Connecting Octopus and computer to reg

[Lost Yooper]

I think buying online is fine if you know exactly what you want and accept the warranty issues. I don't personally place a heck of a lot weight on dive shop's advice as most employees are either uninformed or simply don't care about equipment they don't sell. I don't necessarily blame them for the latter part.

When I make a decision to buy a piece of gear, I do my own research and make sure I know more than they do when I walk into a shop. Always remember that dive shops only care about selling their gear to you regardless of your actual needs -- both present and future.

As for the warranty issues on various pieces of equipment, I don't worry about it. The huge cost savings is more than enough reason to not worry about it. In the case of Apeks regs, they are virtually bullet proof and are easy and fairly cheap to repair. A different tune may be sung regarding Posiedon regs fo example.

My 2 cents.

Mike

 

[DavidCarleton]

Gentlemen,

All of your advice has been invaluable. I will buy our regs at the LDS but purchase the computers and BCDs on-line. (This seems like a good compromise.) My wife and are are most concerened about ease of breathing at depth i.e. 100-130 ft.

Any suggestions for lower cost regs that breathe easy?

p.s.

Ohio is not landlocked. We live right on the Great Lakes (well, Lake Erie anyway) so we get an opportunity to get in quite a few lake dives in spring/summer.

Thanks Again!

 

[Lost Yooper]

Oceanic regs used to be cheap and very good performers. I'm not up-to-date on their prices though. There are some cavers who use them, but they're not as popular as Apeks and Scuba Pro.

Mike

 

[WetDane]

Hey David,

If you are thinking about diving that range in the near future - I would 100% go with an Apeks setup, TX50 for your primary and TX20 for your back up, that should be on the cheaper side and you simply don't get a much easier breathign reg - I believe that a number of people here will back me up on that...

Big T

 

[large_diver]

You won't go wrong with Apeks. This is a question more than a answer -- have prices on TX-100s come down at shops that are now offering the "new and improved" ATX200?

I agree with WetDane's recommendation -- the TX-50 is a great reg and priced lower than the TX-100 or ATX-200.

Good luck!

 

[GP]

Originally posted by large_diver
This is a question more than a answer -- have prices on TX-100s come down at shops that are now offering the "new and improved" ATX200?

Good luck!

Shops are still charging $450 for a TX-50 around my neck of the woods...haven't seen anyone with the ATX line in stock yet.

 

[TexasMike]

Originally posted by DavidCarleton
All of your advice has been invaluable. I will buy our regs at the LDS but purchase the computers and BCDs on-line. (This seems like a good compromise.) My wife and are are most concerened about ease of breathing at depth i.e. 100-130 ft.

Any suggestions for lower cost regs that breathe easy?

David,

When it comes to items that fall into the realm of Life Support Equipment, it's best NOT to focus on the "lower dollar" items. To quote my friend TekDiver in another thread:

Originally posted by TekDiver,Click here to read the thread in its entireity
After a quick read of the thread, I've seen several regulators mentioned. Without respect to model:
Apeks
Scubapro
Zeagle

These regs. all have something in common and I'll get to that in a moment. The one thing that seems to be a major point of focusing this thread is the price. I don't know about you but when I look at my primary piece of LIFE SUPPORT equipment, $40-50 bucks one way or the other is no big deal. I care that I get the absolute best equipment I can find (notice I didn't say afford). If I can't buy it today, I'll save to get what I need. And I don't mean to imply that "most expensive is best". In today’s market, that is definitely not the case! And all of the regs. mentioned are very good for recreational diving.

One of the best bits of advice I got when I was shopping for my first rig was to purchase the best gear for the type of diving I saw myself doing 5 to 7 years from now. And to avoid making the mistake of purchasing lower end gear that I would wind up replacing because it wouldn't cut it for the advanced diving I would get into.

So, like TekDiver, I advocate purchasing Life Support Equipment that is the top of the heap. Especially for your diving in the Great Lakes region.

And most shops do have some creative lay-a-way plans if you are not able to come up with the entire amount at once.

 

[SoCal]

I would buy one set at the shop and one online. Then you get all the benefits of the shop, and who knows which set you bring in if there is a problem. You save 1/2 the money but get all of the benefits.

 

[ScubaBaby]

Did you really think you could sneek in without being noticed SoCal!!!!

Well tough - I spotted ya! Just to say a quick welcome to the board - dont want you to feel unloved.

Anyway, i'm sure you've already noticed this board is full of information and its great fun too! Catch you round !