OCEANIC vs SUUNTO and interfaces

[Antonio Boga]

I am thinking about buying an Oceanic Veo 250 or a Suunto Vyper. I was almost decided for the Oceanic, except that I am in Spain, and the customer service here is almost unexistent. But I prefer the Oceanic because (I've been told) is less conservative than the Vyper, and is also more personalizable.

Apart from this, is the interface of each computer. I read some threads back that the Oceanic is worth nothing, but I've read in other thread that also Suunto's interface is not really magnificent.

What are your opinions about Oceanic Veo and Suunot Vyper and their respective interfaces?

 

[String]

The vyper IS conservative but does have personal and altitude adjustment modes.
Its not cripplingly conservative by any means though.

As for the interface, although it has some flaws the Suunto Dive Manage is fine for dive log software and you can build the interface yourself for about £4.

 

[DeepTechScuba]

You would never, ever guess that an out-of-the-way country like Finland would come up with such a marvelous device like the Suunto Vyper diving computer. Who are these Finns anyway? And what is up with them, that they somehow jumped into first place with the best diving computer in the world?

I love my Suunto Vyper!

Oceanic gear, whatever it may be, is really great gear for scuba rental departments. Its cheap, its reliable, its simple, and it works well. But it is not made for diving deeper than about 35 ft.

Oceanic is like the K Mart of scuba diving. Almost everyone can afford an Oceanic product. Their strength is at the economy end of the gear spectrum.

 

[DIR]

Keep in mind that Oceanic does not make a single computer that they sale. Aeries makes all of them for Oceanic, Sherwood, U.S. Divers, Genesis, etc. etc. Suunto does in fact make there own and are very good at it. As well as there warranties. If for some reason Oceanic dumps Aeries as their manufacturer and you need your Oceanic computer repaired you would be SCREWED. I've seen it happen with Oceanic before at my shop. Go with Aeries or Suunto since they are both the manufactures for about everyone.

 

[iscuba]

I thought that Pelagic made the computers for Aeris, Oceanic and Sherwood?

 

[Antonio Boga]

:deal: I just knew it today (researching after the last reply) that Pelagic Pressure Systems is an Oceanic's sister company. I knew that Pelagic made computers for Oceanic, Aeris and others, but didn't know that Oceanic and pelagic were from the same boss.

I found this information in an article from Skin Diver Magazine (praising Oceanic, of course)
http://www.skin-diver.com/departments/personalities/Oceanic25Years.asp?theID=1179
There, you can read this: " ...in the late 1970s, Hollis realized electronics were the key to the future of diving. Thus, he formed an Oceanic sister company, Pelagic Pressure Systems, which is an OEM specializing in instrumentation. Today, Pelagic Pressure Systems makes SPGs, compasses, analog depth gauges, digital computers and transmission gauges, not only for Oceanic and other scuba companies but also for use in the aircraft and firefighting industries. In its portion of the building that houses Oceanic, Pelagic Pressure Systems manufactures gauges from start to finish...".

As far as the Oceanic's customer service, I'm very concerned about it, in case my computer fails, because as I told in my first thread, the Oceanic's spanish dealer is practically unexistent.

I'm almost sure that the Vyper would be more reliable, and that Suunto gives me a good customer service, but I dove the Vyper side by side with my old Suunto Solution during six repetitive decompression dives, and it was quite more conservative. I also don't like the obligation of the safety stop. I always do it, but I don't want to be forced to do it if I don't need it. Suppose that you have to surface before because of bad weather, because the boat has to move or anything you can imagine. The Vyper blocks, and I think (I only dove it three days) that you cannot reset it.

Apart from all the opinions that I appreciate about the Computers,
any comments or comparision about Suunto and Oceanic's interfaces?.

Thank you very much for your help.

 

[paulwlee]

Antonio Boga once bubbled...
but I dove the Vyper side by side with my old Suunto Solution during six repetitive decompression dives, and it was quite more conservative. I also don't like the obligation of the safety stop. I always do it, but I don't want to be forced to do it if I don't need it. Suppose that you have to surface before because of bad weather, because the boat has to move or anything you can imagine. The Vyper blocks, and I think (I only dove it three days) that you cannot reset it.

As a very satisfied owner of a Vyper and now a Vytec, I would like to clear up a couple of your misunderstandings regarding the Vyper.
You should take into account that one reason that the Suunto is more conservative is that it has some constraints built in to minimize bubble formation, rather than just having more conservative fudge factors. I am no expert on this, but the algorithm that many dive computers including Oceanic uses, only takes into account dissolved gas. There have been studies where they found that a third of the dives conducted using such models resulted in bubble formation, even though there were no symptoms. To oversimplify, this is saying you are bent, but with no symptoms. I've heard that the Suunto algorithm, while not full-blown RGBM (that fully takes into account the bubbles) does try to account for this. I would much prefer to minimize bubbles in my blood than have that extra 10 minutes of dive time.

As for the safety stop, the Vyper does not penalize you at all for recommended safety stops that are not taken. It does penalize you in terms of less NDL for repetitive dives if you violate a 'mandatory safety stop', which appears if you continuously violate the safe ascent rate. But it still does not lock you out.

Now that being cleared up,
I also use the Suunto Dive manager. I don't have any experience with the Oceanic one, so I can't do a comparison. I am pretty happy with the Suunto dive manager, although there are a couple of improvements I can think of that would make me happier.

 

[String]

The Suunto 3 minute optional safety stop is just that - optional. There is no penalty for skipping it (says so in the manual)

 

[jamiei]

I don't have any experience with the Oceanic dive software, but I feel the suunto software is quite fine. The software could have a few improvements, but I think that can be said about anything. The software is free though ya know... I'm sure they'll update it sooner or later as well.

 

[joele]

in one of the LDS's here in our country, i found an Oceanic Xtc 100... it's on sale and the price is considerably cheaper than most suunto computers...
what do you think?