National Geographic Dive Master Watch

[b1gcountry]

It is depth rated to 200m, and has a depth guage. I'm trying to find out what the catch is...
Egana NG705GWSK National Geographic Men's' Pioneer Series DiveMaster Strap Watch - NG705GWSK-R - Buy.com

Anyone know anything about this?

Tom

 

[Thalassamania]

It is available from several "blow out" web sites usually for about $100. I suspect that what your seeing is left over stock from yet another of the "National Geographic" branded items that are designed to be sold at bizarrely inflated premium prices.

 

[b1gcountry]

Have you had any experience with it? Know how well it works?

Will it flood first time you take it out and press a button? Is the display impossibly small to read, etc? Is the stopwatch useful for calling deco?

Tom

 

[Thalassamania]

Looks to me like your rather standard 200m digital with a Nat'l Geo case slapped on, I'm sure it keeps better time than my Rolex.

 

[TheMadDane]

Yeah but what about these functions?

Dive meter
Water depth gauge
Water temperature gauge
Elapsed dive timer
Auto alarms
Dive log (10)

Very interesting, and only $60.

 

[Sam308]

I think one of us needs to buy it and report back. It sure looks like a deal for $60.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Go for it. 60 bucks will get me a nice trimix fill.
Just looked at it. having spent time choosing my pulsar diver200 and citizen 300 meter professional diver I learned a number of things.
1. 200 is the minimum for a divers watch with most manufacturers.
2. it can say 200 and NOT be recommended for scuba
3. Water resistant is not the same as waterproof (see #2)
4. WHile it may in fact last a good number of dives it could also crap out on number one of you push the buttons at the wrong time or too many times
5. I would not trust it as a primary or even back up unless it specifically says diver rated waterproof to 200 meters (or more)

 

[WetEar]

Before you buy this watch, make sure you read this hilarious "review":

Woot : National Geographic Men?s Pioneer Series DiveMaster Strap Watch

Apparently it's just as useful above the water, as under it!

 

[scubasully]

That review was hysterical. Thanks for posting!

 

[Benutzer]

I bought one on 4/24/09. Was delivered yesterday 4/27/09. Although I saw a few reviews where people stated that it arrived in obviously used or non-functional condition, mine appears just fine and seems to work great (at least on land). The quality appears to be nicer than I expected, buttons and bezel move nicely, display is pretty easy to read. If you'd like to see the manual for it, there's one available online (I can't seem to post the link, but you can [GOOGLE]NG705seriesMANUAL[/GOOGLE]).

Selected Features:
Switches to dive mode automatically at about 5'.
Displays current and max depth, current water temp, elapsed dive time.
Status indicator flashes if descending faster than 10m/minute.
Beeps if ascending faster than 6m/minute.
Has an auto-backlight function that can be toggled on/off.
Logs 10 dives, storing date & time started, elapsed time, max depth, lowest temp.
After 10 minutes of surface time, logs dive, or if re-enter in under 10 mins, counts as same dive.
Selectable for meters or feet, Celsius or Fahrenheit, sea or lake.
Can erase dive logs.
Also has a stopwatch and 3 separate countdown timer functions.

So far, I'm considering it to be $60 well spent and will happily wear it on my wrist as a backup to the computer.