Mares Genius vs Perdix AI for rec dives (within NDL) only

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!

Fastmarc

Just drifting along...
ScubaBoard Supporter
Messages
1,692
Reaction score
560
Location
Kingston, Jamaica
# of dives
200 - 499
Hi All, I'm interested in updating my computer to one of these 2 (my current is a Mares Nemo Wide). I am only interested in recreational diving within NDL and I am not technically trained and have no plans to be.

I have downloaded both manuals and skimmed through, but I find the Perdex very complex, which makes sense as it's primarily designed for tech divers who have no issues understand easily everything in it. The Genius on the other hand seems easier to understand via the manual to me.

That being said, based on my intended use, is there any reason to favour one over the other or am I safe with going with whichever is easier for me to understand?
 
In my experience anything that calls itself genius, isn't.

Never read the Perdix manual, have no issues using it. I'm not a tech diver, just plan old OW. I love my Perdix AI, and Petrel 2 before that and Petrel before that. Great computers, great company.
 
+1 Petrel 2. Simple OW rec diver here. I'm amazed at how much easier the Petrel 2 is for me to use compared to the entry level Zoop and other similar DCs that I've tried. PS - my Petrel 2 was bought used @ roughly the cost of a new entry level + tax.
 
Perdix AI is very easy to use and you barely need the manual. It is perfectly fine for recreational NDL diving.

I don’t do tech diving and the vast majority of my dives are NDL. I will occasionally go into deco but only on relatively shallow dives that are very long but only if I have redundant gas supply. The Perdix AI handled both situations perfectly.
 
I haven't watched it all the way through, but this video might be of interest to you.

That said, 9 out of 10 dives on my Perdix are in OC Rec mode and I find it super easy to use.

 
So i'll copy my comment from YT to this thread. My wife and I both had the Icon which was the previous version of the Genius, I now have a Perdix and we're considering what to get her to replace her recently deceased ICON.

Ex ICON HD user (previous version of the Genius) and now Perdix user. What I will say is that the menu is far more complicated to use on the Perdix when on land.. but I find it far simpler to use underwater. The "auto menu" always seems to give me exactly what I want. Whereas the Icon i often ended up cycling between compass and other modes trying to find the right screen. I also find it funny that the Genius would tout a 150m depth rating but not support hypoxic mixes :) Lets also hope the Genius buttons last longer than the Icon HD's did. Our ICON buttons stopped working, naturally only the important one that lets you actually use the computer. I've also been on a live-aboard with a Mares that wouldn't charge - desperately trying all kinds of homebrew recipes to clean the contacts so they'd work enough to charge. I'll never go for a "contact rechargeable" dive computer again. Get one of those SAFT batteries for the Perdix and you'll get a year out of it, as opposed to a single diving day on the ICON
 
The Perdix in Rec mode is very straight forward, and you won't have to worry about it turning itself into a useless brick if you make a mistake with it.
 
The Perdix in Rec mode is very straight forward, and you won't have to worry about it turning itself into a useless brick if you make a mistake with it.

I'll have to look at the manual again as I didn't see a 'Rec' mode.
 
I'll have to look at the manual again as I didn't see a 'Rec' mode.
Of course read the manual, I did before I bought mine to check out the features etc, but the Perdix is very intuitive anyway. It's an awesome computer for any type of diving, even if it's only for rec atm you'll be future proof if you ever decide to get into tec.
 

Back
Top Bottom