Mares Icon HD...is it worth the money ? and trouble

[decimal86]

folks

iam thinking of buying the above. i have not used a tank pressure transmitter before.

is it worth the trouble? as in pairing the two ?

and the money ?

and i read there is no way to switch off the thing ?

thks

 

[egovenatus]

My wife uses one. It's not a bad computer, but it can be a pain in the ass sometimes to get paired, it's more expensive than you need, there is no way to switch off the transmitter, and the battery in the computer itself only lasts about 4-6 dives before it needs to be recharged.

That said, unless you really want the air integration and are looking at spending that kind of money....I would buy a Shearwater Petrel...I have two, will be buying another to replace the wife's Icon HD, and I love them.

It IS a great air integration computer when it works right and they did just come out with a new set of firmware. It can compute SAC on the fly, Time till empty and so on in a very nice easy to read, graphical representation of the tank you are breathing and can do so for up to three tanks with different gases at a time (have to switch between each gas of course).

I can give you a complete list of likes and dislikes if you wish, but in short, had one in the family for many years, buy something else.

Finally, if you REALLY want an ICON HD and transmitter....sell you one for cheap. (no joke. getting rid of ours)

 

[Nirvana]

I completely agree with egovenatus. I found the pairing process a major pain. It would connect instantly sometimes, sometimes it would take a long time and sometimes it did not connect at all.

As for the battery, the computer uses a proprietary connector between the computer and the cable. The connector must be perfectly aligned to work, and in my experience took lots of trying every time to find the right spot where it would charge the computer.

The computer itself, however, is very fine. It is easy to configure and to navigate through its menus.

All in all, I was happy when I changed for a Petrel, which has none of the Icon HD's issues.

 

[egovenatus]

Agreed, the computer itself is not bad...it can be a little naggy, but you can turn those alarms off. If you want to spend that kind of money the Petrel is the way to go.

 

[Kharon]

I disagree with all the negative posts about the Icon. They are talking about the (very) old version. The new Icon 4.0/4.1 has none of those problems and is a dream machine. Fantastic display and all the data/information you could possibly want - much in both iconic and numeric formats. Can't say enough good about the new version. That said, I wouldn't buy used because the old version did have problems.

 

[Omisson]

The icon is a good computer- easy to read displays, great functionality. It does many calculations that make it easy to use and easy to dive plan with.

But it is far from perfect. The paring issues persist even with upgraded software. The battery charging system isn't ideal.

For Tec divers the largest issue is that It locks out with a deco violation requiring a hard reset if you wish to dive Less than 24 hrs after the deco violation (not following its schedule)- losing the tissue storing info. Major issue there. It also uses a less then optimum deco formula imho.

The company has promised a Trimix algorithm for three years- still nothing.

 

[rwkosh]

I'll add one thing. The transmitter does turn off when you depressurize it. If you don't want to waste the battery, just turn off the valve at the end of your dive and bleed off the gas by pushing the purge button on the regulator.

 

[decimal86]

boy am i glad i asked you guys. looks like pairing IS an issue. i be looking to buy something else in that case.

 

[hupe]

I recently bought the suunto eon steel. I am very happy with it. I have had a aeris a300cs before, but that was a really bad computer (display hard to read at safety stop, connection loss multiple times), so I decided to buy the eon. Pairing is very easy. no connection loss so far... And it is a very easy to use computer. I think there already a thread about that computer...

 

[griffon]

I just switched from a Lynx, and the battery life seems great in compassion. Just start day above 70% and things are fine. Transmitter will shut its self off (the Lynx did not). And half dozen dives have made no dent in the transmitter battery.
I like the huge add screen with my sucky eyes. I think actually like the 3x firmware more then the 4x. I don't need a giant tank icon taking half the screen.. And under 4x I haven't noted deep stops working. The night mode is nice though.
So far no pairing issues or other problems for me. Will see how I feel after a liva board and 50 dives.

Connection is little finicky (hate the design) but works mostly.


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