Atomic Cobalt or Mares Icon HD

[johnboywalton]

There are three questions I think you need to ask in an Atomic Aquatics Cobalt vs. Mares Icon comparison.

1) How do you feel about consoles? The Cobalt is console-only.

2) Are you even slightly interested in tec diving? The Cobalt has a lot of tec-friendly features that a strictly recreational diver does not need, contributing to its high price tag. This article makes that point rather nicely in stating its preference for the Mares Icon.

3) The Mares Icon has that color, LCD display, and even after being around for two years, still merits its nickname as the "iPod of dive computers." If that sort of gimmick matters to you, then the Mares has it and the Cobalt doesn't.

 

[RonR]

There are three questions I think you need to ask in an Atomic Aquatics Cobalt vs. Mares Icon comparison.

1) How do you feel about consoles? The Cobalt is console-only.

2) Are you even slightly interested in tec diving? The Cobalt has a lot of tec-friendly features that a strictly recreational diver does not need, contributing to its high price tag. This article makes that point rather nicely in stating its preference for the Mares Icon.

3) The Mares Icon has that color, LCD display, and even after being around for two years, still merits its nickname as the "iPod of dive computers." If that sort of gimmick matters to you, then the Mares has it and the Cobalt doesn't.

I'm confused about what you mean in points 2 and 3- and even more confused by the reviews and article you linked to. The Cobalt isn't a tech computer, whatever the article says- I don't know what "tech" capabilities it has that the Icon, or any other multi-gas capable nitrox computer- doesn't have as well, apart from utilizing the fully iterative RGBM algorithm. It's a recreational computer and a console, it would not be a computer for someone who wanted to do tech diving. Contrary to what the review says, it does not use three algorithms.

Software in the Cobalt certainly doesn't have anything to do with the price, which is largely driven by the AMOLED color display. This is far more expensive than the TFT display in the Icon, and is also why the Cobalt's battery life is so much greater. AMOLED displays, in addition to being brighter and sharper, consume much less power.

Not sure what you mean by the "gimmick" that the Icon has and the Cobalt doesn't?

Ron

 

[diverrex]

This past Saturday I was diving lcoally and looked over at my buddy who had a Colbalt and I realized that I could read the numbers off his display from a few feet away better than I could off my Sherwood Wisdom or Oceanic VEO 250 when holding them right in front of my face. I knew then I need to get a Cobalt. If I can just find a used one so the price doesn't hurt so much.

 

[Hatul]

I'm confused about what you mean in points 2 and 3- and even more confused by the reviews and article you linked to. The Cobalt isn't a tech computer, whatever the article says- I don't know what "tech" capabilities it has that the Icon, or any other multi-gas capable nitrox computer- doesn't have as well, apart from utilizing the fully iterative RGBM algorithm. It's a recreational computer and a console, it would not be a computer for someone who wanted to do tech diving. Contrary to what the review says, it does not use three algorithms.

Software in the Cobalt certainly doesn't have anything to do with the price, which is largely driven by the AMOLED color display. This is far more expensive than the TFT display in the Icon, and is also why the Cobalt's battery life is so much greater. AMOLED displays, in addition to being brighter and sharper, consume much less power.

Not sure what you mean by the "gimmick" that the Icon has and the Cobalt doesn't?

Ron

The guy who wrote those "reviews" obviously does not know what he's writing about.

 

[TonyErnst13]

for that kind of money I would also include liquivision in my choices....... Liquivision : Scuba : Lynx

 

[Hatul]

for that kind of money I would also include liquivision in my choices....... Liquivision : Scuba : Lynx

The Lynx looks interesting but the release date is pushed back to fall of this year according to the website.

 

[Oldbear]

+1 for the Colbalt.

I love the computer; I would not ever think of giving mine up. Yea I also use a wrist mounted computer for redundancy and it is easier to take a quick glance at. But my Cobalt is still my primary computer.

If I learn to dive Tech...then I will use Tech equipment only after I get proper instruction. But for right now there is more than enough in the realm of Recreational Diving to keep me busy. :wavey:

~ME~

 

[TonyErnst13]

Go Axiom with mini SPG

 

[fdarden]

I really liked my Atomic Cobalt. I sold it because I needed a wrist mount computer, and I needed to be able to define and switch between more gases than the Atomic allows for. If Atomic were to release a wrist mount computer with the gas flexibility I described, I would strongly consider it. For basic recreational divers it is a great computer. My wife still owns one, and she loves it. I always refer to it as the dive-o-matic, as the computer manages most aspects of the dive for you. Which for a new diver, may or may not be a good thing. When I got certified in 2000, they encouraged us to not even consider a dive computer for our first year of cert/diving. I am assuming that recommendation has changed. BTW I switched from the Atomic Cobalt, to a Shearwater Predator. I am very happy with my Predator. It also has a large OLED screen, which is nice for my reading impaired eyes.

 

[Hatul]

...

When I got certified in 2000, they encouraged us to not even consider a dive computer for our first year of cert/diving. I am assuming that recommendation has changed. BTW I switched from the Atomic Cobalt, to a Shearwater Predator. I am very happy with my Predator. It also has a large OLED screen, which is nice for my reading impaired eyes.

I got certified much before 2000 but my experience with computer diving was just the opposite. My first dive trip was on Ocean Quest run by Bret Gilliam and we were told we had to have a computer to complete the dives because they were multilevel, and the tables were not designed for that. So those of us who did not have a computer were given a Dacor Microbrain. I remember carrying tables for a while and then stopped and never looked back.

Many of the posters here are technical divers and/or instructors and of course, for technical diving you need to preplan your dive so tables have a role. And for the instructors they need to be able to teach tables to new students.