a flight. I use the iPhone strictly as a "backup clock" if a real clock is not available).
I've also played with the Excaliber GT2, which I think was a good clock, the only thing that could be better were not having to use a seperate pause button to stop/start. I'm not sure how it holds up over time either, but the build quality felt OK.
The Saitek Game Timer Competition Pro is used a lot in the Danish Backgammon Federation (it's the standard clock here I guess), and that's a very good clock for it's price as well. Better than the previous Saitek clock, which was not too bad. I only have two drawbacks to mention on that clock: 1) It uses the main display to show the delay counting down, so at no point during play, you can look at the clock and see both players time left. 2) You cannot pause it using the plungers, you need to use a pause button located between other buttons.
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A clock I'd like to try: The very solid Chronos clock used a lot in blitz and speed chess - it comes with both mechanical plungers and fingertouch ones. The problem is that I cannot buy it in Denmark, and I couldn't even find one in a European web shop :-( I'd imagine that this clock is very good for backgammon use - in fact all clocks suitable for speed/blitz chess would be fine I guess?
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