any good as suunto?

[cra2]

What wrist computer compares to the Suunto Gekko?

The Gekko's $230 online.
It's sleek and bright and attractive.
Rodales tests say it's very conservative (safe).
And Suunto has a great reputation for quality.

But I'm having trouble finding them online with full manufacturer's warranty. (here in America)

So what are my other options?
What can compete with that?

 

[r37691]

In Florida, you should have no problem finding an LDS that has one in stock. Or is it that you wanted to buy online only?

 

[yknot]

What wrist computer compares to the Suunto Gekko?

The Gekko's $230 online.
It's sleek and bright and attractive.
Rodales tests say it's very conservative (safe).
And Suunto has a great reputation for quality.

But I'm having trouble finding them online with full manufacturer's warranty. (here in America)

So what are my other options?
What can compete with that?

Besides sleek, bright and attractive, are there some minimum abilities you are looking for in a computer? Features, fuctionality, etc? Gekkos will do most of what a Vyper will do but may be missing something critical to you. At one time, Oceanic computers had a high failure rate. If those quality issues have been corrected they may be worth looking at.

The Suunto computers are conservative, which may or may not suit you. They have also proven themselves to be very reliable.

You will not find an offer for Suunto dive computers with a warranty online. They are only available with a warranty from authorized dealers who are inturn prohibited from any internet or even mail order sales. Have you asked your LDS what kind of price they can give you, as compared to the online price? Are you aware that some online retailers offer an inhouse warranty to replace the factory warranty?

You may want to investigate prices and features for Oceanic and Aeris, which are both reported to be made by the same manufacturer. Both are available online and with warranties. Check with ScubaToys, who handle these and offer a price match policy, with warranty.

 

[pasley]

As yknot has pointed out the computer you are looking at online will not have a MFG warranty. SUUNTO does not allow their dealers to sell on line. The online dealer may offer a warranty, but read the fine print and see if it really is as good as the MFG warranty.

SUUNTO computers tend to be conservative (a good thing) and Oceanic are at the other end of the spectrum.

 

[cra2]

Yeah, I've heard that about Oceanic, as well as with Aeris.
In Rodale's testing, the Suunto, the Mares and the Dacor had the conservative models (RGBM, I think) and the Aeris was VERY liberal.

I have not seen a store (yet) come CLOSE to matching the online prices for the Gekko of $230.

If there was something similar to the Gekko, in terms of price, reputation, conservatism and sleek watch-like design ... I'd jump on it today.

 

[Furner]

I would buy from an LDS if I were you. I always will buy my life-support gear face-to-face. Plus, if you have a good LDS, they will swap you computers if yours goes bad, a big plus if you are leaving on a dive trip the day after the computer stops working.

 

[yknot]

I have not seen a store (yet) come CLOSE to matching the online prices for the Gekko of $230.

Who, online, has it for $230? There may be a good reason no LDS can compete at that price- a quick check of LeisurePro shows it at $289 + shipping. Don't confuse a single item on ebay with a legitimate online price but at $230 it may be worth the risk for you.

 

[cra2]

$222.50, sportextreme.com
they say they honor the manufacturer warranty, IF you ship it back to them (europe).

 

[cra2]

I would buy from an LDS if I were you. I always will buy my life-support gear face-to-face. Plus, if you have a good LDS, they will swap you computers if yours goes bad, a big plus if you are leaving on a dive trip the day after the computer stops working.

yeah, that's a convenience issue, not a safety issue.
my LDS is not gonna void the warranty by popping the lid off ANY computer and trying to "fix" it. not that they're computer programmers anyways.

so, if sending it back to the manufacturer is all they're gonna do,.. I can do that myself, if it's gonna save me $100+ on the price. If the prices were much closer, then sure I'd pay more for that convenience factor you mentioned in the event something goes wrong the day before a trip.

Though - a computer failing isn't gonna stop me from a trip anyways. I've taken a dozen trips so far withOUT a computer.
Being a wrist-mount, I don't plan on going without an analog pressure/depth gauge, and my stopwatch.
And since my buddy, my wife, will be at my side, I can always glance at her Cressi Archimedes.
Odds of BOTH of them giving out the day before a trip are even smaller.

 

[ShakaZulu]

http://www.scubastore.com/shop.asp?id_familia=7&id_subfamilia=24

Who cares about the warrenty, it's sooooo cheap, just buy another.........