hollis dg03, but no color screen on that one
Uses Z+ which is different from buhlman 16. Also, it's ugly as hell.
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hollis dg03, but no color screen on that one
I don't think you can even get a buhlmann 16 based dive computer for cheaper than $700 or so right now?
But this information was not shared, so people did not know what happened. The loop was not closed. That is annoying. It is always annoying whenever it happens. So yes, the sharing about that project was a fiasco because it was not done properly or completely.
I would suggest either (A) committing to being timely and completing the loop on community sharing on projects, (B) being very very careful to say that anything you post about is a Work-in-Progress and may or may not become an actual Deep6 product so people don't get so excited about it that they are eagerly awaiting news on it, or (C) don't say anything until you are selling the object in question.
With that said, here's why I think most people are upset and what Deep6 could do to mitigate this in the future:
1. You guys actually disclosed an estimated price. This makes the release feel a lot more real to people
2. You had a literal computer section on your website for this with it pending
3. You shared "final" screen layouts
4. You talked about timelines a couple years ago on when you expected it out.
I know you said you weren't "marketing", but the four things above really combine to have people expect a release. That's a lot more than simply stating, "hey guys we are scoping out a prototype to see if it is feasible or not, share your input".
I think that the lesson from this matter is that never to talk about a product and get people's expectations up until the product is finalized, tested, passed testing, has no issues at all and is boxed up and ready for shipping.
People from D6 appear to be upset and very defensive in reaction to some of the feedback here in this thread but I think that for the most part people were excited and had lots of hopes and expectations for the entry level dive computer initially advertised by D6 but they were taken by the surprise of their finding out after about two years of anticipation that the whole plan has changed and the type of computer at the price they expected (the price was confirmed to be the same even when some change of features were announced sometime in the last two years. This was referenced by Chris in one of the posts in this forum a while back) isn't going to be offered and a totally different computer at a much higher price point (probably 3 times the price) will be offered instead.
I believe that most people here, myself included, have a lot of respect and admiration of D6 and Chris but were taken by surprise and disappointment after their high expectations of the original product announced and marketed but now abandoned by D6. The surprise and frustration felt by Chris and Landon was also felt by most of the D6 fans here who were waiting for "their" product. No one should take a defensive attitude here.
We'll see how it all shakes out of they decide to go with it as a Deep6-branded computer. Unfortunately, I think it would have to be at a significantly lower price point if they want to compete against the Shearwater stuff.
Hopefully if Deep6 uses that divecomputer.eu polish model they update the UI. It's pretty ugly from the screens I've seen.
It appears this will not add a lot to the currently available line up.
I was mostly just looking forward to an affordable dive computer that could run buhlmann instead of rgbm/z+. That was the difference across the entire marketplace. I don't think you can even get a buhlmann 16 based dive computer for cheaper than $700 or so right now?
With that said I'd love to see something that lands in the mid-tier range... not as expensive as a $1000 teric, but maybe something with a good screen, buhlman, and AI. I'm not sure how possible $400-500 would be for something like this, but it feels like it should be possible.
Hopefully if Deep6 uses that divecomputer.eu polish model they update the UI. It's pretty ugly from the screens I've seen.