At times I have tried other watches when this has been too expensive, but I keep going back to this watch.  It provides everything that I need, and I can hear the beeps under the water when I swim and click for the laps at the turnarounds.  In a triathlon, it can be kind of bulky when you are trying to get your wetsuit off, but that's the only downside that I can think of.  And it's not as flimsy as some of the other Ironman watches out there.  For a long distance triathlete, having 100 laps on your watch is really nice to have.  I would consider 50 to be the minimum, but I have really gotten to like having the 100.