Announcing the SubGravity H3 - Powered by SeaBear

[drrich2]

Reading over this, it seems like Subgravity was on track to do something really good, ScubaPro swooped in and screwed up the delivery, and shot themselves in the foot in the process because where one of Shearwater's outstanding reputation's pillars is product reliability and customer service, now there's a perception ScubaPro has had the transmitters for months yet withheld them despite a clear expectation of to-be-released A.I. by the customer base. And for ScubaPro to buy somebody else and take their computer, rather than make their own despite having had a line, is not reassuring. And they're suspected of killing the T1, which had generated considerable interest.

It'd be fascinating to know what ScubaPro's 'marketing' plan is for the H3. Are they paying attention?

Richard.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

I wonder the same thing. Personally, I wanted the T-1. I have no interest in an ultra-slim computer. The T-1's extra thickness carried an extra battery for double the life, along with bungee mounts, both well worth the extra size. In addition, the wheel control was a marvel. It was a truly innovative computer interface.

I think, personally, that Subgravity is getting the short end of the deal. I think they worked closely with Sea Bear to design these computers and were looking forward to a great product line, only to have the rug pulled by Scubapro. Now, Subgravity has to take the flak from customers about the T1 and the missing AI, while Scubapro just sits there, doing nothing and saying nothing.

 

[dmaziuk]

This has been situation normal for getting "borged" for quite some time now: you come up with good product, you get bought out into the big leagues, your new corporate overlords drive away your talent and turn your product into a pile of crap. Film at 11.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

This has been situation normal for getting "borged" for quite some time now: you come up with good product, you get bought out into the big leagues, your new corporate overlords drive away your talent and turn your product into a pile of crap. Film at 11.

I'm not sure that's necessarily true. Unless they were in a situation where they had to have a cash infusion, nobody forced them to sell to Scubapro. They could have continued on their own and done whatever they wanted with their product. Instead they likely chose to take the money and run.

 

[stuartv]

I think, personally, that Subgravity is getting the short end of the deal.

I definitely agree with that.

Randy posted something before that, IIRC, basically said that even with the Johnson acquisition, SubGravity would still be the U.S. distributor for the H3. That is pretty surprising, to me. I would think Johnson/SP would want to be able to distribute the computer through their own channels without having to deal with a 3rd party. But, if SG was smart in their contracting with SeaBear it's possible that it will be very difficult (i.e. expensive) for SP to get their way on that.

I have a suspicion that this may be at the heart of why Randy hasn't said much about the AI issue since the Johnson acquisition announcement. He may be in a position of trying to work out some kind of settlement or new agreement with Johnson/SP and talking about anything related to the product future would potentially eff up the negotiations.

Ongoing negotiations of that nature could also be what's holding up release of the SP branded H3 and the AI. They probably don't want to distribute exclusively through SG, but if SG has a contract giving them exclusive distribution, then SP wouldn't want to release the H3 through their normal channels, either, because of the potential expense of a breach of contract lawsuit. So, SP would just sit on the product until the negotiations are complete.

I just sincerely hope that Randy and crew don't simply get pounded into submission by Johnson/ScubaPro using a large team of lawyers and large stacks of cash (paid to the lawyers). I HATE corporate bullies.

 

[stuartv]

I did 10 dives in Hawaii last week. Average dive duration was 59 minutes.

I charged my H3 before I left. So, it sat for about 3 days from being fully charged on Saturday to the first dive with it on Tuesday. I dived 2 dives on Tuesday, 4 on Wednesday (2 morning, 1 twilight, and 1 night), 2 on Thursday morning, and 2 on Friday morning. The battery was showing in the red by somewhere in the middle of that. I can't remember now if I had to charge it late Wed night or Thu night, but I think it was after I finished diving on Wed.

So, 3 days of sitting (with the Automatic Dive Detection turned on) and then either 6 or 8 hours of diving over 2 or 3 days and it was in the red.

That doesn't seem like the kind of battery life I was led to expect. But, maybe that's just what Auto Dive Detection does...?

 

[stuartv]

Oh, also, just for the record, I turned the OLED brightness all the way up (to 10) on the first day. Even at that it was a bit hard to read on the surface in direct sunlight. I had to turn and hold it in the shadow from my body to really be able to see it well enough to set the FO2. Fortunately, it allows you to do this even after your dive has started, as I forgot to change the setting once (the dive operator gave me EAN32 for the first dive of each day and EAN36 for the second, so I had to change the FO2 before each dive) and remembered right after I got in and started my descent. Being under made it a lot easier to read, too.

 

[ronscuba]

From what I read, the auto dive detection does affects the battery the most. The battery last 3+ days and charging at the end of the day before going to bed is not a big deal. Just maybe something different to adjust to going to a large color display.

I changed putting the computer display on my inside wrist. It helps with glare and sunlight both above and UW.

 

[stuartv]

Yeah, Sub Gravity support told me that the auto dive detection eats the battery when it's just sitting... Still, I thought only sitting for 3 days wouldn't eat it that much.

The specs are that a fully battery is supposed to give 15 hours of dive time. If I make the worst case assumption that it was in the red after 8 hours, that would imply the auto dive detection ate almost half the battery in 3 days. But I really think it was in the red after 6 hours, which is even worse.

I have another long dive trip planned at the beginning of June. I'm going to have to try charging it overnight right before my first dive and then just see how many days in a row I can do 2 dives per day before it goes into the red. With the 15 hour spec, I was really expecting to be able to do at least 5 days in a row of 2 dives per day before finishing a day in the red.

 

[MixAddict]

Hi Stuart,

You are correct. The auto detection does eat up quite a bit of battery life. In essence, when in auto detect, it wakes up frequently on the surface to make sure that you are not in the water. Also, please keep in mind that the projected battery life is not "till it goes in the red" but is total battery life until it goes flat.

You are also correct that with an OLED screen, it is least effective in bright sunshine while on the surface. This is typical of any OLED screen. (At least the ones that I have seen)

Thanks for posting your experiences with the H3. We look forward to hearing any other observations you might have.

Kind regards,
Randy