I want a Cobalt.....BUT...

[XS-NRG]

So there will come a time when my trusty Suunto Zoop will be relegated to the status of backup computer which leads me to finding a #1 computer. I always thought I wanted a Cobra 3 but my attention was quickly taken by the look and design of the Cobalt. I honestly would love to try one first (not sure how I'm going to accomplish that) but having done alot of reading on the forums and the internet I'm troubled to hear of all the leaks and damaged computers and blown off screens etc etc etc. I would like to know if these issues are still occurring. I realize there was a recall but would like to know a "status update" on the whole situation. Are there still continual issues? I don't want to drop $1200+ only to have an issue then lose dive data and unwanted down time while sending away for repairs etc etc (especially right after buying it).

This is obviously a difficult question to answer as I know the manufacturer will likely state there are no problems, come buy a Cobalt, we want your money. What is the general consensus?

Part 2 of my question is such: are there any screen shots of the software used to upload a dive to your PC and even a sample PDF of an exported dive including profile and dive data. I am not happy with Suunto's program at all but their export view is not too bad. I can't find anything like this. Anyone have a dive pdf export they are willing to show me?

Thanks!

 

[Downing]

Well, in my experience the internet, while a wonderful thing, tends to blow issues like you mentioned out of proportion so that it appears there are more problems than there really are. Those of us who are unfortunate enough to have a problem(s) rightly take to the net to report them and to seek help. Meanwhile there are lots of satisfied users who don't bother to post anything because there's no reason to do so.

I was a very early adopter of two Cobalts. I ordered one from my LDS the day the Cobalt was released. When I brought it home, my wife saw it, played with it, and the next day I was back at the dive shop ordering one for her. A couple of years and about 100 dives on both computers later, I can report that the only issue with either of them is that they both consistently read two to three temperature degrees high in the water. Per RonR, who doesn't work for Atomic directly but was in on the design and posts here frequently, this is probably caused by the temperature sensor so buried into the unit that it doesn't cool off as rapidly as it should when moving from air to water. While not perfect, I can live with it. Early on, the audible alarms were barely audible and that issue was addressed in a later firmware or software update. Frankly, I preferred the barely audible audibles and am hoping AA gives us an option via an update just to turn them down or even off altogether. Both Cobalts were subject to the recall, so I had them checked and approved at the shop.

I get that $1200 bucks is a lot of money to drop on a dive computer, and I recommend you don't show it to your wife, lol. I would hope by now Atomic has enough data on the Cobalts out in the wild that it has analyzed and addressed any major recurring issues. But one reason I was willing to be an early adopter was my prior experience with their customer service. AA is one of the few scuba manufacturers that you can call and speak to a person who not only knows what he/she's talking about but who also has the authority to help you with your problem. I don't know what the warranty is for the new ones but when I bought mine it was one year extended to two if you sent in the warranty card, a no brainer. If my Cobalt blew up on me tomorrow, I would not be happy about it but I would still replace it with another Cobalt.

I can't help with Part 2, sorry.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

What Downing said, and I think my original Cobalt had more issues than most (a battery compartment leak for trip to AA #1; button magnet issues and recall check for trip to AA #2; and catastrophic flood at 190' for a reason never determined for trip to AA #3)... each time AA service was fast and free, and when the thing finally flooded completely on that last dive, they just sent me a whole new box of new production Cobalt, hoses, cables, charger and all. If you want a console computer and can afford the best, you get a Cobalt. End of story.

 

[ka5ysy]

Well, here I am doing my pre-trip checklist and pull the Cobalt off my regulator (used it one month ago for a class!). Push the button to turn on the display and start charging it fully for the Flower Garden Banks trip, and FOR THE SECOND TIME the stupid computer is totally DEAD. Will not take a charge, and given the last time this happened, it has to go back to the factory for a repair job. This makes the third time back . First one was a leaking housing that killed the display. Two battery no-charge issues now. Highly unreliable device, and the only thing good is that I got a key man deal as an instructor. A whole lot of good that did me !

Back to my old faithful Suunto Cobra that patiently waits for me all the time.

I absolutely would not recommend this devise to anybody now because of reliability issues.

Doug

 

[XS-NRG]

Well, here I am doing my pre-trip checklist and pull the Cobalt off my regulator (used it one month ago for a class!). Push the button to turn on the display and start charging it fully for the Flower Garden Banks trip, and FOR THE SECOND TIME the stupid computer is totally DEAD. Will not take a charge, and given the last time this happened, it has to go back to the factory for a repair job. This makes the third time back . First one was a leaking housing that killed the display. Two battery no-charge issues now. Highly unreliable device, and the only thing good is that I got a key man deal as an instructor. A whole lot of good that did me !

Back to my old faithful Suunto Cobra that patiently waits for me all the time.

I absolutely would not recommend this devise to anybody now because of reliability issues.

Doug

What time frame did you buy the first and then get replacements. I'm wondering if these issues are more related to the first runs of the Cobalt. I see you have 2500-5000 dives. How many dives are you getting out of each service/replacement? Thanks.

 

[RonR]

Well, here I am doing my pre-trip checklist and pull the Cobalt off my regulator (used it one month ago for a class!). Push the button to turn on the display and start charging it fully for the Flower Garden Banks trip, and FOR THE SECOND TIME the stupid computer is totally DEAD. Will not take a charge, and given the last time this happened, it has to go back to the factory for a repair job. This makes the third time back . First one was a leaking housing that killed the display. Two battery no-charge issues now. Highly unreliable device, and the only thing good is that I got a key man deal as an instructor. A whole lot of good that did me !

Back to my old faithful Suunto Cobra that patiently waits for me all the time.

I absolutely would not recommend this devise to anybody now because of reliability issues.

Doug

Doug,


Do you recall what the charge state was when you stored it? Fully charged, a good battery should last in standby mode for nearly six months. If the charge is dropping much faster than 1-2% per day then I would suspect a failing battery.


Just as an off chance that what you are seeing might actually be a problem with the select button, try dipping the nose of the Cobalt in water, and see if it turns on.


You say it won't take a charge- how did you try to charge it? If the battery is completely depleted, it won't restart from a USB charging connection, it requires the wall charger to restart the firmware. Once it's been on USB, the wall charger won't restart it either, because the battery will no longer be dead- it requires a hard reset at that point, removing and reconnecting the battery. That's actually very easy- I will PM you with a link to instructions. But if you see the battery dropping power too rapidly, particularly if this has happened before with the same battery, I suspect that Atomic needs to send you a new battery.


Let me know a bit more, and when you trip is- I'm hoping we can get you back up in time.


Ron

---------- Post added July 26th, 2013 at 09:18 AM ----------

So there will come a time when my trusty Suunto Zoop will be relegated to the status of backup computer which leads me to finding a #1 computer......

A lot of problems were in fact related to early production- rare issues that don't turn up in testing, but do when you have thousands in the field. Atomic has been very good about aggressively tracking and fixing those problems- things like button magnet seals and battery door seals are greatly improved. Like Downing says, most people have had no problems, even with very early production, but the rate was unacceptably high. Atomic's service response when there are probelms is excellent.

The Cobalt is complex, much more than other dive computers. But problems with the actual electronics have been extremely rare, and there have been a very few, minor, issues with the firmware. Firmware updating software on PC's was actually responsible for a lot of our early stress- that's working much better now, but any time you start trying to do something with all the many flavors of Windows computers and versions out there, potential exists for conflicts and problems. The Mac updater seems very solid.


I don't know if you are Mac or Windows based, but I would strongly recommend third party dive log apps, like Diving Log 5 for Windows or MacDive or Dive Log Manager for Mac. They are cheap, directly download from the Cobalt with full factory support, and do far more than any dive computer manufacturer's "free" software. One of the differences with the Cobalt is that we work directly supporting these third party developers.


Diving Log 5.0 - scuba logbook software for diver - dive log, scuba log
Dive Log Manager
MacDive


As Downing said, I don't work for Atomic, but we are the original designers/ developers of the electronics and firmware for the Cobalt. I'd be happy to answer questions you might have.


Ron

 

[XS-NRG]

Thanks Ron,

Disregard my PM to you. I read that and responded first before reading this page. I do have Diving Log 5.0 already for my Zoop. It's fairly good and yes does more but it's buggy. I'm going to talk to the creator and let them know about some issues. I created my own log book pages custom to what I do (altitude and Nitrox). I found the PADI book just has no room to put all the info you need. The back page is completely blank and is a great spot for me to export each dive from my computer with the profile and direct computer info so it's why I was asking about a PDF export from the Cobalt. You'd think they would put a good deal of time and effort into dive software too but I digress.

 

[RonR]

I already replied, no problem. I understand the PDF question. I sent you a link. Sorry you have issues with Diving Log 5- I've mostly gotten good reports, but I'm only rarely a Windows user, so I have no direct experience.

For us, the desktop software has been a difficult problem. We're not desktop programmers, the knowledge set is very different from embedded systems development. And it's a big problem to keep us with all the changes in desktop systems. It's always seemed best (to us) to leave this job to those who do it as their main focus, and let a variety of suppliers compete- not everyone is going to want the same features, after all. So we have worked with libdivecomputer.org, an open source effort to make drivers for all dive computers freely available so anyone can write dive log software and communicate with the Cobalt. That's always seemed to us to be in the best interest of our customers.

You might also want to check the open source Subsurface to see if it fits what you want better. Subsurface | An open source divelog They use libdivecomputer, so handle the Cobalt directly. Some have highly recommended this program here for the Cobalt. It is supposedly the direct result of Linus Torvalds wanting better dive log software. At any rate, for the Cobalt, there are a variety of options, and more will be coming as time passes.

Ron

 

[XS-NRG]

You might also want to check the open source Subsurface to see if it fits what you want better. Subsurface | An open source divelog They use libdivecomputer, so handle the Cobalt directly. Some have highly recommended this program here for the Cobalt. It is supposedly the direct result of Linus Torvalds wanting better dive log software. At any rate, for the Cobalt, there are a variety of options, and more will be coming as time passes.

Ron

I'm surprised to see the PDF as plain as it is. The Suunto DM4 actually is quite nice comparatively. I have sub surface as well. Not really looked at it a whole lot. It's not that the report on Diving Log 5 is bad from me just a few weird issues. I really like how it syncs to my iPhone companion app. It was so much easier to import my Suunto DM4 log into DL5 then sync to my phone rather than try to type it all into my phone, plus I have the profile view too now.

I'm hearing from my LDS that there are rumors regarding a wrist mount Cobalt. Do you know anything about this that you are allowed to talk about?

 

[antattack]

I have a Suunto Cobra and a Cobalt. Both have been trouble free. I got the Cobalt when it first came out and have over a hundred dives on it. The battery charge lasts a long time, the interface is easy to read, the compass tracks fast enough pretty much anything I do. It's a good piece of equipment.

Just about any piece of innovative, complex gear will eventually have problems, so it's good to buy from a company that is dedicated to resolving issues and supporting customers.