Check out the new Aqualung computers. I have an older one that has served me very well - has all the info you need easily on display and the warnings are good for a recreational diver. Beeps are nice and loud. Good battery life too. I dove with someone last week who had one of the new ones comparable to mine, and he liked it. It was the i300. Reasonably priced.
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I would recommend a dive computer that has an excellent track record & has been on the market for awhile.
Start here:
So you want to buy a new computer?
I have an Atom 3.0. It is the same as the 3.1 except that they took the Buddy Check feature out of the 3.1 due to a patent infringement lawsuit.
I did read the manual and did not have any problem understanding it. But, I didn't need to read the manual to start using the computer. In other words, I definitely would not let complaints about the manual put me off buying one. The manual isn't great. But, if you can program a VCR (to use a cliché), you can handle the Atom, no problem.
Nor would I let concerns about future dive plans put me off buying one. My Atom was my first computer. I am now in tech training (Adv Nitrox and Deco Procedures) and have bought a Tech computer. But, the Atom is still serving me well as my backup computer on tech dives and still my main computer for recreational diving. I use the wireless AI on recreational dives and am happy to have it. I don't use the wireless AI on my tech diving rig, so it's just the Atom itself serving as backup to my tech computer. Though I am now fully invested in the path (tech dving) that some say would make the expense of an Atom pointless, I have no regrets and don't feel like my money spent on the Atom w/AI was wasted at all. I am still benefiting from it on every single dive.
That said, my first tech computer was a Shearwater Petrel 2, which I have now sold and replaced with the SeaBear H3. I don't have much time with the SeaBear yet, but so far I really like it. Whenever they eventually release the wireless AI for it, if something happened to my Atom, I imagine I would just get the WAI transmitter for the H3 and it would become my main computer for recreational diving as well as my main computer for tech dives.
At this point, I would say that one thing you should really think about is whether, eventually, you want to plan to dive with 2 computers or not. I always dive with 2 computers. I like having redundancy of tracking my tissue loading. If I fly somewhere to dive and my computer craps out during the 1st dive of the day, I want to be able to complete my dive as normal and do my next dive with the maximum amount of bottom time I can. If it's multi-level diving and I am only using 1 computer, having it crap out on the 1st dive would mean using tables to plan my next dive and having significantly reduced bottom time (again, as I said, assuming multi-level diving). If your diving is not multi-level - if you are typically going to one depth and staying there until the end of the dive, then going straight to the surface (i.e. a square dive profile), the benefit of having 2 computers is reduced - but it's still there.
If you eventually want to be diving with 2 computers, then getting an Atom with AI today and getting an H3 later is, I think, a fine way to go. At least, that's what I have done and the only regret I have is listening to the experts here on SB and buying a Petrel first. OTOH, if you only see yourself investing in and using 1 computer, then it might be worth doing as tbone said and waiting to get the H3. Or you could try and find an H3 now - some places may still have stock of the SeaBear-branded ones - and then get the AI transmitter later, whenever they are released.
And if you determine you are never going the tech route, you can still eventually get a second computer, but spend a lot less on one than what an H3 would cost.
So you want to buy a new computer?
I have an Atom 3.0. It is the same as the 3.1 except that they took the Buddy Check feature out of the 3.1 due to a patent infringement lawsuit.
I did read the manual and did not have any problem understanding it. But, I didn't need to read the manual to start using the computer. In other words, I definitely would not let complaints about the manual put me off buying one. The manual isn't great. But, if you can program a VCR (to use a cliché), you can handle the Atom, no problem.
Nor would I let concerns about future dive plans put me off buying one. My Atom was my first computer. I am now in tech training (Adv Nitrox and Deco Procedures) and have bought a Tech computer. But, the Atom is still serving me well as my backup computer on tech dives and still my main computer for recreational diving. I use the wireless AI on recreational dives and am happy to have it. I don't use the wireless AI on my tech diving rig, so it's just the Atom itself serving as backup to my tech computer. Though I am now fully invested in the path (tech dving) that some say would make the expense of an Atom pointless, I have no regrets and don't feel like my money spent on the Atom w/AI was wasted at all. I am still benefiting from it on every single dive.
That said, my first tech computer was a Shearwater Petrel 2, which I have now sold and replaced with the SeaBear H3. I don't have much time with the SeaBear yet, but so far I really like it. Whenever they eventually release the wireless AI for it, if something happened to my Atom, I imagine I would just get the WAI transmitter for the H3 and it would become my main computer for recreational diving as well as my main computer for tech dives.
At this point, I would say that one thing you should really think about is whether, eventually, you want to plan to dive with 2 computers or not. I always dive with 2 computers. I like having redundancy of tracking my tissue loading. If I fly somewhere to dive and my computer craps out during the 1st dive of the day, I want to be able to complete my dive as normal and do my next dive with the maximum amount of bottom time I can. If it's multi-level diving and I am only using 1 computer, having it crap out on the 1st dive would mean using tables to plan my next dive and having significantly reduced bottom time (again, as I said, assuming multi-level diving). If your diving is not multi-level - if you are typically going to one depth and staying there until the end of the dive, then going straight to the surface (i.e. a square dive profile), the benefit of having 2 computers is reduced - but it's still there.
If you eventually want to be diving with 2 computers, then getting an Atom with AI today and getting an H3 later is, I think, a fine way to go. At least, that's what I have done and the only regret I have is listening to the experts here on SB and buying a Petrel first. OTOH, if you only see yourself investing in and using 1 computer, then it might be worth doing as tbone said and waiting to get the H3. Or you could try and find an H3 now - some places may still have stock of the SeaBear-branded ones - and then get the AI transmitter later, whenever they are released.
And if you determine you are never going the tech route, you can still eventually get a second computer, but spend a lot less on one than what an H3 would cost.
Air Integration, do you want it, can you afford the additional $$ ?
I happily dove an hosed air integrated cobra for 15 years. It was my 1st computer. When I decided to upgrade, I wanted AI and was considering wireless AI. Several board members suggested no AI and were especially against wireless AI. Never the less, I ended up buying a Seabear H3, the pending wireless AI option was a big factor in my buying decision.
Just got back from a week of diving with the H3. The H3 worked great, the color display is a very nice feature, especially on the darker dives. I wore it with the display on the inside of my wrist. I found this more natural and easier to look at while diving, plus I could more easily shade it from sunlight glare when shallow or on the surface.
I have to admit, I did not miss air integration at all. I bought a gauge a clipped to my waist on a 24" hose. While diving, it was visible without unclipping. I just had to rotate the gauge to read it.
Now, I am not anti air integration, but I have changed my opinion and AI is no longer a feature I am interested in. If you take that feature away, you can save a lot of money or spend it on other features such as color display, other gear, beer, potato chips, etc..
I happily dove an hosed air integrated cobra for 15 years. It was my 1st computer. When I decided to upgrade, I wanted AI and was considering wireless AI. Several board members suggested no AI and were especially against wireless AI. Never the less, I ended up buying a Seabear H3, the pending wireless AI option was a big factor in my buying decision.
Just got back from a week of diving with the H3. The H3 worked great, the color display is a very nice feature, especially on the darker dives. I wore it with the display on the inside of my wrist. I found this more natural and easier to look at while diving, plus I could more easily shade it from sunlight glare when shallow or on the surface.
I have to admit, I did not miss air integration at all. I bought a gauge a clipped to my waist on a 24" hose. While diving, it was visible without unclipping. I just had to rotate the gauge to read it.
Now, I am not anti air integration, but I have changed my opinion and AI is no longer a feature I am interested in. If you take that feature away, you can save a lot of money or spend it on other features such as color display, other gear, beer, potato chips, etc..
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