Choosing Between 3 Dive Computers

[outofofficebrb]

I've had similar experience with Oceanic... and several other "name brand" scuba gear manufacturers.

That is why I bought my computer from my local shop. I am pretty confident that they would take care of me/it if I had an issue. To whatever extent they can, anyway.

I love supporting my LDS. What's best is they're honest, not pushy, etc...and they will price match. As you say, they can then work with the sales representatives and the manufacturer on any larger issues.

On another note, as far as "name brand" manufacturers not being responsive....I do have to give a shoutout to Scubapro. I contacted them through their website and within a day and a half got a response from the Regional Sales Manager about my question. He then gave me his personal e-mail address and phone number to reach out to him about the questions I had. Then he arranged for me to try out some equipment locally and called up the shop near me that had one I could try which happened to be my favorite LDS. I was blown away! I work in corporate retail now but spent my college days in retail stores and I know great customer service when I see it.

 

[Xeno]

I own the Icon. Of all the computers I've looked at it was hands down the most intuitive (think iPhone), best screen and lots of great features that I find useful. It is also backwards compatible. In other words, Mares has continued to produce firmware updates to improve the computer. That said, it does have a few drawbacks. While it is a full decompression computer it does not support the use of Helium. It's limited to 3 gasses, which I understand for most tech dives is about average. Anymore than 5 is a little ridiculous. It also runs the Mares-Wineke RGBM algorithm, which although not the most conservative, there are others, especially those with user control that are more liberal. I think being conservative, especially when just starting out is a good thing. There's no way to know how your body will handle nitrogen loading.

As far as the Oceanic and Hollis computers you chose. They're made by the same company. Pretty much look the same, probably function very similar, however, the TX1 is definitely a full technical diving instrument. It supports the use of Helium and up to 7 gasses. For those reasons I would scratch the Oceanic.

IMO, if you want AI in a full tech computer the TX1 is the way to go. But I've heard it's not the most intuitive (of course familiarity fixes that) and obviously the screen is lacking compared to other options.

As @Diving Dubai mentioned, you'll get a lot of people recommending the Shearwater, but if you're just starting out you will likely have several years before jumping into technical diving (unless you have a lot of money, free time and determination) so I would wait before I put full technical diving capabilities at the top of this list as a must have feature. In several years there may be many more better options than what is available today. Plus it's been my observation that good dive computers hold their value pretty well, especially compared to other consumer electronics. So, you can always sell it when the time comes.

since you own Icon, hows the battery life ? i saw from review that, the battery life is not that great.

Can it withstand 3 dives in one trip without charging it back ?

 

[CuzzA]

The battery life is okay. About 5-7 hrs of dive time. More than enough for a day of repetitive diving or if you have a USB power source (cig lighter) you can top it off during surface intervals. I've never had to.

Fortunately, the Icon comes with everything you need. USB cable, charging clip, dual USB charger and all US and international plugs. It also comes with the log software.

It doesn't boast the best battery life, but there's a reason for that. This article below explains in detail why. As with most things in life, if you want something, you have to make sacrifices elsewhere. No different with the Icon's screen and AI

Battery duration in Icon HD Net Ready: diving and standby - Powered by Kayako Help Desk Software

Also, I should mention mine came from the factory without a screen protector and I was having trouble getting the transmitter and computer to do the initial sync. I opened a service ticket with Mares and received a call the next day. The gentleman I spoke to was very helpful. Emailed me a special instruction page to sync the AI for the first time. Basically you hold the computer in the palm of your hand, extend your fingers to touch the transmitter and it will sync. Don't know why it has to be done that way, but it works. Now it links up anytime as soon as I pressurize the transmitter from as far as 20 ft away.

He also mailed me the screen protector at no charge which I received the following day.

Overall I'm happy and really like the computer. I got a pretty good deal on it as well.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Although I don't have an Icon, I'm happy with a rechargeable battery. I have an Eon which with the settings I use has about a 40hr life (even using 3 transmitters) - technically enough for a weeks diving but I don't mind charging it over night a couple of times. I would find the 5-7 hrs a bit limiting because of the trips I do but I carry a USB power pack everywhere anyway for phone or tablet emergency charging and the Eon can charge off that too.

Some people swear by replaceable AA batteries only. Each to their own

 

[RonR]

Although I don't have an Icon, I'm happy with a rechargeable battery. I have an Eon which with the settings I use has about a 40hr life (even using 3 transmitters) - technically enough for a weeks diving but I don't mind charging it over night a couple of times. I would find the 5-7 hrs a bit limiting because of the trips I do but I carry a USB power pack everywhere anyway for phone or tablet emergency charging and the Eon can charge off that too.

Some people swear by replaceable AA batteries only. Each to their own

Engineering for power conservation is a difficult challenge, but it is certainly possible in a dive computer to get 40+ hours of dive time, and months of standby time, while continually monitoring the environment and providing for instant waking. Battery capacity is a big factor, but so are the details of power management.

One nice thing about rechargeables is that you don’t need to open the case.

-Ron

 

[stuartv]

Engineering for power conservation is a difficult challenge, but it is certainly possible in a dive computer to get 40+ hours of dive time, and months of standby time, while continually monitoring the environment and providing for instant waking. Battery capacity is a big factor, but so are the details of power management.

One nice thing about rechargeables is that you don’t need to open the case.

-Ron

I sure wish somebody at Seabear would figure out how to do that with the H3....

 

[RonR]

I sure wish somebody at Seabear would figure out how to do that with the H3....

From what I understand (I could be wrong), they don’t have a water contact interrupt- that’s one way to save power, as monitoring pressure often enough to reasonably detect when a dive begins is pretty power expensive. But that’s a hardware feature that needs to be built in from the start. On the Cobalt, while we do monitor ambient pressure in the background continually, but we use the presence of water to tell us when to amp up the sample rate to detect a dive’s start. It’s more complex from both a hardware and firmware standpoint, but it does help save power and enables us to get 5-6 months on standby power without sacrificing automatic activation. I’m sure other dive computers do many of the same things.

It’s all these conditions of use / user interface issues that make designing a dive computer challenging.

Ron

 

[CuzzA]

^ Add AI and a large brilliant color screen and I assume that only adds to the challenge.

 

[stuartv]

From what I understand (I could be wrong), they don’t have a water contact interrupt

That is my understanding as well. I misinterpreted your post to be suggesting something more in the firmware. And I do think more could be done. I have already suggested, via Sub Gravity support, that they enhance the H3 firmware so that it only checks ambient pressure every 5 seconds for a period of something like 2 days after the last dive or last time it was turned on, instead of every 5 seconds forever, like it does now. Then go into a "sleep" mode where it only checks, say, once per minute, instead of every 5 seconds.

I suspect that on 99% of the dives started with an H3, one of two conditions would be true: Either, the most recent previous dive was within the past 48 hours. OR, the computer was turned on manually within the past 24 hours, for example, to set the FO2 or to check the current battery charge level or whatever. Based on that, I think they could seriously increase the standby time for the H3 when it has Auto Dive Detection turned on. As it is, it dies within 2 to 3 weeks of just sitting.

 

[RonR]

^ Add AI and a large brilliant color screen and I assume that only adds to the challenge.

Yep, having a large color display is the main reason we only get 30-60 hours of diving time on a battery charge with the Cobalt. Over 50% of the power consumption is in the screen, and the brightness level is the main determinant of battery life. Computers with segment LCD displays can get a year or more on a much smaller battery. Color screens also require certain battery types, as the current requirements are much higher- no coin cells. But we felt if you could reasonably do a week long live aboard trip on a single charge it didn’t represent much of a limitation.

Ron