Considerations before you buy:
1. How often will I really be diving?
2. Does my dive frequency justify purchase and maintence (annual as in every 12 months service) cost? (Purchas price/$40 X Number of days per year you intend to dive = Number of days of diving it will take to "pay for the gear Vs renting it"
3. How certain am I that I will not grow tired of diving an quit in just a few months (hey it happens!)
4. When buying, remember, it is only your life we are taling about so buy qualify (not necissarily the most expensive but quality).
Why did I buy Datamax? Well I bought it because it has a nice large eaisly readable numbers and screen and is Air Intergrated. I was 48 at the time. That was before I knew that Datamax is a VERY liberal dive comuter. Obviously with age this is the opposite of what I needed. But I did not discover that tid bit at the time of purchase. In fact I never thought about some computers being liberal and some conservative. Later, after suffering an undeserved DCI (bent) (and yes, I never violated the computer on that dive, sometimes stuff just happens - 1043 ft in 14 minutes surface to surface with a safe accent and stops at 80, 60, 40 and 20 ft) I switched to SUUNTO Cobra which is also Air Intergrated and conservative. You can even make it more conservative (mine is set on super chicken).
Bottom line is you can get all you gear new by shopping the LDS sale in June for about $1000-1200. Spend money on the computer to get the one you want now and check the type of computations it is based on RBGM Vs the others computation meathods (you decide for you which is best). Some will impose mandatory safety stops and some will not. Some will allow you to program in deep safety stops, others will not.
Personally I love the SUUNTO Cobra and spring for the computer interface, it will help you critique your dive and improve.
Now about Wrist Mount Vs Consol Mount - Consol mount - get a retractable cord to keep it out of the sand. This is what I use and am quite happy with it. Writst - Mount - advantage, it stays on your arm and does not get ditched with the equipment in an emergency rescue. Disadvantage - I was in the dive shop when a diver returned with a writs mounted dive computer he had found while diving - it had only a few dives in its memory and about 1 hr and 45 minuted dive time on the dive he found it on. So they can fall off your arm like a watch and not be noticed right away by the diver.
But above all remember two things -
1. It is ONLY your LIFE we are talking about here, so buy quality. 2. You don't have to buy it all in one day. Renting is fairly cheap. When you travel due to space conciderations you will probably only take your regulator and computer, mask and maybe fins anyway.
I also recommend considering waiting a while before you buy. Having your own equipment is definatly best and safer. But many new Divers quickly decide diving is not their cup of tea, or kids come along, what ever, bottom line is there are a lot of divers out there who only have a few post certification dives and havn't dove in years. My daughter spent $400 on a custom wet suit and has used it 2 x since her certificatin two years ago.
What I am trying to say is my LDS rents everything including the air for $40.00 [Long Beach] (Monterey area is about $65) per day (day is pick up Friday, return Sunday)- how many dives do you need to pay for your gear at $40.00 per day? I DO NOT RECOMMEND buying USED equipment either but that is my personal choice.
The math: I bought all my gear, a custom wetsuit (Aquaflit - I love it) and 2 tanks including a computer for $1,200 new at my LDS. $1,200/$40 per day rental = 30 days of diving to pay for the equipment. I have gone diving 58 days in the past 2 years (for a total of 74 dives) so for me it was good to buy. Or to put it another way, my gear has paid for itself because I shore dive a lot ( an boat when I can) and try to go every week. I should also point out that to be realistic, you hve to add the cost of air to the purchase price as the rental includes the air - so for me it took 34 days of diving to pay for the dive equipment and the air vs renting.
By the way, Monterey in early July will often be about 54 or less and in winter colder.;-0
1. How often will I really be diving?
2. Does my dive frequency justify purchase and maintence (annual as in every 12 months service) cost? (Purchas price/$40 X Number of days per year you intend to dive = Number of days of diving it will take to "pay for the gear Vs renting it"
3. How certain am I that I will not grow tired of diving an quit in just a few months (hey it happens!)
4. When buying, remember, it is only your life we are taling about so buy qualify (not necissarily the most expensive but quality).
When I was buying my euipment on a budget, I purchased a Datamax. I did not get the Plus 2. I wanted the download capability and then talked myself out of it as a luxury and not a need. I was wrong, it is a need, get the downloadable.
Why did I buy Datamax? Well I bought it because it has a nice large eaisly readable numbers and screen and is Air Intergrated. I was 48 at the time. That was before I knew that Datamax is a VERY liberal dive comuter. Obviously with age this is the opposite of what I needed. But I did not discover that tid bit at the time of purchase. In fact I never thought about some computers being liberal and some conservative. Later, after suffering an undeserved DCI (bent) (and yes, I never violated the computer on that dive, sometimes stuff just happens - 1043 ft in 14 minutes surface to surface with a safe accent and stops at 80, 60, 40 and 20 ft) I switched to SUUNTO Cobra which is also Air Intergrated and conservative. You can even make it more conservative (mine is set on super chicken).
Bottom line is you can get all you gear new by shopping the LDS sale in June for about $1000-1200. Spend money on the computer to get the one you want now and check the type of computations it is based on RBGM Vs the others computation meathods (you decide for you which is best). Some will impose mandatory safety stops and some will not. Some will allow you to program in deep safety stops, others will not.
Personally I love the SUUNTO Cobra and spring for the computer interface, it will help you critique your dive and improve.
Now about Wrist Mount Vs Consol Mount - Consol mount - get a retractable cord to keep it out of the sand. This is what I use and am quite happy with it. Writst - Mount - advantage, it stays on your arm and does not get ditched with the equipment in an emergency rescue. Disadvantage - I was in the dive shop when a diver returned with a writs mounted dive computer he had found while diving - it had only a few dives in its memory and about 1 hr and 45 minuted dive time on the dive he found it on. So they can fall off your arm like a watch and not be noticed right away by the diver.
But above all remember two things -
1. It is ONLY your LIFE we are talking about here, so buy quality. 2. You don't have to buy it all in one day. Renting is fairly cheap. When you travel due to space conciderations you will probably only take your regulator and computer, mask and maybe fins anyway.
I also recommend considering waiting a while before you buy. Having your own equipment is definatly best and safer. But many new Divers quickly decide diving is not their cup of tea, or kids come along, what ever, bottom line is there are a lot of divers out there who only have a few post certification dives and havn't dove in years. My daughter spent $400 on a custom wet suit and has used it 2 x since her certificatin two years ago.
What I am trying to say is my LDS rents everything including the air for $40.00 [Long Beach] (Monterey area is about $65) per day (day is pick up Friday, return Sunday)- how many dives do you need to pay for your gear at $40.00 per day? I DO NOT RECOMMEND buying USED equipment either but that is my personal choice.
The math: I bought all my gear, a custom wetsuit (Aquaflit - I love it) and 2 tanks including a computer for $1,200 new at my LDS. $1,200/$40 per day rental = 30 days of diving to pay for the equipment. I have gone diving 58 days in the past 2 years (for a total of 74 dives) so for me it was good to buy. Or to put it another way, my gear has paid for itself because I shore dive a lot ( an boat when I can) and try to go every week. I should also point out that to be realistic, you hve to add the cost of air to the purchase price as the rental includes the air - so for me it took 34 days of diving to pay for the dive equipment and the air vs renting.
By the way, Monterey in early July will often be about 54 or less and in winter colder.;-0
