Best and cheap Dive Computer

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You can do, but I never did it. For me the best thing of using Nitrox is getting some safety margin when diving at the edge of NDL, at depths between 25 and 34m (which is indeed a quite rare case, at least for me). In such situation, I prefer to leave the Leonardo set to Air, so I benefit of some additional safety margin.
If you set it to Nitrox-32 (which is done in just 4 keystrokes), you loose the safety margin (gaining some more bottom time, which I do not really need).

Not to be over critical ,,,, you dont loose your safety margine by running in ean mode. in air 1100 ft ndl would be 20 min in ean perhaps 25. you gain mn nothing by staying in air mode. the difference is that if you stay to 21 minutes in air you are in deco and in ean you are still ok because of the remaining 4 minutes acting as your buffer. those that dive ean in air mode is tricking the system in to a false security. yea it insures you stay further away from the real ndl. but the SI times being used no matter what will be calculated based on air. the problem is you really do not know what your condition is because it is calculating a dive that is not happening. if you stay a bit too long you have to do deco and if you skip it because you know you really dont have to do the stop because you have a safer ndl gas (EAN) you are breathing you end up locking out your computer and you are SOL for 24 hours. Every cheat has a cost. IMO you should dive with the correct gas in it and only dive to say 3/4 of the provided ndl. That will give you the same exposure buffer you want but the SI off gassing calculations for residual nitrogen will now provide more accurate data. The idea of diving EAN and using a computer in air mode was the concept of your computer was not a nitrox computer. using a non nitrox computer and breathing nitrox would not cause a risk factor because the air mode is more conservative all the way around. In short diving in air mode was a work around for not having the right equipment. If by chance you went to a chamber they will look at your puter to see what you did and they will now assume you were breathing air and not another gas.
 
I carry an earlier model (15 years old) dive computer with the following features:

Algorithm is the same as current models
Can be set from air to EAN50.
Gauge mode, DECO mode (to get a diver out of accidental DECO)
Computer interface to transfer data via a USB cable
Wrist mounted/air integrated
User changeable battery (available tool makes it much easier)
Backlight
Large easy to read numbers
Easy to navigate with only 2 buttons
Time/Date/Depth/Depth/Bottom Time/O2 and N loading graphs/ascent rate indicator
Alarms for ascent, dive time remaining, elapsed dive time, maximum (user settable) depth, P02, N loading
Stores 24 dives
Only drawback is it's no longer supported so if it breaks it's done, however it's very rugged and reliable.

Cost for this used computer is typically about $75 (without transmitter).
what model is it?
 
You dont find glove worthy computers in the 99 euro price you are wanting to pay (general comment).
The Leonardo has just one large button, which can be easily pressed with a glove, for switching on the light (which is the only reason for pressing it underwater, as all the info is on the large screen and there is no reason for navigating the menus while diving).
Obviously the functions are very limited, but I see it as good thing, not as a limit.
Going to "real" computers, do you remember the lesson learned by Apple?
"Less is more"
An Apple mouse has just one button, a Windows mouse has 3 to 5 buttons and a wheel. Despite this, for most people using a Mac is much easier than using a Windows PC.
When the iPhone was launched most people were worried of the lack of a number of dedicated buttons, as previous phones always had. And who was the winner, in the end?
 
I agree that the Cressi button function is not obvious at first and takes some getting used to, especially if one is an occasional diver and doesn’t use it much at all. It’s like setting the time on a cheap digital watch or clock radio.
 
Hi @sharun,

My recommendation is to buy any two button cheap computer for your first DC. As you figure out what kind of diver you want to grow into, you may want to then buy the best computer (in my opinion a Shearwater Perdix AI or its equivalent runner-up DC, some other brand).

I use two computers for several reasons. Solo diving is one reason. That cheap computer you initially purchase can become your redundant computer.

The words Best and Cheep are an oxymoron. You either want a cheep computer or you want the Best computer. Sorry.

DogDiver,

For sure. A computer that is inexpensive but a PITA to set EANx % is useless. An expensive computer may not be that expensive for many reasons (performance and quality).

the cheapest dive computer that is actually easy to use is a used shearwater.

Four computers later and I have learned your lesson! Shearwater is worth every penny. New or used.

Shearwater warranties run with the serial number, not the owner, another good reason to buy a used Shearwater. They stand behind their products for the long haul.

First of all what kind of diving are you going ot use . In my experience especially if you are going to dive nitrox you have to be able to navigate through the menus. Menu cruising is not a common trait in cheap computers. If you are only going to use air or only one gas then anything should work for you . Just dont loose the book.

Don't I know this lesson!!!!!!

Heck, I have an expensive computer from a well-known company that is a total pain-in-the-arse to set EANx percentage. And then try to switch gasses u/w with it. Total PITA. It is now an expensive back-up DC.

@sharun, Angelo is a respected diver and his posts are fun to read; however, his views on EANx are not in the mainstream. Nitrox can be worth every penny you pay for it IN MANY situations and profiles. Get a cheap computer that navigates EANx settings easily, IMHO.

:cheers:
m
 
Angelo is a respected diver and his posts are fun to read; however, his views on EANx are not in the mainstream. Nitrox can be worth every penny you pay for it IN MANY situations and profiles. Get a cheap computer that navigates EANx settings easily, IMHO.
I am not in the mainstream for almost everything, and I am PROUD of not being...
On the other side, I fully accept that my views are not accepted by others, I am not trying to convince anyone of my point of view. It works for me, but everyone should do what it works for them.

PS: albeit I have not had yet the need to do it, switching my super-cheap Leonardo to Nitrox (at any percentage up to 50%) requires just 4 keystrokes and is done in less than 30s. The other computers I have seen (in the shop, never used them, so my opinion can be biased/limited) all looked much more complex and tricky to setup and to operate. Of course much more powerful and "better", but definitely not easier.
I wanted something very easy, very simple, nothing new to learn. It is actually my first computer.
I dove 43 years using US Navy tables, timer and depth meter (of course in "my way", but we can discuss this elsewhere), and in over 1500 dives no one was bent (well, actually ONE very expert customer was bent very slightly, but this is another story, he did quickly resurface instead of staying with me).
So I do not think that a computer is really needed, particularly for the very soft profiles I am diving in the last 20 years.
But the last time I was at a diving center, they did not allow me to dive without a computer: I protested, and in the end they gave me one for free. Which I did not even look at (it was too complex for me, and the display was small, and I had it on my arm, so too close for my old eyes for seeing the numbers).
So I decided that, if a computer is mandatory, then better to own one simple enough for me to operate, and with a screen large enough to be read, and attached to my equipment in a way that I can watch it from a proper distance, so I can see the numbers...
And better to spend the less possible: I got all these goals with the Leonardo...
 
Android; Apple's share of the market is less even than Samsung alone.....and considerably less than all Androids.

True, in fact I, my wife and my son all have Samsung S10E (which replaced S7). My other son ha a Sony, Android.
But these are just cheaper copies of iPhones.
In the S10E even the previous single button of the S7 is gone!
See where Nokia and Blackberry went with their obsolete keyboards?
 
The Leonardo has just one large button, which can be easily pressed with a glove, for switching on the light (which is the only reason for pressing it underwater, as all the info is on the large screen and there is no reason for navigating the menus while diving).
Obviously the functions are very limited, but I see it as good thing, not as a limit.
Going to "real" computers, do you remember the lesson learned by Apple?
"Less is more"
An Apple mouse has just one button, a Windows mouse has 3 to 5 buttons and a wheel. Despite this, for most people using a Mac is much easier than using a Windows PC.
When the iPhone was launched most people were worried of the lack of a number of dedicated buttons, as previous phones always had. And who was the winner, in the end?

I agree ;my comments was not to say that all cheap computers are not functional just the majority of them. If your Leonardo works fine for you then great It says you took my concerns into the process of getting it. simplicity as a major factor especially when you are getting narced and dont know it.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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