I have been a fan of Atomic Aquatics for awhile and own their reg, mask and computer but I'll have to say that I am beginning to be disillusioned and am starting to see through the smoke and mirrors. Quite frankly the logbook software is ridiculous, they never answer messages on this forum and I never got an email informing me that my computer was recalled. I had to find out quite by accident. How long can they think they can hide behind the "Simply Brilliant" tagline that is so prominently displayed on the website. Anyone who had ever used the logbook can attest that it's not even up to 1990's standards and they don't seem embarrassed or concerned about it at all. After paying $1300 for a dive computer don't we deserve more. I mean they released the product without any software and continued to promise that it would be here any day knowing the problems they faced and then they gave us this piece of crap. I think I'm done with the company and I'm ready to move on. What's crazy is that I don't even expect to see anyone from Atomic to address this message. That's how apathetic I've become. Get it together and fix the problems if you have any idea what they are......
Cobalt Software--Simply NOT Brilliant
- Thread starter Janlab
- Start date
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terrylowe
Contributor
Wow! Sometimes we just have to vent.
Just by doing a post search, it looks like you have asked only one question on scuba board regarding atomic aquatics and Ron replied to it. Don't know how many PM's you might have sent. They appear to answer messages (including mine) promptly
I think many would agree that third party software is vastly superior to vendor software when it comes to dive applications. Oceanic has some pretty wretched dive logging software too.
With your moving on to something else, I'd be interested in buying your dive computer. What kind of shape is it in? Scuffed any? How many dives? PM me?
Wow, you must be security for Atomic. Let's see if THEY reply. In the meantime I'll take $1299 for the computer. No scuffs and only 65 dives. Oh yea, it's been recalled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
terrylowe
Contributor
$1299??? You said it was a piece of crap!
I have no connection with Atomic. In fact, my only experience with them was prompt customer service.....they had to fix my cobalt. There IS a little irony there.
The questions in your post look rhetorical to me. I wouldn't expect a reply.
RonR works with cobalt although not directly for Atomic Aquatics. He has suggested using third party software rather than the vendor software. He has been very responsive to many people on this board. Try sending him a PM with your specific complaint. If you look over scubaboard, much of what you have said has been said before and I'd bet that many cobalt users agree with you (including me!) For $1300, I'd think we would get a rocking software too. From what I have seen, Oceanic, Atomic, Suunto, and Mares are NOT going to spend a lot of money for software development.
Are you really thinking of changing dive computers? I have had experience with Oceanic Veo, Oceanic Atom, Suunto D9, Mares Icon HD. None of the vendor software is any good. I used Diving Log 5.0 until I switched to Mac; now I use MacDive. Of course there are as many dive computers as there are divers, but I'd be happy to give opinions on the ones I've used if want them. (I know that I have already given too many unsolicited opinions to you) My favorite so far has been the Cobalt. As for the recall....I sorta like those. It means someone is actually working on improving a problem, and in this case it could have been a bad one.
I didn't mean to come across as Atomic Security....(hmmm the would be a cool name for a security company though.)
"Cobalt Software--Simply NOT Brilliant"... true
However I have yet to see any diving related software that is. It is pretty well known that they encourage you to use a more complete dive log software product, which are better but far from what most software consumers expect.
However I have yet to see any diving related software that is. It is pretty well known that they encourage you to use a more complete dive log software product, which are better but far from what most software consumers expect.
note: Federal law prohibits the sale of consumer items under product recall.
---------- Post Merged at 08:36 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:34 AM ----------
I sure hope Atomic handles this difficult problem well. I've enjoyed using my Cobalt and hope to see Atomic succeed.
---------- Post Merged at 08:36 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:34 AM ----------
I sure hope Atomic handles this difficult problem well. I've enjoyed using my Cobalt and hope to see Atomic succeed.
PeterNBiddle
Contributor
Citation please?
I can't see why federal law would prohibit me (in my role as a citizen and not a business) from selling you (in your role as a citizen and not a business) a recalled item. Recalled products don't magically become controlled like drugs or guns, do they?
terrylowe
Contributor
Not sure about this. Maybe it's true and they allow it AFTER the recall item has been repaired. If that were true, you'd never be able to sell or trade in your car.
RonR
Contributor
Janlab,
As Terry said, I don't work for Atomic, but I am one of the original designers/ developers of the Cobalt computer (the Cobalt itself, not the desktop software). Like most diving manufacturers, Atomic is a very small company, and the Atomic employees who monitor this forum work Monday-Friday, so I would not expect a reply on a weekend. I have been working alongside Atomic for several years now, and so far as I have seen, their reputation for outstanding customer service is well deserved.
The Windows desktop software has been addressed at length on this forum: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/co...-atomic-aquatics-cobalt-dive-computer-39.html Those who have followed that forum know that it's been a painful and frustrating subject for us.
But to recap, our recommendation was always that Atomic not supply any dive logging desktop software, but rather collaborate with third party developers who develop dive log software as their main product. No dive computer manufacturer is ever going to do as good a job as a dedicated developer. Good user interfaces are much harder than they look to develop (and take much longer than you think), and anything Atomic produced was unlikely to be up to the standard set by the Cobalt itself. Additionally, from our perspective, the skill and knowledge set necessary to design desktop software and keep up with OS changes, etc., is completely different from that needed for the real time embedded system development of a dive computer. Atomic, however, felt they had to provide a free application, and used a third party to develop a limited dive log package comparable to that from other vendors.
To their credit, they also cooperated fully with several third party developers and with the open source libdivecomputer project to provide drivers for any other developers who want to incorporate Cobalt download capability. To my knowledge, they are the only major manufacturer to "open up" their interface and support third party software directly in this way- they deserve a lot of credit for that. Many other dive computers are only supported because considerable effort went into reverse engineering their interface. Atomic's approach is far more consumer friendly.
As of today, Diving Log 5.0 - scuba logbook software for diver - dive log, scuba log for Windows, and MacDive and Dive Log Manager for the Mac directly download from the Cobalt with full factory support. All these programs are far more capable than anything put out by any computer manufacturer, are inexpensive, work with a variety of products, will almost certainly work with future computers you might get, have excellent support, and are pretty much guaranteed to keep up with desktop OS changes. As far as I can see, anyone with ANY supported dive computer- not just the Cobalt- would be better off with one of these packages.
re. the recall, Atomic has sent out letters to registered owners. You may not have received it yet- they would have gone out Wednesday or Thursday, as I understand. The recall is based on a very small number of Cobalts that had a nut that wasn't tightened enough in assembly. It was initiated by Atomic, and I believe it shows a strong commitment to taking the best care of their customers they possibly can. There may well be almost no Cobalts that actually have a problem, but Atomic is committing to checking thousands to make sure. Anyone who has ever worked in consumer product manufacturing knows this was not a decision made lightly.
It actually is illegal for anyone- even individuals- to sell or even give away recalled products. Think defective child safety seats at rummage sales, or tainted food. But in instances like the Cobalt, the device just is being recalled to be checked (and repaired if necessary). Once that is done, it's no longer under the recall. It's distinct from an inherent safety defect.
Ron
As Terry said, I don't work for Atomic, but I am one of the original designers/ developers of the Cobalt computer (the Cobalt itself, not the desktop software). Like most diving manufacturers, Atomic is a very small company, and the Atomic employees who monitor this forum work Monday-Friday, so I would not expect a reply on a weekend. I have been working alongside Atomic for several years now, and so far as I have seen, their reputation for outstanding customer service is well deserved.
The Windows desktop software has been addressed at length on this forum: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/co...-atomic-aquatics-cobalt-dive-computer-39.html Those who have followed that forum know that it's been a painful and frustrating subject for us.
But to recap, our recommendation was always that Atomic not supply any dive logging desktop software, but rather collaborate with third party developers who develop dive log software as their main product. No dive computer manufacturer is ever going to do as good a job as a dedicated developer. Good user interfaces are much harder than they look to develop (and take much longer than you think), and anything Atomic produced was unlikely to be up to the standard set by the Cobalt itself. Additionally, from our perspective, the skill and knowledge set necessary to design desktop software and keep up with OS changes, etc., is completely different from that needed for the real time embedded system development of a dive computer. Atomic, however, felt they had to provide a free application, and used a third party to develop a limited dive log package comparable to that from other vendors.
To their credit, they also cooperated fully with several third party developers and with the open source libdivecomputer project to provide drivers for any other developers who want to incorporate Cobalt download capability. To my knowledge, they are the only major manufacturer to "open up" their interface and support third party software directly in this way- they deserve a lot of credit for that. Many other dive computers are only supported because considerable effort went into reverse engineering their interface. Atomic's approach is far more consumer friendly.
As of today, Diving Log 5.0 - scuba logbook software for diver - dive log, scuba log for Windows, and MacDive and Dive Log Manager for the Mac directly download from the Cobalt with full factory support. All these programs are far more capable than anything put out by any computer manufacturer, are inexpensive, work with a variety of products, will almost certainly work with future computers you might get, have excellent support, and are pretty much guaranteed to keep up with desktop OS changes. As far as I can see, anyone with ANY supported dive computer- not just the Cobalt- would be better off with one of these packages.
re. the recall, Atomic has sent out letters to registered owners. You may not have received it yet- they would have gone out Wednesday or Thursday, as I understand. The recall is based on a very small number of Cobalts that had a nut that wasn't tightened enough in assembly. It was initiated by Atomic, and I believe it shows a strong commitment to taking the best care of their customers they possibly can. There may well be almost no Cobalts that actually have a problem, but Atomic is committing to checking thousands to make sure. Anyone who has ever worked in consumer product manufacturing knows this was not a decision made lightly.
It actually is illegal for anyone- even individuals- to sell or even give away recalled products. Think defective child safety seats at rummage sales, or tainted food. But in instances like the Cobalt, the device just is being recalled to be checked (and repaired if necessary). Once that is done, it's no longer under the recall. It's distinct from an inherent safety defect.
Ron
Good post Ron, Thank you.
Regarding citations, sorry, I forgot the scubaboard requirement.
If you go to Atomic's web site you can see the recall notice. It describes how to get your computer sorted and mentions the prohibition against the sale of recalled items that have not been fixed.
You can also look here.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/27/4860981/atomic-aquatics-recalls-cobalt.html
Regarding citations, sorry, I forgot the scubaboard requirement.
If you go to Atomic's web site you can see the recall notice. It describes how to get your computer sorted and mentions the prohibition against the sale of recalled items that have not been fixed.
You can also look here.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/27/4860981/atomic-aquatics-recalls-cobalt.html
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