Best and cheap Dive Computer

[EFX]

Air is "Nitrox", it is 21% oxygen....

Nitrox refers to a mixture of Oxygen and Nitrogen as the primary components (trace other elements).

YMMV

When you see a girl at the bar go up to her and say, "Hi. The scuba diving is great here. I did some dives on normoxic nitrox. Can I get you a drink?"

Works every time.

 

[LandonL]

The now offering from Deep6 might fit this category...

I second this as a great, inexpensive option considering the features.... but I am biased

 

[Jcp2]

@dmaziuk good question. I should also check and see if it gives me a different MOD when I do that.

Cressi Leonardo has AIR, 22%, 23% - 50% for gas. There is no 21% nitrox, just air. The computer max depth for air at pO2 1.4 is 184 feet. The table has 187 feet. There is some small safety factor built in for air, just under 0.2%. 22% computer 167 table 177. 23% computer 158 table 168. 24% computer 150 table 160. 25% computer 143 table 152. 26% computer 137 table 145. 27% computer 131 table 138. 28% computer 135 table 132. The safety factor for 22% and up is over 0.9%, close to a whole 1%.

 

[Kevin Floyd]

Cressi Leonardo has AIR, 22%, 23% - 50% for gas. There is no 21% nitrox, just air. The computer max depth for air at pO2 1.4 is 184 feet. The table has 187 feet. There is some small safety factor built in for air, just under 0.2%. 22% computer 167 table 177. 23% computer 158 table 168. 24% computer 150 table 160. 25% computer 143 table 152. 26% computer 137 table 145. 27% computer 131 table 138. 28% computer 135 table 132. The safety factor for 22% and up is over 0.9%, close to a whole 1%.

It only lets you use preset O2%s? That seams kind of a pain. In my experience it’s not uncommon for shops that partial pressure mix to be off 1 or 2 % in either direction. the aqualung i300 lets you set any nitrox % up to 50%....I think...I’ll have to check that. When I was in Roatan I got fills from 28%-38% (I was going to bitch about the thin mix but then they charged me the same for the richer mix so I guess it all balanced). It also lets me set any pO2 from 1.0-1.6

 

[Jcp2]

You can choose the %O2 in the mix from "AIR" to 50% in 1% increments. You can choose the pO2 from 1.2 to 1.6. The computer manufacturer "pads" the %O2 calculating the max depth with a mix slightly richer than what you entered. Hence the max depth is less than what is expected from calculation or tables.

 

[Norrm]

I carry an earlier model (15 years old) dive computer with the following features:

Algorithm is the same as current models
Can be set from air to EAN50.
Gauge mode, DECO mode (to get a diver out of accidental DECO)
Computer interface to transfer data via a USB cable
Wrist mounted/air integrated
User changeable battery (available tool makes it much easier)
Backlight
Large easy to read numbers
Easy to navigate with only 2 buttons
Time/Date/Depth/Depth/Bottom Time/O2 and N loading graphs/ascent rate indicator
Alarms for ascent, dive time remaining, elapsed dive time, maximum (user settable) depth, P02, N loading
Stores 24 dives
Only drawback is it's no longer supported so if it breaks it's done, however it's very rugged and reliable.

Cost for this used computer is typically about $75 (without transmitter).

 

[Angelo Farina]

cheap and best are on opposite ends of the scale.

Quite obvious: here we are talking of cheap devices, 99 eur instead of 1000 eur...

 

[Angelo Farina]

You must set Nitrox if you Dive alternative gas?

You can do, but I never did it. For me the best thing of using Nitrox is getting some safety margin when diving at the edge of NDL, at depths between 25 and 34m (which is indeed a quite rare case, at least for me). In such situation, I prefer to leave the Leonardo set to Air, so I benefit of some additional safety margin.
If you set it to Nitrox-32 (which is done in just 4 keystrokes), you loose the safety margin (gaining some more bottom time, which I do not really need).

 

[Raphus]

I have the Leonardo as well and the 1 button navigation works well. Setting nitrox is easy and can be done fast.

Leonardo has no 21% nitrox. Other computers have air and ean21, because ean21 does calculate oxygen toxity. Some computers are blocking you out, if you switch from air to nitrox withing a certain time. That's why you dive ean21 on the first dive and ean32(or whatever) on the next dive.

 

[NAM001]

Quite obvious: here we are talking of cheap devices, 99 eur instead of 1000 eur...

it was not meant to be a slam of any nature. Many of your low cost units are clones of others. they may use the same or very similar control boards or bords with similar control schemes. I have 3 perhaps non shearwater computers AI compatable that sit in a drawer and have not been used for close to a decade. I would not sell them I would probably give them away with a as is understanding. The reason I don't use them is I can not navigate the menu's. If you cant get to the menu functions you don't have those functions. If you have a car but cant fine the ingnition switch you really dont have a car. because a car cant transport you. Most lower cost computers use combinations of buttons and press times to access menu's and they have short inactive timers to throw you out of the mode once you exceed the short time limit. When you finally get to the menu location you have a timer to exit the mode on inactivity that is so short you dont have time to find your place int he book or read the book to complete the next step. Some of the high end computers have taken operability into consideration and have made them intuitive or user friendly. for instance mine has 2 big buttons one that scrolls and the other that is an enter or select button NO PRESS AND HOLD CRAP. my old ones have 3 or 4 buttons,,,, push the left button 2 times and the right hold for 3-5 seconds till beep to enter mode > 5 returns to dive screen with out save. and to boot there are more buttons on them. those computers were 600+ computers. I have to get a book to change nitrox gasses to get the right order of button and push times to make a change. you either have to dive it all the time or set it up the night before you go. and then if you set up for ean32 and you get a tank of ean 30 which suits your purpose just as well but you have to then get the book and reenter the correct gas. You mentioned euro's so you probably have colder waters and have to use gloves quite often. You dont find glove worthy computers in the 99 euro price you are wanting to pay (general comment).