Picked up this watch last week (found it somewhere else for a for a bit cheaper) and loving it. The watch has all the functions mentioned and all work smoothly. The only thing to note is that the watch case itself is a mix of dark green and black (it's hard to make out in photos). Keep that in mind if you're "fashion conscious," didn't bother me one bit. The watch is a little on the large side so if you've got a very small wrist it might be huge on you. I'm a lefty and wear it on my right wrist and have no problem with button operations. For some reason the moon display was reversed but the documentation explained how to fix that quickly. Like all temperature sensing watches, your measurements will be off if you try taking a reading with it on your wrist (body heat and all). Everything else appears accurate. The radio receiver has worked flawlessly every night, even receiving a signal with the watch deep inside my house.

Pros:
Watch has everything except a GPS!
Solar powered, don't worry about batteries.
Large, easy to read numbers.
Bright backlight, auto backlight if you enable it.
Calendar programmed until 2099.
Great water/depth resistance (200m).

Cons:
Large size (only a problem if you have a small wrist).
Disclaimers in manual to take all readings with a grain of salt (not meant as professional quality measurements).
Two-tone case (dark green and black, why not just back?).
Non-standard watch bands, can't swap it out easily for non-Casio band. 5 stars

Great watch with many useful features. I bought this as a backup tool for aviation. It has proved to be fairly useful. I give it only 4 stars because of the functionality of the measurements.

I calibrated my watch at the airport with actual observed conditions. Once calibrated it will provide fairly accurate measurements, I use fairly loosely. The barometer only measures in increments of .05 inches. Yesterday the barometer was as 30.07 observed and my watch read 30.10. I suppose 30.05 would have been closer but I was thankful that the watch read that close. The temperature measurements have been dead on. I have an outdoor digital thermometer at my house and they generally read the same to .2 degrees F.

The altimeter and compass do not continually measure. They have to be refreshed. I believe that the compass reads for 20 sec and the altimeter might be the same. The altimeter has shown to be the most inaccurate of the measurements. It tends to fluctuate a lot.

My biggest complaint though is the backlight. It only stays on for about 2 seconds once the button is pushed. It isnt nearly enough time to take in all the information that this watch provides. I havent found a way yet to change the duration.

I could certainly have gotten away with the 1300 series but my wife thought the 1500 looked better so who was I to argue. The moon feature of the 1500 is pretty cool. I do enjoy knowing what phase the moon is in and how high the tides are.

Overall I really enjoy this watch. I wish that it was a little more accurate but I guess that is why aviation instruments are thousands of dollars and this watch is hundreds. BTW, I really like Amazon and buy most everything from here...except this watch. I bought it at my local Casio dealer for about $30 less than advertised here. The casio pathfinder website has a dealer locater function. If you are thinking about this watch...get it.

Edit:
Seems as if the price is dropping on Amazon. It is currently under $225. I doubt that you will find it cheaper. Maybe, but prob not. Amazon came through again for me. They most always have the best prices. 4 stars

So in 2001, I got my first Pathfinder watch, the PAG-40. It was great. The PAW-1500 is an obvious improvement in function. It is solar powered, water resistant to 200 m (although anyone who is diving 660 feet...I find hard to believe they would be wearing this watch, but whatever), atomic precision in time keeping, world time, tide/moon phases, and a countdown timer, and a silent mode (the last four are my favorite, most useful). I was actually hoping to get a watch that has all of these, including a depth gauge and GPS, although I know that GPS tends to suck the life out of watch batteries, at least this is the rumor I heard with the Suunto watch.

But here are my complaints. The back light function is not as brilliant as my PAG-40. This is a little difficult to explain, but the PAG-40 backlight actually lit up the characters/numbers, not just the background, which I always liked -- the PAW 1500 just lights up the background. Also, the compass function on the PAG-40, would be superimposed upon the entire face of the watch, whereas the PAW-1500 is just on the periphery, this is a major disappointment for me.

As far as looks. I was torn between the PAW-1500 and the PAW-1500 7T b/c the latter has a black bezel. But I didn't want the metal watch band. I do not like the silvery/shiny bezel on the PAW-1500. The face of the PAW-1500 is not as large as the PAG-40, which, I am sure the reason is that when you incorporate the solar power and water resistance down to 200 m, compromise has to be made somewhere (It's only about a 15% difference, but still)

This is a high functioning watch, but for aesthetics, I am not as impressed. 3 stars

First, I got a very good deal on this watch. Still, I regret the purchase
Key points:
1. Its too big and heavy, it tends to want to spin around your wrist
2. The tide feature is simply a toy. It will not even tell when there will be a high or low tide. You must hunt for it. Yet, its still one of the most interesting features.
3. Solar. When I was looking, I had this as a must have, but now, I dislike it. I find myself always worried about making sure the dang thing is in bright light. I think I would rather just replace a battery once in 10 years.
4. Display. There are small icons of all types on the display. They are sooooo small that you can't make out what they are. I must put on reading glasses and be in bright light to make them out. For a watch sooo big, you would think that the time, date, and other info would have larger text.
5. Moon phase. The contrast on this is not good and this is difficult to see sometimes as well
6. The compass seems to work well
7. The altimeter, is accurate to about +- 160 feet. Not the best
8. Its good to 200M, but really over 100M is over kill.

This thing goes for North of $200. Yet I was at Walmart and on the shelf was some chinese watch that had a large display, with many of the same features, Tide, Moon, world time, Water resistant, etc, and it was $11.00. That killed me.

Then when you think about it, for $200, you can get an iphone 3G which has all that this watch has, a GPS and more. With the GPS, I know my position, my altitude, speed, etc, and its all accurate. The only thing missing is the iphone is not water resistant. 3 stars

i bought this watch after reading about it. i didnt think it was possible for a watch to do so many different functions. however it does, and at a very reasonable price. barometer, thermometer, altimeter, compass, stopwatch, timer, and on and on. i have checked the readings against the weather station, and the readings are right on the button. enjoy this watch, it does so much 5 stars