Newbie help for gear!

[scubatoys]

.. the service from the LDS, is that brand exclusive? In other words, if they dont sell Tusa, or Oceanic or whatever Reg setup I have, does that mean the chances are slimmer that they would be able to service it?

To a large degree yes. It's not that they wouldn't know how to service something they don't carry... really all the stuff is about the same. It's just a parts availability issue. If you are not a dealer for a particular brand, you may not have access to the seats, etc that go in it. We have a lot of people ship us reg for service, and there are other places out there as well that are factory authorized repair centers for most brands.

 

[Monkey Knife-fight]

Even if you are getting an air-integrated computer i would go with an analog guage as backup. I don't have an AI computer so i still use my gauges for air but regardless i like having something that is pretty fail-safe around. After buying my regs, BC, fins, computer, camera and housing etc...i can't even remember how much my gauges cost Just look for something small, used, and cheap.