I recently bought a Shearwater Petrel. While I'm not necessarily regretting my decision, I feel like I didn't give the xDeep enough consideration.
One of my dive buddies told me about the xDeep Black as an option. When I looked it up the pictures I saw appeared very blocky and taller/bigger than the Petrel. I obviously didn't look at enough pictures because I recently looked again and realized it's actually smaller. (comparison pic 1 2 3)
So, for whatever reason, I've been reading up on the xDeep and it seems like a reasonable competitor to the Petrel. While it doesn't have ALL of the features of the Petrel, it seems to have enough to put it in the same league.
What I haven't been able to find are any good [English] video reviews of the xDeep.
Interesting that this picture is in some ads. Compare it to this picture. The first picture shows set screws that are flush with the faceplate, xDeep logo, and it actually appears a little more low-profile. The buttons also don't seem to extend past the side of the casing. I'm guessing it's either a prototype or a computer generated concept model. Either way, it looks more refined than the actual one.
What xDeep has that the Petrel doesn't:
- Smaller size.
- Single strap. Not sure if this is a perk, since I'm guessing most people ditch the strap in favor of bungee.
- Three-axis compass w/ user-programmable courses
- Rechargeable battery
- Audible alarms. Again, not sure if this is a perk. Given the response from some folks I'm going to say this is pretty undesirable among the tech crowd.
What the Petrel has that the xDeep doesn't:
- 5 open-circuit gas switch presets (xDeep EANx has 3... 10 for Trimix version)
- Multiple decompression algorithms
- Models w/ or w/o external Fischer I/O port
- Bluetooth wireless connection
- Replaceable AA battery (if rechargeable isn't somehow appealing)
- Desktop Logbook software that can download multiple dives at once
What they both have
- Large, color, customizable displays
- Air/Nitrox/Trimix capable
- More stuff I either haven't read up on or don't understand enough to comment on.
The price for the xDeep varies but the maxed out Trimix version is about the same price range as the Petrel SA.
Availability seems to be something the xDeep can't stay on top of. Not sure why. I'm no business analyst, but clearly supply can't support demand.
So why did I start this... because I couldn't find a discussion that was dedicated to the comparison of just these two computers.
Not saying I regret my decision on the Petrel, but I'd also love a chance to play with the xDeep.
One of my dive buddies told me about the xDeep Black as an option. When I looked it up the pictures I saw appeared very blocky and taller/bigger than the Petrel. I obviously didn't look at enough pictures because I recently looked again and realized it's actually smaller. (comparison pic 1 2 3)
So, for whatever reason, I've been reading up on the xDeep and it seems like a reasonable competitor to the Petrel. While it doesn't have ALL of the features of the Petrel, it seems to have enough to put it in the same league.
What I haven't been able to find are any good [English] video reviews of the xDeep.
Interesting that this picture is in some ads. Compare it to this picture. The first picture shows set screws that are flush with the faceplate, xDeep logo, and it actually appears a little more low-profile. The buttons also don't seem to extend past the side of the casing. I'm guessing it's either a prototype or a computer generated concept model. Either way, it looks more refined than the actual one.
What xDeep has that the Petrel doesn't:
- Smaller size.
- Single strap. Not sure if this is a perk, since I'm guessing most people ditch the strap in favor of bungee.
- Three-axis compass w/ user-programmable courses
- Rechargeable battery
- Audible alarms. Again, not sure if this is a perk. Given the response from some folks I'm going to say this is pretty undesirable among the tech crowd.
What the Petrel has that the xDeep doesn't:
- 5 open-circuit gas switch presets (xDeep EANx has 3... 10 for Trimix version)
- Multiple decompression algorithms
- xDeep: Bühlmann ZHL-16C with Gradient Factors
- Petrel: Bühlmann ZHL-16C with Gradient Factors; VPM-B
- Models w/ or w/o external Fischer I/O port
- Bluetooth wireless connection
- Replaceable AA battery (if rechargeable isn't somehow appealing)
- Desktop Logbook software that can download multiple dives at once
What they both have
- Large, color, customizable displays
- Air/Nitrox/Trimix capable
- More stuff I either haven't read up on or don't understand enough to comment on.
The price for the xDeep varies but the maxed out Trimix version is about the same price range as the Petrel SA.
Availability seems to be something the xDeep can't stay on top of. Not sure why. I'm no business analyst, but clearly supply can't support demand.
So why did I start this... because I couldn't find a discussion that was dedicated to the comparison of just these two computers.
Not saying I regret my decision on the Petrel, but I'd also love a chance to play with the xDeep.
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