Life cycle of a dive computer?

[clownfishsydney]

A good computer should last almost forever. I still have a couple of early 1990 Uwatec Aladin Pro/Sport computers. Still work perfectly well, only trouble small screens and not downloadable, as well as no nitrox capability. Later Uwatecs (Air-X and Air-Z) were not very reliable. They were also very expensive to have battery replaced. You do not see many around now.

I only bought a new computer last year (first since 1994) because I did not want to pay a fortune to get a new battery in a Uwatec. I agree Shearwaters are great (my wife has a Predator) but I purchased a Heinrichs Weikamp OSTC 2N and so far I can see this lasting till I finish diving in 20 or so years.

 

[Freewillow]

Like you, my aladin pro is still functionning, but does not do Nitrox, nor multi gas. So switched to OSTC Sport. A great computor for those planning deco dives.

 

[diver 85]

lol on " latest and greatest?.".My almost 8 YO Veo 180 is going strong.......Replaced so far about 5 batteries---?800 dives?---& looking to replace when it 'hits the deck' & 'crashes & burns'......

 

[Centrals]

Still using the two Uwatec Aladin Pro and Pro nitrox first bought in 1996/97. Learnt how to replace the battery on line. The liquid paraffin and the battery(3.6V) cost peanut.

 

[KeithG]

Still using the two Uwatec Aladin Pro and Pro nitrox first bought in 1996/97. Learnt how to replace the battery on line. The liquid paraffin and the battery(3.6V) cost peanut.

Due to an apparently untreatable ebay affliction, I now have a box full of Aladins. 2 are original purchases, 5 or 6 other strays cover 4 different models (the originals did not do voodoo gas).

So we are talking 20 years old for the oldest models. About 10 years for the newest. All are working great.

One of them I regularly abuse as a depth gauge in my pressure chamber for testing out camera housing mods. It reads SOS most of the time.

Swapping batteries is really messy. But cheap. As an added bonus, I can download them to my PalmPilot.

P.S. I even have a ScubaPro "bendomatic". I do not think they ever worked. Not sure that I am willing to get it wet. But it looks real manly & retro.

 

[Zeagle Eagle]

My US Divers Monitor II circa 1990 something is still going strong. I just had the battery replaced. It works great.

 

[0002s]

The only things needed on a dive computer are:

1. It works when wet
2. You can read it in light and dark conditions
3. It has the ability to run the deco math for the gases you dive

The life cycle of a dive computer is when the above either quit working or your diving progresses past your current computer's #3.

After that everything else is upgrading for new feature(s) that you want.

 

[mjrob]

My US Divers Monitor II circa 1990 something is still going strong. I just had the battery replaced. It works great.

Hmmmmm. That profile pic of yours looks more like a Cobalt than a US Divers model.

---------- Post added November 29th, 2014 at 10:41 AM ----------

From the You Can't Have Too Many Computers department:

Sent my Oceanic OC1 (which I really like) back to the factory for a weird software issue and two weeks wasn't long enough to get it back (I leave for a trip on Monday). No big deal, I'll just switch transmitters and take my Suunto D6i instead...but I failed to keep an eye on the batteries and it needs new ones which, with that computer, means a trip back to the "authorized battery-switcher" place. Ugh. Out of luck there, too.

Looks like I'm stuck with just my trusty ol' Cobalt--which I really, really like. Somehow I'll get by...

Mark

 

[DiveNav]

.......I'd like to see the computer log GPS coordinates at the start & end of a dive....

We have been doing this for more than 2 years......

 

[RonR]

The predator is a great device. I considered it myself, but I wanted air integration which it does not offer. It's really a pity, since the predator already has a bluetooth radio, they could simply sell a bluetooth transmitter and produce a firmware upgrade. If they did that, it wouldn't have any flaws that I can come up with.

Unfortunately bluetooth, like other high frequency/ low power RF, won't transmit more than a fraction of an inch through seawater. Shearwater- a great computer- has a strong following among divers who want simplicity.
Expect more AI computers to become available, with more features, in the next year or two. The diving market is incredibly tiny, and necessarily follows on the component coattails of the larger electronics industry- pretty far back. AMOLED displays, for instance, disappeared from all dive computers a couple of years ago because the only supplier that would sell to small volume users quit manufacturing. And passive OLED's don't have the size, resolution, or the lifespan of modern TFT displays. The electronics industry os geared to massive volume, and that is one thing diving does not have.

Ron