Are Suunto computers really the best?

[eponym]

I like my Suunto Vytec and Vyper, and have hundreds of hours of bottom time on them. But they seemed to me to be overly conservative on MODs when in nitrox mode. Communication with their techs revealed (and this is actually in the manuals somewhere) that when you enter the O2 percentage of your gas mix, you should round it down. Enter 32 if you tested and found 32.6, for example. This is because the computer will always round up your entered value, so in this example the computer will assume you're diving 33% and make its calculations accordingly. Have not checked whether this is still the case in the newer models like Cobra II and D9.

The Suunto RGBM modifications to the tables will penalize you on bottom time and stop times if you make any quick ascents--I've seen a Cobra demand a long mandatory safety stop from the user after a dive in which he made a couple of rapid (maybe 50 fpm) level changes from maybe 80 to 60 feet before a final controlled ascent to the surface. He ignored the warning, boarded the boat, and the Cobra locked itself down for 48 hours.

-Bryan

 

[Scared Silly]

Are you saying there is a way to download a profile from the gekko to a PC? I was not aware that this was possible. Would you care to explain how?

This should help ...

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/co...o-dive-download.html?highlight=gekko+download

 

[Thadmn]

And what scared silly said

when in nitrox mode they default back to 21% when not used for 24 hours (or something like that).

TRUE

If you use a suunto you need to get in the habit of always setting your mix % just before your dives. I've seen people not do that and then do the dive and realize they are set at 21%...

not too big of a deal if you know it does that,

It gives you 2 hours before it reverts back to air.

 

[Rhone Man]

I was always leery of dive computers; they allow a diver to load up right to the ragged edge of the NDLs.

I find I have the opposite problem with my computer - I try to go up to the ragged edge of the NDL on the tables, only for my computer to tell me that I am in deco mode as I am heading back to the line.

I am about to trade in my Sherwood for a Suunto, so likely this will grate me even more in the future.

 

[Rhone Man]

Additional: according to this table, Suunto have a 31.6% market share, followed by Oceanic with 27.0%. The rest are a long way behind.

So somebody thinks that Suunto are doing something right.

 

[scubajcf]

Can't be reliable --- I don't see the bend-o-matic anywhere on that table.

 

[jjhill]

This should help ...

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/co...o-dive-download.html?highlight=gekko+download

Yep that helps quite a bit. Thanks!

 

[rab]

I've been diving with a Suunto for going on 5 years (a Mosquito; I forget what the current equivalent is) and recently bought a DiveRite Nitek Duo (aka, Tusa IQ-700, etc.). On the only dives deep enough for it to matter, the Suunto had a few minutes *more* NDL on the first dive, but was definitely more conservative (less NDL) on the repetitive dives. In fact, on the last dive of a recent trip, the Duo was clear (hit 0 on NDL and wanted 4min@3m DECO stop) while the Suunto was still requiring 7 more minutes of stop time (wanted a total of 14min actually). If it hadn't been the last (4th) dive of the trip, I would have stayed the whole time, but as I didn't need the Suunto for the following 48hrs I just let it complain.

I'll be watching the differences between the two on future dives.

-Rob

 

[CoralSeaMan]

I use a Suunto Mosquito as a backup to my Oceanic. The Mosquito is more conservative. Generally I like the Suunto product. I also like my Oceanic. Because there are significant cost differences between those brands, I recommend you research the features you want. For instance, many Suuntos have an electronic compass. I am told they are hard to use and I just don't trust the idea. Therefore, I would not pay for that feature if that was the difference in the price and the performance compared to another computer.

 

[vladimir]

I have a Suunto D9, which is easier and more intuitive than the other computers I have used: a Dacor Microbrain, a DiveRite Bridge, a US Divers Monitor III, an Aeris Atmos, and a couple of Uwatecs. (Except for the Uwatecs, most of these are obsolete and quite possibly superceded by better versions from the same brand.) Those computers require you to bridge contacts with your fingers or press buttons multiple times in sequence. The Suunto has four buttons that control most functions through an easy-to-follow hierarchy of menus. Sometimes you press them, sometimes you hold them down.

On the subject raised earlier of O2 fraction reverting to 21%, just set MIX2 to 22% or higher and your O2 fraction for MIX1 will stay on the value you set. If I forget to set it pre-dive it will generally be within a percentage point of the actual value based on the last dive, because I am usually diving something close to 32%.