looking at getting a new computer

[Joneill]

I would prefer the button placement of the iX3M. I know 2 people personally, IRL, and 1 on this board, who have all had gas switches happen on the Perdix/Petrel without them even knowing it, due to inadvertent button presses. I can't see that happening with the front-mounted buttons on the iX3M.

Also, it's always awkward for me to push the button that is towards my elbow on a Petrel/Perdix. And, with gloves on, I can't feel the Petrel/Perdix buttons, so I have often had to actually look to get my finger on the button I'm trying to press.

Fair enough - from an ergonomic POV, I can see that it might be a more "natural" hand position to reach/press the buttons if they moved them to the front edge like the Ratio. As I use it in Rec Nitrox mode, I don't really need to press the buttons very often so it has not been an issue I've noted personally.

However, after looking at the Ratio menu system in their manual, I still like the 2 button interface and screen prompts better - it's seems more intuitive to me and eliminates the need to memorize which button does what and when?

 

[stuartv]

Fair enough - from an ergonomic POV, I can see that it might be a more "natural" hand position to reach/press the buttons if they moved them to the front edge like the Ratio. As I use it in Rec Nitrox mode, I don't really need to press the buttons very often so it has not been an issue I've noted personally.

However, after looking at the Ratio menu system in their manual, I still like the 2 button interface and screen prompts better - it's seems more intuitive to me and eliminates the need to memorize which button does what and when?

Yeah, I have not actually used a Ratio, so I don't know about how well their menu system works in practice. I just would prefer front-mounted buttons, versus side-mounted. I also would like the Petrel/Perdix even better if it had at least one more button, to do a Back/Esc function, instead of always forcing you to cycle all the way through every menu or submenu that you go into. Or, if it recognized a long-press differently than a short-press/tap - like my SeaBear H3 does. That would also give 4 different semantic actions with only 2 buttons (vs only having 2 actions, as the Petrel/Perdix does now). Really, though I think 4 buttons is ideal. Then they work as Down/Next, Up/Previous, Right/Enter, and Left/Back/Esc. With the right menu design, it would be pretty intuitive - and faster than a UI that relied on long-presses for some things.

 

[tbone1004]

the shearwater UI is basically left button=scroll, right button =select. Yes it's a bit annoying during setup to have to scroll all the way through the menu's, but you don't really do that all that often. I have heard of the auto-gas switches, but there are ways to prevent that from happening, and it's actually quite a few button presses to change gases unless you are at a depth where the computer thinks there is a better gas available. You can also turn off the quick gas change function

 

[victorzamora]

Having dove the iX3M a few times, I can maybe shed some light:

• The size is notably larger than the Petrel, and I'm a big guy who's not sensitive to size.
• The buttons weren't as ergonomic as on the Petrel for me.
• I've never had an inadvertent button press on the Petrel but got several on the iX3M. They're larger buttons that are more exposed, and I had issues with buttons being pressed (during what I'm assuming was bottle handling but am unsure).
• The vibration alarm is cool but overall not a major selling point. It never notified me of anything I didn't already know (or expect shortly).
• The menu structure is not as clean as the Shearwater computers, but is usable.

OP: If you're at 50m now and looking to continue progressing, there's absolutely no reason to purchase outside of the Shearwater family. I recently purchased a Divesoft Freedom and it's been okay, but inferior to the SW I kinda wish I would've gotten.