My Detailed Initial In-Water Impressions of Garmin Mk3i

[ChrisMBC]

Question: has your mk2i battery life degraded substantially over time? I have an mk2i and I only charge it to ~80% because I read on the internet that charging it all the way to 100% on a regular basis will wear out the battery prematurely. Years later my battery is like new, but of course I have no idea whether that's because I don't charge it beyond 80%, or whether it would have done just as well even if I was regularly charging it to 100%. As someone who charges to 100%, what have you observed?

I’ve been daily wearing my Mk2i and diving it regularly pretty much since it came out; the battery is a little degraded, but I’m still charging maybe twice per week. That’s with daily wear, 4-5 GPS activities (running, MTB), and probably 2 dives per week.

 

[tonsofquestions]

The biggest difference between the T1 and T2 is the ability to use the diver-to-diver messaging system, which I don’t see as being a useful feature, but maybe someone will prove me wrong.

You can also connect more T2 transmitters to one computer (8 max vs. 5 with the T1). Again, probably fairly useless except for the one or two instructors in this world who will actually buy 8 of these things. (See here for details: Garmin Dive Computer and SubWave Network Air Integration Transmitter Compatibility | Garmin Customer Support)

I will not be buying a T2. In fact, I may buy another T1 as I’m already seeing their prices drop. As I said in the review, the Mk2i/T1 combination worked flawlessly for me over 90 dives, so I’m not exactly aching to upgrade the transmitter.

Thank you for this! In all my research on the Descents to date, I had not seen this compatability chart mentioned anywhere else. I'd assumed you needed to have the specific transmitter for each watch, and knowing that they're cross-compatible is fantastic.
Though I agree that not having it be MH8A compatible is a pity.