Computer choice for Euro divers

[drakcheslav]

Now, amongs the sea of recommendationa and shearwater recommendations i have a bit of peculiar problem.


Now, there is not much support where I live in, (Europe, but not EU) and I'm considering a good big screen always iluminated dive computer.

What I need:
Big screen,
Legible,
Good battery,
Solid support and possibility to fix problems online or such since no distribution in my neck of the woods,
Trimix since I'm planing to get into that in the future,
No proprietary or flimsy standards.

What's a nice thing but I can leave w/o it:
Good compass,
Air Integration.

What I don't care about:
Smart phone connection and such.
Gimmicks.


Now, only thing i have available in my country is a Suunto dealer but I can work around the fact that I can order my DC from abroad.


Ones I'm considering are:

Suunto EON Core. (all out of the box)
Divesoft Advanced Nitrox (upgreadable)
OSTC Sport/2/plus (upgreadable)
Shearwater Perdix (all out of the box)
IRatio deep (upgreadable),
Marex Genius (all out of the box)


Now. The cheapest od them for me is the EON core, and the only one that has somewhat a support.

What I'm interested in is what are your experiences with the computers above. What do you like about your computer, why are you never going to buy one of those again and such.


Also, recommendation for good Euro accessible brands, or new computers for someone who's planing on getting into technical diving in the near future (year or two)

 

[stepfen]

110% of the suggestions you will get are going to be for Shearwater Perdix

Another "european" option could/would be this: Divecomputer.eu - multifunctional dive computer but don't go for it. Although in theory it looks like a good computer and I think it fulfills all your requests (except AI), the product has a lot of problems (some important, some less so) and the company has been very slow in responding to them. It seems to be a beta version in very slow development. Until they fix all these I wouldn't bother even to think about it.

For the rest, prepare yourself to read endless replies here on how good shearwater is. Obviously they are good...

 

[sprockjohnson]

I had the Ratio ix3m Reb and although it appeared to be a great tech computer with a nice bright screen and a decent compass, the customer service support for the company is horrible. I had a question regarding the external po2 monitoring cable port, which is a bizarre 4 pin proprietary connection instead of the more standardized 7 pin Fischer, and they took approximately one month to even respond to my email. This was before the Covid 19 fiasco and yet the Italian company's support still took their time in responding and only somewhat answered my question when they did respond. I switched to a Shearwater Petrel and although I haven't needed to contact customer service, I am happy.

 

[Marie13]

I'm not in Europe, so I have no skin in this game, but just a few observations from seeing aspiring tech divers (fellow students of my TDI instructor who also does PADI Tec) with EON Steel/Core computers recently.

The Core gives you the option for using bungees rather than the watch style strap. One guy had such large forearms he couldn't mount his above the dry glove rings as most do. His had to go right on top of the dry glove.

Currently there is no upgrade to the Buhlmann logarithm that Shearwater uses and seems to be mostly commonly used.

Having the capability to download dives to your smartphone is handy as to be able to look closely at dives after you've done them, with more detail than you can see directly on your dive computer. Not having to haul out a laptop is convenient.

I believe @Diving Dubai uses either the Steel or Core for deco diving and could give his impressions.

 

[broncobowsher]

And my predictable choice is...

Shearwater.

Hits every one of your tick boxes. Add in legendary customer service. Free updates you do yourself. It runs just fine on a regular AA battery found anywhere in the world, but can run some nicer batteries if you don't mind spending a little more on the battery but don't want to change it as often. It will do trimix, in both OC and CC flavors.

Think of this. You are on a boat with a bunch of other technical divers. You have a question about a setting or something comes up. Or even simple dive planning. Look around the boat. 98/100 divers will be running at least one Shearwater. They will probably know what is going on even if you don't. You can also plan together better. As for the other 2 out of 100 technical divers, one will be tied to a proprietary computer on their rebreather and the other will be a stubborn old school guy that will only use a bottom timer, a depth gauge, and a set of tables he cut himself. Thinks the computers are not reliable and/or too expensive. Tables have worked the past 20 years, why change now.

 

[drakcheslav]

I know that the shearwater is the go to DC, but most of the reviews and recommendationa are from people in North America, I wanted to see if the support is as good in Europe, and especially outside of the EU for them.

Since for Divesoft, I can buy directly from the manufacturer, same.for the OSTC, and for perdix I'd have to go either used or through 3rd party.

How os theirs support for thode kinds of situations.

 

[Marie13]

I know that the shearwater is the go to DC, but most of the reviews and recommendationa are from people in North America, I wanted to see if the support is as good in Europe, and especially outside of the EU for them.

Since for Divesoft, I can buy directly from the manufacturer, same.for the OSTC, and for perdix I'd have to go either used or through 3rd party.

How os theirs support for thode kinds of situations.

SB is very North American centric. You'd really be better off searching out divers in your country and asking about their experiences.

 

[drakcheslav]

In my club they use bottom timers and tables.
Not a lot of divers in general since it's a landlocked country.

Few of the tech divers I know use Suunto Vypers in bottom timer mode. Or uwatec bottom timers.

I'm also open on going by using bottom timers, so a recommendation for a good one that is Nitrox compatible is also acceptable.

My primary concern is visibility. Since I have astygmatism and i can't see nicely on short distances w/o my glasses. And contacts are a problem since I only can use semi rigid ones which can cause problems while diving.


So I'm open to any other recommendations.

 

[Diving Dubai]

I know that the shearwater is the go to DC, but most of the reviews and recommendations are from people in North America, I wanted to see if the support is as good in Europe, and especially outside of the EU for them.

Okay I'll chime in here, although I'm not based in EU, for manufacturer warranty and repair issues I'm classed as EMEA region

OSTC first. My experience with them is limited, I quited liked to OSTC sport, but I really wanted the OSTC 4. OSTC as a manufacturer are very Germanic, its hard (for me) to get to even see their computers let alone play with one. If you know a reputable dealer then certainly consider it, but my impression is that they're low volume and thus spares might be an issue

Regarding Perdix and The Eon, since I dive both with 250+ dives on the perdix and 900+ on the Eon

If you're desperate for Buhlmann then Perdix. The Eon Steel (only) will get Buhlmann in the next update, but with the state of the world who knows when that will be (it was expected by June this year). However Fused RGBM and Buhlmann give similar underwater NDL and Deco times. The most I've done however is 42 repetitive dives over 10 days - they might start to drift past that point (I doubt it)

If you're doing big dives and are really concerned that you might bust your deco, but want to jump back in the water again - then Buhlmann - teh Eon WILL lock you out if you bust your deco ceiling by 3 mins - never had it happen to me - I do have friends who make 100m dives on their Eon's no problems

They are both competent computers and a lot comes down to personal preference.

If you want desperately to down load your dives to a smartphone app or want User changabe AA batteries, or need to read 2 Transmitters concurrently on SM, then its the Perdix

Eon can link 10 transmitters (I have 6 linked) but you cant' have 2 cylinders displayed at the same time

Eon by miles and miles has the better display, as well as a much better infer face allowing much better customisation of primary and secondary data On the Shearwater it has the Rec mode which still has some nanny features (artificially sets the max MOD of gases to 40m max rather than their proper depth - you can disable this but the setting is deep in the adv user settings. And For me the Tech mode has too much info and the display is cluttered

Oh yes Perdix is a 2 button interface. Press press press swear, press press press.. *yawn*


The Perdix is lighter but doesn't feel as indestructable as say the Steel, and my steel has had a ton of abuse

I'm pretty ambivalent to the Shearwater - yes they have great customer service. In my area so does Suunto but apart from that I belive the shearwater is over hyped (on this board for certain)

Given that for me there're the same price point, I would buy another Eon, but not another Perdix, only because weighing up the pro's and cons of both the Eon wins

That siad. I'd rather buy the Perdix from a dealer who I know I was going to get excellent support from, than an Eon from a shady dealer - but then in normal times I dive weekly and would prefer not to have a long downtime without my machine

 

[drakcheslav]

@Diving Dubai,

thanks for the massive writeup.
Eon steel is available, but a bit overpriced IMHO at 1000eur, shearwater would amount to something like that too if I import it.

The EON Core is 650eur locally, and I could get the Dive Soft Freedom Advanced Nitorx for around 600eur, and OSTC Sport for around 500eur.

Ofcourse, when I go into trimix, I'll have to upgrade both the divesoft and the OSTC compared to the EON.

Is it safe to assume that the Core is a bit budget friendly version of the Steel? Or is the steel worthy upgrade over the Core?