Most readable displays for 40+ divers; How to shop online?

[freedc]

I'm reading posts here about selecting a dive computer that's visible to those of us who need reading glasses. (One of my first dives after turning 40 I kept wondering why I was always in the thermocline :blinking

I appreciate the threads and reviews, but is there a good way to tell when you're shopping online how large the screens are? I find the photos totally unhelpful. I would go into an LDS and pay a little premium, but most LDS have a limited supply of brands and types.

Can anyone help with a good shopping strategy? Are there specifications you can look up that relate to readability? Do manufacturers post the height of numbers/characters? Is it contrast or lighting? I should mention I'd like to wear my computer on my wrist. Do I just look for something that appears huge?

I have a Manta (equivalent to a Geo) now and I can't really tell 3's from 8's and so on, which seems a bit dangerous.

By the way, I tried putting those things in my mask to magnify like reading glasses and it was horrible. They would fall out, they would disorient me, messing up my regular non-closeup vision, and they didn't seem to solve the gauge reading problem.

Thanks.

 

[diversteve]

Home - Blue Planet Scuba is a Suunto dealer. I'm older than you are and need glasses to type this yet I can read my Gekko just fine. The newer version of the Gekko is the Zoop, they also sell a Vyper wrist mount. Both are a larger form factor.

IMO the Helo tries to cram too much info into the same space so it loses some readability. Their "D" series is wristwatch sized so probably not as readable either. Aqualung sets the price so it's the same everywhere.

I don't think you'll find much better in readable displays unless you want to pay $950 for a Shearwater Petrel. http://www.shearwater.com/products/petrel-sa/

The problem with a wrist computer is that many mfr's equate that with watch sized so they're smaller. And so are the display sizes.

Suunto has a new wrist model out soon also that may even be more readable. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/suunto/491712-sneak-peak-new-suunto-dive-computer.html

 

[doctormike]

Shearwater Petrel. I love this computer (I'm 52, and having the same problems that you are having). It's amazing, SO well designed, more powerful than anything you will ever need no matter how far you go in diving, with the best customer service in the business. Twice now I have emailed them with a question, and gotten a response within 30 minutes on a sunday night!

But forget about all that. This thing, powered by a user replaceable AA battery, lights up like a Christmas tree. Most readable display that I have ever seen. Even if you never go further than a 40 foot reef on single tank, it's still an awesome computer.

It is a bit pricey ($850), but not at the far end of the range. If you can afford it, you will not regret it (unless you absolutely have to have wireless AI or a compass).

 

[C Dub]

I'm 51, and I second the Petrel. So clear and easy to read, and has automatic brightness adjustment. Highly recommended.

 

[Andyoak]

+1 for Shearwater petrel

 

[TONY CHANEY]

Just a question from someone who has gone to store reading glasses due to my arm not being long enough. Why no try this instead: RX Prescription Corrective Scuba Dive Snorkeling Mask | eBay I am currently using the Fusion Guage reader mask from XScuba: XS Scuba MA280 Gauge Reader Scuba Mask which worked so well for me I got another one for my backup mask. Next time I will order the RX Prescription corrective mask. Cheaper and you can order color as well as strength. For $50.00 you can buy about 17 of them before it equals the price of a computer.

 

[dmoore19]

I have a Datamask. I am 60+ and I have never had trouble reading it.

 

[fnfalman]

If you're not limiting yourself to the wrist computer, then it's hard to beat the Sherwood Wisdom series for big display. No color though.

 

[Steve_C]

I have a prescription mask with bifocal lens for distance and reading close up gauges. My computers are a zoop and an old aeris. Can read both fine.

 

[MasterChief D]

I use +1.50 reading glasses but dive without correction lenses. I have a HW OSTC and have no issues reading the smallest fonts on the display. By comparison, I can only read my Suunto D6 really shallow in good lighting/contrast conditions.

A couple of friends with similar vision problems are using gauge reader masks (acquired online from Dive Gear Express - https://www.divegearexpress.com/essentials/visionmasks.shtml) and are able to read Suunto D4s/D6s as well as tiny scribbles on slates.