I was willing to spend up to $80 on a watch that/had did a few basic things:
1) large display with large easy-to-hit lap button
2) had at least two time-lines independently running, so that I could see a cumulative time and a last-lap time

This watch does it. I looked at other watches for more money and the money was not even a consideration, because this watch covers those perfectly.

I use it for speed work and road races. Its 50 lap is going to cover a person in any race (if you're doing an ultra marathon, they're not going to have mile markers that often anyway!). There are a couple of display formats, but I use the default, which has a cumulative time in the large numbers and, when one hits the lap button at a lap/mile, it freezes everything on the display, showing the cumulative at that last click as well as the last mile's time. It holds this for 10 seconds and then resumes, with the cumulative time on the bottom and the current lap on the top. One could probably switch those around, but I've not tried.

Its 50 lap memory works well.

Its 3 alarms are cool and it also has an interval timer, which I must admit I've not used.

Timex OBVIOUSLY put a lot of thought into the design and functionality of this watch. There are no silly things that were added that are of no use. Clearly they interviewed runners to determine exactly what this watch should have. The night mode is also cool--if one holds down the light button for 4 seconds, the watch enters night mode, and now any button click at all will turn the light on for a short bit. Very useful for night/early morning runs. 5 stars

I've been very familiar with the Timex band as 80% of the watches I've bought in the last decade have been Ironman Timex watches. So the familiar feel of the buttons was a great plus to buying this watch.

The only downgrade from previous versions of the Ironman is the 50 lap "memory". I've had other Ironmans that allow you to save previous runs, swims, bikerides, or whatever else you've been timing. Now you can only save one... with up to 50 laps. When a new time starts, you must delete your old one first.

But my biggest complaint is the band. When I first put the watch on my wrist I fell in love with how it feels. The unique look of the band also fit my wrist like a glove and I thought I had the perfect watch. Unfortunately, it has just suddenly came off twice in the last half year I've owned it. And not from anything too rough. The last time I was just driving. And putting it back on was worst than solving a Rubik's cube. And if you want to replace the band, forget it, findng a replacement has been fruitless thus far. A price to pay for such a unique look.

Recommended? In the end, no, I regret buying this watch. If they can figure out how to keep it held together better this would be a wonderful watch to own. Though 2-3 times more expensive, my favorite watches of late were made by Nike. 3 stars

I've used a Timex Expedition (B0000D1662) for years, but this is less expensive, more stylish, and more functional - it's as though the prices are backwards.

The IronMan30 has a night-light system that far surpasses the Expedition, with brightly glowing number elements rather than a weakly back-lit face, a more elabore lap/split chronograph, a simpler and more accurate timer, separate day/weekend/weekday alarms, and a recessed face.

That last feature is very important: I've had to replace my Expedition every few years because the face always got scratched, soon after purchase. But the IronMan30 has a recessed face that hasn't been scratched yet!

The IronMan50, by contrast, has what the 30 has plus 20 more laps. If you have more than 30 (even more than 10?) laps to time, you should probably invest in a more expensive watch - one with a heart monitor if not also a compass and/or altimeter, depending where you're doing those laps. 4 stars

This watch has a lot of nice features, and works well. Unfortunately, its band doesn't fare so well. I had this watch for less than a year before giving up on it. In the last 3 months or so of its existence, I had to epoxy parts of the band back together no less than 10 times (in at least 6 different places). With most watches, if the band isn't very good, you can simply replace it. Timex chose a customized band that isn't user-serviceable. If you need any repair work done to the band, you need to send it back to Timex, pay for shipping, pay a $7 handling fee, and wait up to a month to get it back. That's if you kept the receipt and can prove it's under warranty. If not, you'll have to pay $10 for the replacement band.

In addition to the problems with the band, within about six months, two of the buttons lost a good deal of sensitivity (naturally the two most commonly pressed buttons). They still worked, but they had to be pressed very hard, and sometimes needed to be pressed twice for the watch to realize they had been pressed. I never considered this a major issue, as it happened to a lesser degree on previous Ironman Triathlon watches as well, and it didn't seem to be getting any worse.

I've owned many Timex Ironman Triathlon watches over the years, and have always been happy with them, until now. This watch has been a thorough disappointment. It was the most expensive of their watches that I've bought (their less expensive, but more reliable models are no longer available in stores), and it suffered multiple failures within a year. And when I looked into the prospect of getting it repaired/replaced by Timex, I was disappointed to see that Timex won't stand behind their products enough to even pay return shipping on warranty repairs. Many other companies stand behind their products so firmly that they'll even pay shipping BOTH ways. Not Timex, though!

I ended out replacing my watch with another brand watch. It cost less than half as much, and appears to be much more durable, along with being made from nicer, more expensive materials (professional looking fully-metal band with smooth hinges all around). It unfortunately lacks some of the features that this watch offers, but until Timex goes back to standard watchband connections, I do not plan on buying another one of their watches. 2 stars

I've owned 3. All 3 had the same problem, the band is defective on these watches. It will break, you can't fix it, Timex will insist you buy another whole watch and not repair the band...
I played the return game twice and wore the 3rd watch until it too broke.

Lightweight, comfortable, functunal, but defective band design.
That's why they are on sale everywhere. 1 star