How much does alg matter for rec dives? Cheapest buhlman DC?

[stuartv]

I'm not 100% sure but I believe that display is still a segment LCD, it's just black-turns-transparent as opposed to traditional transparent-turns-black kind. With a permanently-on backlight. So it's not as bad in terms of video hardware, but you still burn the battery way faster than the old kind: with those you basically put a mirror under it and hope it reflects enough light to see what's on display.

Edit: and you can add colour by changing the backlight. Shiny!

Their site says "pixel-less EBTN technology". I don't know what that means, but I guess it's not a segment LCD. It is an LCD, but "pixel-less EBTN"?? From the site:

"Screen Technology Enhanced Black Twisted Nematic (EBTN) Negative Image LCD Display"

I guess that's why they only claim 6 - 7 hours of dive time per charge.

I wonder how long the dive time will be after it's 2 or 3 years old...

 

[ls1dreams]

Their site says "pixel-less EBTN technology". I don't know what that means, but I guess it's not a segment LCD. It is an LCD, but "pixel-less EBTN"?? From the site:

"Screen Technology Enhanced Black Twisted Nematic (EBTN) Negative Image LCD Display"

I guess that's why they only claim 6 - 7 hours of dive time per charge.

I wonder how long the dive time will be after it's 2 or 3 years old...

Yup, the battery life is a deal-breaker for me. Even 6-7 is too short - I don't want to have recharge my DC in the middle of a day while on a liveaboard. In 3 years that battery is probably down to 4 hours or less.

Currently leaning towards the Aeris A300 for $200, but the $90 cable is turning me off. Might wait for the Deep6 computer ($160?) since the cable is only $20, but I don't really like their screen layout - very cluttered IMO.

 

[RainPilot]

6-7 hours of DIVE time on the Cosmiq. My wife uses hers for full days of diving, when I borrow it to match the students I often do 2 days of 3 tank dives (1hr each) then top it off when I get home.

I suspect on a live aboard you'll be popping it on the charger overnight with about 40% left. Like I do with my iPhone, Apple Watch GoPro etc etc

 

[KenGordon]

This matter has been covered to death on SB, do a search and read up. I am sure that all technical divers who use the Eon as their primary technical dive computers would agree with you, all five of them.


FYI, the Shearwater DC's have been the standard computer for technical diving for several years and it is by the far the most popular technical dive computer than any other computer out there for several reason and not just features. There are most certainly other dive computers out there meant for the technical diver but none as popular, test and proven as the Shearwater computers and still a very reasonably priced computer that meet the needs of the most advanced technical diver to the entry level diver and everything in between. Read up on the subject here on SB.

IMO, the only other computer that comes close (or may surpass it), is the offering from Ratio-Computers.

Done to death by people who do not use these computers? Of your supposed 5 users I have dived with 2. At the most popular U.K. Inland site (75m in the deep end) you see lots of them.

Popular amoung internet divers is not really a recommendation.

The insistence that you need to spend £800 on a computer to do deco diving is madness. That means that with a backup you are looking at £1600. unless your eyesight is poor you can do it for less than half that. Bogusly insisting that GF is the one true way leads to threads like this with a diver asking for something which is not available. Why? Because the mass market manufacturers do not seem to want to provide GF.

The actual benefit of a GF computer is that you can plan a dive on a slate in multideco and then execute that dive without bending the computer. Given the availability of a planner for any computer you can still do this. It may be harder because the planner needs a PC rather than an iPad. These are the sorts of considerations that people need to be made aware of.

For me there are several key features of a computer:

1 - can I read the display?
2 - do I need to pamper it? 6 hour battery life? You are having a laugh surely...
3 - can I plan dives for it?
4 - do I believe in the manufacturer?
5 - can I work the UI?
6 - for 'technical' dives does it support multiple gases?

4 and 5 are related. If lots of people I know are using a given brand, or I have other computers from that brand I am more likely to buy it. Both Shearwater and Suunto can tick those boxes. Suunto at more price points than Shearwater. I own both and I think I can recommend the appropriate one given the circumstances of a particular diver.

 

[Diving Dubai]

In 3 years that battery is probably down to 4 hours or less.

Regarding the battery life. My Eon, is rechargeable too. So far at 2 years it's showing no battery degradation, it goes out most weeks and gets recharged weekly (or on a LOB every couple of days) even though it has 50% (or more charge)

My point is that I would have faith in a rechargeable battery and I don't believe they degrade that fast

 

[dmaziuk]

My point is that I would have faith in a rechargeable battery and I don't believe they degrade that fast

I have a few cheap crap xxFire 18650s that I use in a flashlight when biking home from work late. They're 2-2.5 years old and some of them don't hold enough charge for 2 15-minute trips anymore. With proper quality control etc. Suunto may get ones that are much better, but Li-ion lifetime was still ~600 charging cycles last I checked: dis/charge it every day and it'll last 2 years, dis/charge it every week and it'll last over a decade.

 

[dmaziuk]

Their site says "pixel-less EBTN technology". I don't know what that means, but I guess it's not a segment LCD. It is an LCD, but "pixel-less EBTN"?? From the site:

"Screen Technology Enhanced Black Twisted Nematic (EBTN) Negative Image LCD Display"

I guess that's why they only claim 6 - 7 hours of dive time per charge.

I wonder how long the dive time will be after it's 2 or 3 years old...

"Twisted Nematic" is the good ole segment LCD. I guess the "Enhanced Black" stands for "black to transparent". The battery drain would be from the always-on backlight is my uneducated speculation.

 

[thbcthomas]

Right, I guess my gripe is that there's no moderately priced DC with a good screen. It's literally a jump from a $160 zoop (or $200-300 oceanic if you want to splurge) all the way up to roughly an $800-$1000 DC.

The whole screen quality is my big gripe as well. Why can I get a 55" 4k tv for $400 (I know it is not the greatest quality) but have to settle for a dive computer screen that looks like a gameboy screen from the early 90's? When is the dive computer technology going to catch up the tv's and smart phones?

 

[KenGordon]

The whole screen quality is my big gripe as well. Why can I get a 55" 4k tv for $400 (I know it is not the greatest quality) but have to settle for a dive computer screen that looks like a gameboy screen from the early 90's? When is the dive computer technology going to catch up the tv's and smart phones?

Never. Two main reasons.

Power, a TV is plugged into mains. Most of a mobile phone is battery and users expect to charge them very often. There is almost no risk charging a phone as it stays dry. Nice displays use a lot of power, so dive computer is a compromise between battery life, display quality and size.

Volume. Phones are made and sold by the million. Dive computers in the thousands. It is very hard as a manufacturer of low volume electronics to get to use the best parts, they evolve quickly and soon become unobtainable. This is ok when design cost is spread over a million units but not for a few thousand.

 

[thbcthomas]

@KenGordon, deepblu seems to be able to make a much nicer screen at an affordable price. As I read your post it is obvious that you know know way more about diving than I ever will. It Just seems like someone else should be able to build something that looks like it was designed in the 21st century at an affordable price. My 13 year old who is just finishing up his certification, laughs when we go into the lds and look at computers. While I wait for that to happen I will have to settle for a mares puck pro, Aries A300, or bite the bullet and pick up 2 deepblus.