So I just bought a new Peregrine. Have not dove It yet (came in yesterday), these are my initial thoughts on it:
I’m a rec diver, not a tech diver & I only dive one gas at a time. Usually 32% nitrox. I bought mine from Dive Gear Express.
It comes packaged in a small storage case. Inside the case is the computer, wireless charger & USB cable for that, wrist strap with mounting screws and screwdrivers, about 1 meter of bungee for bungee mounting, a card with inspection/model#/serial # info & a microfiber cloth. Also a screen protector.
I found out after installing the screen protector that it also has one already installed…
Also, all of this isn’t going back in the case if the wrist strap is installed. Should fit if you remove the foam padding & maybe the charger. Using bungees, it all fits:
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Mine was fully charged out of the box, so I had no need to charge it so far. The charger is a small rectangle to just set the comp on. The cable is a USB to micro USB, use your own wall adapter or other USB port for charging.
Before it came in I went to the Shearwater site & downloaded the manual. It’s 52 pages long & I read it. I think it’s pretty good, clear & concise. I skipped most of the multi gas and deco parts as I don’t need them. Just enough of the deco so I know how to understand what it tells me if I screw up & end up with a deco obligation. I’ve never done that but figure I should at least be able to understand what I’m seeing if it ever comes up.
It impresses me as being well constructed. I feel that I can expect a long service life from it.
First thing I did was install the screen protector & then update the firmware. I assumed that I would need to go into the control panel on my PC or settings on my phone and establish that connection first. This is incorrect. It’s done through the Shearwater Cloud app on either device. Open the app & go to connect the dive computer. Then on the Peregrine navigate to start Bluetooth & start it. Go back to the app & tell it to connect. The Peregrine gives you 3 minutes to establish the connection or it auto cancels.
After it installed the firmware it dropped the connection. This seemed to be common, change something & when done, it would no longer be connected. Just reconnect it, minor annoyance.
I uploaded an image to give my Peregrine a custom splash screen on bootup & added my name & phone number. I found that this displays for a very brief time when turning it on, blink & you’ll miss it.
When finished with these things I went ahead & made sure the settings were what I wanted. As I had already decided on what I wanted for various alerts, nitrox at 32% and such, it was a simple matter to navigate through & either set them or confirm that they were already the correct value.
It’s a 2” color display, I found it crisp, clear & easy to read (note that I’m an old guy & have strong astigmatism, this is more important to me than for many other people). What it displays is partially configurable, though for now I decided to not change any of that. Want to dive it some first & then see if there are any changes I’d really want to make. It seems to already show me what I need to know during as dive & nothing I don’t. I really like this display.
Press both buttons to turn it on. To turn it off, use the left button to navigate to Turn Off, then press the right button.
Note that it never really turns all the way off, it’s more like a sleep mode where it monitors its surroundings. It will turn on automatically in the water, but not just by getting wet. It works on pressure & will turn on at about 3’ deep.
The left button is for navigating through the tree, the right menu is for selecting & changing values. I find it easy to use. It’s simple enough that I don’t think you really have to remember much in order to pick it up & find what you’re looking for.
Last, I made the bungee straps. The wrist strap is not depth compensating & I figure I’ll probably like using bungees better. Can always swap out for the strap if not. I opted to save the black bungee included & use a bit that I had on hand. It’s a bit thicker than theirs is & happens to be the thickest that would fit through the holes. I also decided to tie them to be adjustable rather than a fixed length. Bungee is cheap, readily available & easy to replace if I find that I don’t like how I did it.
Items of concern:
These are things I learned before buying, while researching this computer. The first are the buttons:
If you dive salt water, you need to soak it in warm water after the dives. Every time. These buttons are the same used on another Shearwater model & they have a history of salt crystals building up & interfering with their operation. I’ll go a step further & add something that an old friend who was a scuba tech used to teach: don’t just soak it, follow the soak with a good rinse under running water. You want to make sure to flush any dissolved salts away, so they don’t stay in place & form crystals when the water evaporates. The manual does state to NOT wash it under pressure, so I’m not talking about any real force. Just flowing water like from a faucet.
Next is application for tech divers. Note again that I am NOT a tech diver but what I heard makes sense. While this computer will do up to 3 gasses & you can switch them during a dive, it doesn’t have helium abilities. The thinking is that if you’re going into tech diving, skip this one & buy a Perdix & just be done with it, rather than having to buy the Perdix later anyway. Thought it worth noting for any who might be leaning that way.
It does NOT have a digital compass. This may or may not matter to any individual. I have a compass built into my old console with my SPG, so I don’t care.
It does NOT support air integration. If you must have AI, this would be a deal breaker. I’ve never had it & while I do think it’s a great feature, I’m not going to miss what I never had & again don’t care.
These things just aren’t deal breakers for me, YMMV.
I think I’m going to really like this computer. Now I just have to figure out when I can get a dive in to use it in the wild.
