Suunto Zoop or Aeris A300

[Arsalan Ahmed]

I can buy one for relatively the same price right now and I was wondering which one of these would be better for someone as their first ever dive computer?

 

[SouthSideScubaSteve]

I don't own either, but I do have a Gekko (the Zoop's predecessor), it's the computer I started diving with; then it got relegated to Backup status when I got a Cobra. From my persepctive, it's a good, basic dive computer.

When my Cobra took a dirt-nap on day one of my recent Blackbeards trip, the Gekko kept on workin'! I'm probably going to replace the Cobra with a Vyper-Air (just for the air-integrated thing), but I may go cheap and just get a Zoop. From what I can tell it's a Gekko with an option to download dive-data; and I love my Gekko!

 

[decimal86]

my vote is for the Zoop. i also have a D4 and a Cressi Leonardo.

no-nonsense dive computer! has a feature i absolutely love! when u accidentally deco, just take out the battery and re insert...hey all is forgiven! u are good to go! when you pay big bucks for a diving holiday u cant afford to sit out a few dives.

easy to program with 3 buttons. Cressi leonardo only has one!

only complaint...no screen protector for the screen protector! the plastic gets scratched easily. but if you coat it with some silicone grease, on land it is easy to read. underwater the numbers are big and the scratched screen protector is visible.

 

[Steve_C]

Have an old Aeris Atmos 2 and a Zoop. Dive both on every dive. Zoop is a bit more conservative. Aeris has slightly easier buttons to use. Both are downloadable. Batteries seem to last a bit longer in the Zoop. Aeris well past 300 dives and a flood that was my fault.

 

[Arsalan Ahmed]

Have an old Aeris Atmos 2 and a Zoop. Dive both on every dive. Zoop is a bit more conservative. Aeris has slightly easier buttons to use. Both are downloadable. Batteries seem to last a bit longer in the Zoop. Aeris well past 300 dives and a flood that was my fault.

Thanks guys

at 224 bucks, looks like the zoop is a clear winner now that i haven't heard anything really negative about it.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I have a used Zoop for sale with 127 dives on it. I was planning to ask $125 including shipping within continental US. And I can throw in an extra battery. PM me if interested.

 

[stuartv]

I think the Zoop does not have Gauge mode.

I don't know which A300 you're looking at, but I believe the A300 CS and the A300 XT both DO have Gauge mode. If you mean the A300 wrist watch style, I believe it has Gauge mode as well.

Also, the A300s have 2 choices of algorithm, at least one of which I believe is pretty well documented to be more liberal than the Zoop algorithm.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/co...zers/305374-so-you-want-buy-new-computer.html

and

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/co...-you-want-buy-new-computer-4.html#post7378321

If you don't want such a liberal algorithm, you can always switch the A300 to the other algorithm and/or turn up the Conservative Factor. Doing both should get you some quite conservative NDLs.

Personally, I would take the one with Gauge mode and the OPTION for longer bottom times. And, in fact, I did. I have an A300 XT as my backup DC and SPG.

---------- Post added April 20th, 2015 at 09:49 AM ----------

I should add, Gauge mode is only really important to have later, should you move onto doing more advanced types of diving. At that point, you may want to buy a more sophisticated computer. If/when you get to that point, having the computer you buy now support Gauge mode means that you can continue to use it as a backup to the new computer you buy later. If you buy a computer now that does not have a Gauge mode, then IF/when you move on to more advanced diving later, that computer you buy now will likely have little value you to you.

Also, even if you don't move on to technical diving, but you do move on to more advanced recreational diving, you may find that a computer that you buy now, that has a particularly conservative algorithm and also does not have Gauge may still be of little value later, as a backup computer. A backup computer doesn't do you much good if it's locked out because it thinks you went incurred a decompression obligation which you did not fulfil. E.g. You get a newer computer later that has a more liberal algorithm, allowing longer bottom times on NDL dives. You do your first dive and your new computer says you are within your NDL, but your backup computer disagrees and said you violated your NDL. You go to do your second dive and your new computer is good to go, but your backup computer is now useless because it has locked you out and it doesn't even have a Gauge mode to let you use it as backup in that way.

All that said, if you're just going to stick with ordinary Recreational diving and only use one computer, ever, then having Gauge mode isn't really going to be useful to you and probably shouldn't be a factor in your purchasing decision. However, the algorithm your computer uses should still be important to you.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I think the Zoop does not have Gauge mode.

Correct. But keep in mind that any computer can be used as a time/depth gauge. I mean, most of them will display elapsed time and depth, just as it would if it had a "Gauge Mode" option. I have used my Zoop for just such a purpose. It works fine.

Personally, I would take the one with Gauge mode and the OPTION for longer bottom times.

I agree about Gauge Mode; all other things being equal, I'd choose the one that has a Gauge Mode over the one that doesn't.

As for "longer bottom times," exactly how much longer bottom time would you like? No matter what you say, I'm sure there is a way to stay down even longer. I know it's often been said that there is no data to suggest that any particular commercially available computer keeps people safer, on average, than any other commercially available computer, but it can't be denied that the longer you stay down, the greater the risk. The lack of data doesn't mean anything one way or the other. There is no magic computer that gives one "longer bottom times" without any additional risk. I believe you have responded to this before by pointing out the logic of a diver using the "most liberal" computer available and then self-regulating his risk by behaving more conservatively, i.e., not diving right up to the NDL, but how can one know when to behave conservatively and when it is somehow okay to behave more liberally? If it were me, I'd just stick with behaving conservatively, and so I might as well just follow one of the computers that falls on the more conservative side of the spectrum.

I should add, Gauge mode is only really important to have later, should you move onto doing more advanced types of diving.

Gauge mode--knowing your depth and time--can also be useful for doing LESS advanced dives. You can do dives using a table, just as you were taught way back in Open Water class. It doesn't get any more primitive than that.

At that point, you may want to buy a more sophisticated computer. If/when you get to that point, having the computer you buy now support Gauge mode means that you can continue to use it as a backup to the new computer you buy later. If you buy a computer now that does not have a Gauge mode, then IF/when you move on to more advanced diving later, that computer you buy now will likely have little value you to you.

Ah, so by "advanced" dives you mean dives with deco stops. Just a thought, but by the time the OP gets to the point of doing deco dives and has accumulated the thousands of dollars of gear and training needed to do that, the few bucks saved by re-purposing the old computer as a backup will be a drop in the ocean, and he'll probably prefer something else as a backup. What you are saying is one school of thought, and I am simply pointing out another. In choosing one's first set of gear, I would not give TOO much weight to future perceived "advanced diving" needs. Get what appeals to you for your present diving needs and then deal with it if and when your needs change.

Also, even if you don't move on to technical diving, but you do move on to more advanced recreational diving, you may find that a computer that you buy now, that has a particularly conservative algorithm and also does not have Gauge may still be of little value later, as a backup computer. A backup computer doesn't do you much good if it's locked out because it thinks you went incurred a decompression obligation which you did not fulfil. E.g. You get a newer computer later that has a more liberal algorithm, allowing longer bottom times on NDL dives. You do your first dive and your new computer says you are within your NDL, but your backup computer disagrees and said you violated your NDL. You go to do your second dive and your new computer is good to go, but your backup computer is now useless because it has locked you out and it doesn't even have a Gauge mode to let you use it as backup in that way.

So after years of obeying one's computer's NDLs because one presumably thought that was prudent, one can move on to "more advanced recreational diving" by exceeding those NDLs while still remaining within recreational parameters? Isn't that basically an admission that in hindsight one needn't have been so conservative as to have obeyed that computer's NDLs? It sounds like you are using the term "more advanced recreational diving" to mean "riskier recreational diving."

 

[stuartv]

one can move on to "more advanced recreational diving" by exceeding those NDLs

Where did you get that? I never suggested anyone exceed any NDLs.

It sounds like you are using the term "more advanced recreational diving" to mean "riskier recreational diving."

I reckon I'm pretty ignorant, but yes, I would say that staying down longer is more risky than staying down not as long.

I also have observed that new divers are recommended to not dive deeper than 60'. And to not cut it too close to their NDLs. And I have observed that doing dives to deeper depths (i.e. between 60 and 130') is something that is considered okay for divers with more experience and possibly more training. Ditto for staying down for times that more closely approach the NDL.

What, about the phrase "more advanced recreational diving", would mean something other than that to you?

 

[Lorenzoid]

Where did you get that? I never suggested anyone exceed any NDLs.

Maybe I misunderstood. I interpreted what you said as referring to a scenario where a diver uses a computer for maybe a few years, then buys a new ("more sophisticated" as you put it) computer when he decides to do "advanced recreational diving," and that this so-called "advanced recreational diving" is likely to result in exceeding the no-deco limits of the old computer if used as a backup to the new computer. In my mind, if one intentionally dives in a way likely to exceed no-deco limits of any computer--whether a backup or a primary--then that is no longer recreational diving.

I maintain that any of the popular computers are just fine for any type of recreational diving. Make the decision based on features, ease of use, and factors other than spotty data suggesting how "conservative" versus "liberal" a particular computer/brand tends to be. If a novice diver gets a computer he likes, it will likely serve him well for years to come. If he happens to get into advanced (which to me means non-recreational) diving at some point down the road, there is nothing wrong with crossing that bridge when he comes to it, as there will be a whole lot more to consider at that point; whether the old computer will still be something he wants to use will be among the least of his concerns.