No difference between Suunto Mosquito or Stinger?

[JeffMandell]

I've been thinking about getting a new computer and today found myself at a sports emporium with a dive shop. They had both Suunto Mosquito and Stinger in stock. BUT... aside from physical appearance (drastically different) I couldn't find any feature or function that the Mosquito didn't have or do. The dep't manager and I then got out the Suunto catalog, which lists features of the two side by side and other than the Stinger working to 492 feet vs. 300 for the Mosquito (personally not that useful), they were identical, except that the Stinger also comes with software and cable to download its data to a computer (and it comes in a ridiculously elaborate box).
The price difference is huge; the Stinger costs more than twice the price of the Mosquito. Can anyone explain why, other than asthetics and the computer line, it makes sense to buy the very popular Stinger?

 

[DeepSeaFox]

I personally found the same thing and my wife and I both have the Mosquito.

The Mosquito also makes a great watch just to wear on holidays, its tough, not too large and doesnt attract unwanted attention in local markets etc.

Also when diving Nitrox or Deco we have had situations (a few times) when other divers with supposedly better computers have got lock out for no apparant reason and diving almost the same profile with the Mosquito we have both had no problem.

Only (small) complaint I have is it not so easy to read on night dives.

 

[MonkSeal]

You can find few threads on this board with similar subject. Basic difference is that Mosquito has three modes (Air, Nitrox and Free) and Stinger has four modes (Air, Nitrox, Free an Gauge). If you don't plan to use your computer as depth gauge and bottom timer only than Gauge mode doesn't mean anything to you.

Edit: And one more thing: You can easily replace Mosquito battery by yourself unlike the Stinger (you'll have to pay $$$ for battery replacement).

 

[Inkypoo]

JeffMandell once bubbled...
I've been thinking about getting a new computer and today found myself at a sports emporium with a dive shop. They had both Suunto Mosquito and Stinger in stock. BUT... aside from physical appearance (drastically different) I couldn't find any feature or function that the Mosquito didn't have or do. The dep't manager and I then got out the Suunto catalog, which lists features of the two side by side and other than the Stinger working to 492 feet vs. 300 for the Mosquito (personally not that useful), they were identical, except that the Stinger also comes with software and cable to download its data to a computer (and it comes in a ridiculously elaborate box).
The price difference is huge; the Stinger costs more than twice the price of the Mosquito. Can anyone explain why, other than asthetics and the computer line, it makes sense to buy the very popular Stinger?

I've heard from many other people in the scuba community that build quality of the Mosquito is very bad. They all swear by their Stingers and insist it's not worth saving the $$$. Of coz' unfortunately this cannot be substantiated in any way.

Personally my Mosquito bought in late 2002 crapped out within 6 months. It started to dive whilst I was kayaking.
Waited some 7 weeks but got a brand new 2003 model replacement from Suunto.

It's working great so far but very few Suunto users I've met are impressed with the Mosquito. I like it though coz' of the several hundred bucks savings amongst other things...thus I'm still hopeful about this comp.

Hope it heps in your decision making!

 

[jiveturkey]

I opted for the stinger when 2 different dive shop sales people said they have an unusually large proportion of mosquitos that come back due to defects. I haven't had any problems with my stinger *fingers crossed*.

 

[DrAtomic]

Hi guys,

First of all a big wave to all!

I basically have the same question as Jeff, but being a good newby I searched the forum first before starting a new thread...

So far in my quest for the difference between these two besides looks and price I came up with the following differences:

Stinger (has over Mosquito)
- Gauge *
- extended decompression range (ceiling, floor) **
- depth display range up to 150 meters (nice for whales, sharks and other underwater life but me).
- Adjustable sampling rate of 2, 4, 10, 20, 30, 60 seconds. ***

Mosquito (surprisingly has over Stinger)
- User replaceable battery
- Display shield ****


* The Suunto flyer says for the Stinger, quote: 4 operating modes (Air, Nitrox, Free/Gauge, Watch) endquote and for the Mosquito it says, quote: 4 operating modes (Air, Nitrox, Free, Watch) endquote. For me that's the same but then again I may not understand the word Gauge...
** Again not sure what this feature does, does this mean the mosquito doesn't have the safety stop feature?
*** Both Stinger and Mosquito default to 20s, the stinger can be adjusted through the PC interface. This default sampling rate surprises me, because my 5 year old Citizen Auqaland Pro even has a sampling rate of 5 seconds by default (only 6 hours worth of data storage though). What happens if you bring down the sampling rate of the stinger to say 2 seconds, will that bring down the 36 hours of storage space to 3,6 hours?
**** I thought I'd seen this for the Stinger as well?

I still don't have the feeling that I've found what the big price difference justifies, has anyone?

I have a very strong feeling that the Mosquito is exactly the same hardware but tweaked down a bit and put in a cheaper casing.

Has anyone found the Stinger (new) below EUR432,-? And the interface below EUR92,-?

Appreciate your kind input!

Cheers,
DrAtomic

 

[MonkSeal]

DrAtomic once bubbled...
Hi guys,
Stinger (has over Mosquito)
- Gauge *
- extended decompression range (ceiling, floor) **
- Adjustable sampling rate of 2, 4, 10, 20, 30, 60 seconds. ***

* Yes. Mosquito has only Free mode, Stinger has both.
** Mosquito has the same.
*** Yes, but this is only for storing the profile. For calculation purposes during the dive both Mosquito and Stinger use the same sampling rate and the same algorithm. That means you'll have the same readings with Mosquito and Stinger during the dive but you'll see differences when you download the profile to your PC if Stinger is set to higher sampling rate. If you bring up sampling rate to 2s (not bring down - less number means higher sampling rate because the meaning is "1 sample per 2 s" or "1 sample per 20 s" which obviously gives higher rate for smaller number), you'll have less space for storing the dives. However, 36 hours of storage seams pretty much for storing dives between two downloads. On the other hand I don't find 2 s sampling rate very usefull for scuba dive - it's OK for free dive.

I still don't have the feeling that I've found what the big price difference justifies, has anyone?

Fancy casing, better parts (butons, depth gauge), stronger testing.

I have a very strong feeling that the Mosquito is exactly the same hardware but tweaked down a bit and put in a cheaper casing.

Probably inside.

Has anyone found the Stinger (new) below EUR432,-? And the interface below EUR92,-?

That's the price you can get at LeisurePro. During November and December you can get lower prices in LDSs in Italy but they rarely have on-line selling.

MonkSeal

 

[segal3]

Inkypoo once bubbled...
It's working great so far but very few Suunto users I've met are impressed with the Mosquito. I like it though coz' of the several hundred bucks savings amongst other things...thus I'm still hopeful about this comp.

I've had mine for over 1.5yrs now and it's worked perfectly on every dive I've taken. AFAIK, all the diving crew of Ed Robinson's Dive Adventures (in Maui, Hawaii) receive Mosquitos as part of their job. Sure, they all have other computers (their own personal ones), but they all seemed to love the design.

~Matt Segal

 

[Bloop]

The Stinger comes in Stainless Steel or Titanium...

You must have been talking about the Stainless Steel model with the rubber strap.

The price difference is that the Stinger looks better than the Mosquito. AND also, you can change the rubber strap on the Stinger to a steel or titanium bracelet to make it look even better!!


A price to pay for fashion and design modularity?

 

[leadweight]

Cost of new battery for Mosquito: $2
Cost of new battery for Stinger: $120, ouch!