First Dive Computer **Advise needed

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Well , things have definitely got off hand in the thread, with a few Suunto ayatollahs chipping in and thrashing (1) my dive planning and (2) buoyancy skills without knowing who I am or what I do as a diver, and worryingly enough (3) insulting and condescending on Indonesian local dive guides (BTW I never said they were Indonesian, I said they were based in Indonesia but it doesn't matter at this stage).

I don't think I can add anything else of value to the (arrogant with whiffs of white-supremacist? ) narrative here. Safe dives all and may the oceans be big enough so that we don't cross paths over or underwater.

I have done lots of deco dives with Suuntos, the only time I have seen one bent was a Zoop taken to 60m on an accelerated deco dive.it was set to air so eventually I was shallower than it needed for the whole 3 minutes it takes to bend one.

It is not necessary to bend a computer.
 
@drainaps
I apologise if you feel personally offended. Perhaps I could have worded my comments differently. But in my opinion your statements seem to advocate poor diving practices - especially to the Op who may be a relatively new diver. Its the wrong message to give. Perhaps this wasn't your intention, and while its true I don't know your diving practices, from you comments, it made me wonder and I decided to speak up.

If a dive manufacturer produces a poor quality product which consistently fails and is a risk to divers then yes they should be held accountable. But I believe it is unfair to attack a company and state they are more interested in lawsuits rather than diver safety because they have taken the time, money and resources to develop their algorithm with safety features which they believe reduces the risk of DCS.

You may not agree with their attitude towards diver safety; fair enough. Fortunately there are other options available but let us be clear, there is no dive computer on the market today that will safely get you out of the water no matter what (your words).

As for the instructors in Indonesia, I have already extended my apology. Due to the nature of their work as instructors I can imagine them chasing student divers up and down the water column creating sawtooth profiles and fast ascents. This would be in violation of the Suunto algorithm and the program has a deco stop feature Suunto calls a "mandatory safety stop." If not followed, it doesn't lock up the computer but penalises the diver on subsequent dives. So what the instructors are doing is throwing their computers overboard to complete the mandatory safety stop without them so they don't get shorter NDLs on subsequent dives.

Why do they do this? Perhaps they feel they don't need it or work demands that they have to be topside and therefore can't complete it. I not sure what the health and safety regulations are in Indonesia. I personally wouldn't advocate this practice since again it sends the wrong message; particularly to student divers.

But hopefully @drainaps we can put aside our differences and if I am ever in Shanghai and we bump into each other, I'll shout you a beer. :)
 
If I am in the market for a computer suitable for both rec and tec diving, I would go out and buy TWO Aqualung i200 for total of US$400.00(with change) from LP.
Set the computer to gauge mode for tec dive.
I have been diving technical(baby decompression dive of no more than 30mins deco(on accelerated deco procedure) 20yrs. Pre dive plan was all I needed.
 
@drainaps
I apologise if you feel personally offended. Perhaps I could have worded my comments differently. But in my opinion your statements seem to advocate poor diving practices - especially to the Op who may be a relatively new diver. Its the wrong message to give. Perhaps this wasn't your intention, and while its true I don't know your diving practices, from you comments, it made me wonder and I decided to speak up.

If a dive manufacturer produces a poor quality product which consistently fails and is a risk to divers then yes they should be held accountable. But I believe it is unfair to attack a company and state they are more interested in lawsuits rather than diver safety because they have taken the time, money and resources to develop their algorithm with safety features which they believe reduces the risk of DCS.

You may not agree with their attitude towards diver safety; fair enough. Fortunately there are other options available but let us be clear, there is no dive computer on the market today that will safely get you out of the water no matter what (your words).

As for the instructors in Indonesia, I have already extended my apology. Due to the nature of their work as instructors I can imagine them chasing student divers up and down the water column creating sawtooth profiles and fast ascents. This would be in violation of the Suunto algorithm and the program has a deco stop feature Suunto calls a "mandatory safety stop." If not followed, it doesn't lock up the computer but penalises the diver on subsequent dives. So what the instructors are doing is throwing their computers overboard to complete the mandatory safety stop without them so they don't get shorter NDLs on subsequent dives.

Why do they do this? Perhaps they feel they don't need it or work demands that they have to be topside and therefore can't complete it. I not sure what the health and safety regulations are in Indonesia. I personally wouldn't advocate this practice since again it sends the wrong message; particularly to student divers.

But hopefully @drainaps we can put aside our differences and if I am ever in Shanghai and we bump into each other, I'll shout you a beer. :)
Thanks for your words, they honor you, apologies accepted and it will be me buying you a beer if you're in Shanghai.
 
I'll see your ayatollah and raise you a nazi: you're calling me names because I'm (part) Jewish. Godwin! Godwin!
 
@drainaps cheers and safe diving. :) I'm happy we reconciled.
To the Op @Tidusdayon , a great suggestion was made by @GrafCanuck . The secondary market provides some excellent options worth considering and you will get a higher spec computer at a reasonable price. When it comes to used dive equipment, its a buyer's market. Continue your research, be patient, keep to your budget and you may find a really good deal.
 
A real sense of proportion and perspective is needed here.

When a new diver is purchasing their own gear, they may not have the $1000 plus to drop down on a high end computer.

Also the vast amount of divers simply make warm water dives, on an AL80, following a guide. Their dive time is more often gas limited rather than NDL, and for the most part the latter part of the dive is shallow enough that the computer shows >99 NDL anyhow.

None of the entry level computers are designed for Deco diving, they all say as much in the manual. They also state that they will get you to the surface if you "inadvertently" go into deco and follow them to the surface.

Those of us old enough will remember the same statement on PADI tables

So the entry level computers are fine for the most part.

Once someone gets more experienced they may then out grow the computer - because their SAC rate drops, of they're carrying larger cylinders allowing them to stay down longer, in which case these entry level computers aren't necessarily the best tool for the job

I use a Cressi Leonardo for the first 100 dives, I still have it, as my son's who are newly qualified OW use them and it's perfect for their diving

Looking back (and I've spent may $1000's on my dive gear collection) I wouldn't have done it differently. By the time I was ready for a high end computer, those available when I started had been superseded by newer models with more advanced features. So if I'b rought a high end comp from teh outset I'd probably have changed to for a newer model anyway.

Just my thoughts
 
A color screen that is big enough to read easily at a glance is a nice feature to have on any dive.
 
A color screen that is big enough to read easily at a glance is a nice feature to have on any dive.

As long as you don't have stick your hand under a coral head to shlied it from the sun every time you want to actually see anything on it. My duper-nifty optically shmonded superamoled cellphone is useless in direct sunlight, and dive computer screens are nowhere near as good. Well, the smartwatch-type ones are, but not the bigger models.

Of course if all your diving is in dark muck, then it's pretty much a must.
 
As long as you don't have stick your hand under a coral head to shlied it from the sun every time you want to actually see anything on it. My duper-nifty optically shmonded superamoled cellphone is useless in direct sunlight, and dive computer screens are nowhere near as good. Well, the smartwatch-type ones are, but not the bigger models.

Of course if all your diving is in dark muck, then it's pretty much a must.

Oh come on now

I dive in the Middle East, I doubt there are many places with brighter harsher sunlight. Even at the surface I can read my colour screens on my comps.

My iPhone is perfectly readable in daylight even with sunglasses on too.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom