Garmin Descent MK2

[TuckerIdaho]

Are you talking about the Mk1? There was just an update put out a couple of weeks ago.

That wasn't for the core Mk1 software, that was for the sensors (Fenix 5x got the same update)

 

[descend]

That wasn't for the core Mk1 software, that was for the sensors (Fenix 5x got the same update)

It was both, I think - my watch software went from 8.0.0 to 10.10.0 and then to 10.20.0 again, and the sensor version got a bump as well. 10 brought the Descent almost in line with the fenix 5 featurewise and futzed with the CCR mode a bunch. Software Update 10.10 - Descent MK1 - Wearables - Garmin Forums

 

[scubadada]

^what he said. Any chance you can find out what transmitter they are using for their air integration?

If this is the PPS transmitter, that might be pretty big, if not, best of luck

 

[vjb.knife1]

^what he said. Any chance you can find out what transmitter they are using for their air integration?

I dive pretty regularly with this local shop on their boats and one of the dive masters on the boat mentioned this when he saw my MKI. It happened a month or so ago and I doubt if they got into any details with the crew. I will ask next time I see that guy.

With as long as the Mk1 has been out, and with Garmin’s track record, the mk1 support will likely end a year or two after the Mk2. For that reason alone I’d get the mk2 when it comes out.

I am not sure what you mean about "Garmin's track record" but I have at least six Garmin products going back maybe eight years in age and have always gotten answers to questions and problems with them - Descent, Fenix, 62S, Edge 1000, Edge810, etc.. I think that Garmin's CS dept is better that any SCUBA equipment company that I have dealt with by far.

 

[azstinger11]

I dive pretty regularly with this local shop on their boats and one of the dive masters on the boat mentioned this when he saw my MKI. It happened a month or so ago and I doubt if they got into any details with the crew. I will ask next time I see that guy.


I am not sure what you mean about "Garmin's track record" but I have at least six Garmin products going back maybe eight years in age and have always gotten answers to questions and problems with them - Descent, Fenix, 62S, Edge 1000, Edge810, etc.. I think that Garmin's CS dept is better that any SCUBA equipment company that I have dealt with by far.

That's very much not been my experience, I would rate them as some of the worst customer service I have ever had the displeasure of encountering. I had an Fenix that a firmware update bricked and was told I was **** out of luck. Had tons of issues with their aviation product line. Have an edge that crashes somewhat routinely and the tech support was more or less a shrug and a got us response. When Garmin stuff works its great, but its support is exceptionally sub par.

Just for reference I am eyeing a Mk2 as a secondary computer, like I said when it works its great. But I don't trust any single computer on a dive.

 

[stuartv]

I am not sure what you mean about "Garmin's track record" but I have at least six Garmin products going back maybe eight years in age and have always gotten answers to questions and problems with them - Descent, Fenix, 62S, Edge 1000, Edge810, etc.. I think that Garmin's CS dept is better that any SCUBA equipment company that I have dealt with by far.

I've been using Garmin GPS's on my motorcycles for roughly 20 years. I had a GPS V and a StreetPilot 2610 back in the day, and have gone through several more since then.

My experience is that the products are generally reliable and the phone support is generally good.

But, when they have a firmware bug, don't expect them to acknowledge it, much less ever fix it. I have personally reported more than one and been blown off each time. And never gotten a fix.

If Garmin's CS is better than any scuba company you have dealt with, then I'm thinking you have never dealt with Shearwater customer service. Which could be because you never owned a Shearwater, or because with Shearwater most people never need to ask for help from customer service.

 

[stuartv]

I dive pretty regularly with this local shop on their boats and one of the dive masters on the boat mentioned this when he saw my MKI. It happened a month or so ago and I doubt if they got into any details with the crew. I will ask next time I see that guy.

Thanks. If he's a gear nerd and was paying attention at all, he probably could recognize the transmitter just by seeing it. Or not, if it's a new thing from Garmin. The PPS ones (used by Shearwater, Oceanic, Aqualung, etc.) are pretty distinctive and easy to recognize.

 

[vjb.knife1]

Garmin has given me no real issues. For the most part it was questions I had on how to do something and they were very helpful. I have no reason to buy an expensive computer like Shearwater, so it's good that they have better service, but I will never need one. I use the Garmin because I can get them very inexpensively through a professional organization and the only other computer I have is a Suunto Zoop, simple inexpensive and reliable so far. I will let you know if I find anything out. I really barely need a computer anyway, as I do not dive deep anymore. I dove a lot and in very deep water as a commercial diver and will not do it any longer even though I am still a professional diver. Now I dive some but am in charge of diving operations. Mostly I dive recreationally and soon I will retire so that will be all I do and I won't go below about 70 feet.

 

[ATJ]

While my Mk1 has given me few major problems (other than a hardware failure that was promptly replaced), I have found support from Garmin to be woeful.

There are many small bugs and inconstancies that take a long time to be acknowledged (if at all) by Garmin and even longer to be fixed. They have even fixed issues in one firmware update only to reintroduce the problem in a later firmware update.

There are also really dumb features or features that could work so much better than they do.

One dumb feature (which appears to have finally been removed in 10.10) is an alert: "Approaching NDL". Now, an alert to let you know you are approaching your NDL sounds like a great idea however it doesn't actually do that. When your tissue N2 reaches 80%, the watch vibrates and the display says "Approaching NDL". It only ever displays the alert once and never again. I frequently get it when my NDL is more that 30 minutes! I have never received it when my NDL was less than 5 minutes! So, it is a completely useless alert.

There was a temperature bug that took them some time to fix where the displayed temperature during a dive didn't match the logged temperature. In some cases there was 2-3ºC difference. That was fixed but appears to have been reintroduced in 10.10.

 

[DiveTucson]

Look what I saw recently...