If you're looking at A178, you must've looked at A168. Both are cool, funky watches. What might have looked as a total geek or poor-man's watch in the 80s is now hipster cool (for better or worse).  Kudos to Casio to continuing to produce these 80s styles, still in 2012! Don't ever stop!

There's also the gold version which I personally favor (it's funkier IMO) but the silver one is half the cost. Amazon price is around $12-$14, which has got to be a bargain!! You may have also considered A168. You can't go wrong with either but here's a comparison:
- A178 is a tad bigger overall so it feels more substantial. A168 sometimes feels a bit small for men, A178 feels like the perfect in-between size for both men and women.
- Band is identical
- A178's display and numbers are bigger
- The look of A178, while retro, would match formal wear (suits) better. A168's face screams retro-80s more and with all the colorful labels (ElectroLuminescence, Illuminator), it might almost look comical with formal wear.
- Has dual time, A168 does not. This is excellent if you travel a lot.
- A178 has corner lit, greenish-yellow bulb light which lights up for 2 seconds on butten press; A168 has whole-screen bright blue backlight and only stays lit while you have the button pressed. The corner light is plenty bright though A168's blue backlight looks cooler IMO.
- A178's stopwatch is better as it let's you count up to 10hrs (9:59:59) before flipping over to zero. A168 is fairly limited b/c it's stopwatch can count only up to 59:59 (1hr).
- A168 has 3 side buttons, A178 has 4, one on each corner. This gives a more balanced look.

At the end of the day, you can't go wrong with this watch. At this price, it's a no-brainer. And I have both A168 and A178 BTW. I switch them out depending on mood. If you have the funds, just get both! :)  Reminder: the watch is "WR" (Water Resist) - meaning you CAN get it wet but I wouldn't go swimming with it.

[Update 8/11/2013] I've recently put a nylon watch strap ("Nato" strap) on it and it looks great! Of all the retro-styled Casio watches I have, I think the silver A178 is probably the easiest to pair up with a NATO strap in terms of looks. The square face and square LCD readout gives it really nice balance. FYI - 18mm strap and spring bars. Note: there's so little space under the spring bars, you'll have to place the strap first, then put the spring bars in place and it's a tight fit. So unfortunately, you don't have the easy swapability of the straps b/c of the little clearance.