The new Excalibur GameTime III?

The USCF catalog in the the September Chess Life magazine mentioned that Excalibur will release a Game Time III this fall. What do any of you on this forum know about this updated Excalibur chess clock? What improvements have been made? When will it be available? What will be the MSRP?

Lew... As far as I know there hasn't been any release of info on it yet... Sure it will be out and in demand for Christmas though...

Thanks, I like the display features on the Game Time II , but the buttons are too loud. I hope the new one (the III) has quieter buttons or touch sensors. If so I may buy yet another chess clock.

The version thats out has negative reviews on it & just about all the others in this price range I have read. Check out Amazon reviews for more info.

DGT North American is in the same price range and gets great reviews, and is my personal clock of choice.

I recently bought 2 zmf II chess clocks and like them so far . I wanted the chronos but the price and the 40 pages on how to set it scared me off . 2 zmf II clocks for the price of 1 chronos was just too hard to resist . 

Zmf are pretty good from reviews on this forum.

I already have 2 Excalibur Game Time II's, I have a Saitek Pro (Silver) and Competition. (Blue) I have 4 DGT NA's and 2 Duel Timers, and used to have a Saitek Ii, I know what the reviews of the Excalibur say and I know that mine have been good clocks. I've had one of them for nearly 12 years, when my children were toddlers they used to play with it, yet it was un harmed, I keep it in my classroom and High School kids use it frequently it has survived nearly 10 years of scholastic chess club use. It is loaded with features and has a fantastic display that provides more on screen info than any other clock. But it does have loud buttons and a few programming quirks that can and should be updated.

Therefore I asked about info on the new Game Time III that is coming out according to the USCF 2014 Fall Buyer's Guide. I did not ask you to tell me about bad reviews for the current model or to convince me that I need to purchase your favorite model instead. I'm quite familiar with all brands and types of chess clocks currently on the market and many discontinued ones. Though I do not yet have a ZMF-II or a Chronos I've had several opportunities to use them they are also nice. Probably the only clock I am not familiar with is this new Excalibur Game Time III , which is why I started this thread. If you do not have any info about the new Game Time III or you are not any any way curious about it then you have no need to post replies to this thread topic. Please do not try to evangelize me to join your own personal favorite clock cult.

Begging your pardon, but you were not the only one that has posted in this thread.

My post about another clock was in response to: 

"The version thats out has negative reviews on it & just about all the others in this price range I have read."

 I was not trying to evangelize you or something nefarious.  You might be surprised to learn that people besides you are allowed to talk about things, sometimes of their own choosing.  Yes, even in threads you started.

I can't really fault the OP for wanting to keep the thread on topic, although his tone does seem a bit harsh. Eh, I guess we all have bad hair days.

I'm also curious about the specs for the Gametime III, but I haven't seen anything yet.

Biglew, I am sorry you took my post the wrong way. I was just trying to be helpful. As soon as you get the Gametime 111 please give us a review.

It's intimidating at first but only becuase it's different, it's actually very simple and once you know it every other clock seems difficult by comparison. I have the Chronos FX, and that one is even easier. Sadly it looks like they are no longer being made.

Alright, I know about this new clock as well as the others mentioned.

Frank Camaratta and Bill Goichberg had the patent on the first Excalibur GameTime clock.  The GameTime II had some improvements.  I have owned and still own a number of each of these models.  Indeed they are good clocks that hold up.  The push buttons can be a bit loud but they have not worn out or anything.  The display also shows more information than any other on the market.

Frank Camaratta has the new clock currently being produced in China.  Since the Excalibur company name has been sold to an Eastern European company it most likely will not have the Excalibur name on it.

I am not sure if he will be able to call it GameTime either.  But the clock wil be produced by Frank with Sean Sullivan, the one who bought the House of Staunton from Frank.  I believe the clock should be coming out by the first of the year or even early December, but once the first clocks come out, they will need to be tested and corrected in design as need be, so the time of them coming out is still not sure.

The clock will have touch sensors instead of buttons.  These will be the same as the ZMF-II and Chronos Touch models.

I am not sure how the programming will differ, but I believe the body will still be plastic and the price should be between $45 - $65 retail.  Of course I am not sure of this.

I currently own Chronos, Saitek, Excalibur, ZMF-II, DGT North American and DGT 2010 clocks.  Because of some earlier purchases for the scholastic club I run, I got a great price on the new DGT 3000, which is replacing the DGY XL which I also used to own but sold.

While the Chronos is excellent in design and build, it is not as available as it used to be and expensive. 

The DGT clocks all use rocker arms instead of buttons or touch sensors with the main problem of this design is the ability to see who is on the move from a distance.  I use my DGT clocks for games that I will not be leaving the board for, G/20 and G/15.  Above 20 minutes none of the current DGT clocks show the seconds in the time left.

The DGT 3000 will have the seconds showing at all times and also have the US delay as an option along with Fischer increment and Bronstein Delay as they all have had.

The ZMF-II is alright but I personally can't take this clock seriously.  The flashing LED's are just too much fun for a long time control game.

For the money, I have consistently suggested the Excalibur GameTime II.  It shows the seconds and move count at all times in the display with everything else.  As I said earlier the buttons fool people into thinking they are cheap and will not hold up over time, but that's not true as hard working experience has shown over the years.

I look forward to the new clock that Frank Camaratta is coming out with to replace the Excalibur GameTime II.  I believe it will be a very affordable clock with a good number of characteristics that we Chess players look for.

Thanks for your very informative update. 

Thanks EyeChess! Exactly the info I was looking for! I believe I'd rather have one of those than DGT 3000 even if price wasn't a factor. But the DGT 3000 looks cool too.