Oceanic VTX Dive Computer

[solodiver71]

I'm currently in the market on purchasing a new dive computer to upgrade from the one I have and am very interested in the Oceanic VTX. I have done my research and it seems to have what I want in a dive computer and at the cost I'm needing. I didn't see anything negative on this forum and others but wanted to reach out to those that actually use this system currently to get your feedback on performance and durability.

Thank you!

 

[stuartv]

If you haven't found anything negative, you haven't looked hard enough. I didn't buy one because of all the negative posts I found.

In case you don't know, the Oceanic VTX is the same computer as the Aeris A300 CS OLED. Oceanic and Aeris are part of the same company and they just renamed it a year or so ago, but it's still the same computer.

The negatives that I recall reading are:

- very hard-to-impossible to read it in bright sunlight. Even in shallowish water when there is a clear, bright sun overhead.

- very poor battery life.

But, I haven't owned one, so don't take my word for it. It shouldn't be hard to find info. Especially if you look for info on the A300 CS.

 

[solodiver71]

Thanks for the info.. I will check out for the "A300 CS". I was aware of OLED dive display/Power consumption issue. That's know for most of these type of DC's. Anyone have any failures or problems on the dive?

 

[stuartv]

I don't recall reading about significant issues with failures - other than possibly because of a dead battery. But, that's just "what I recall"... And it has been a while since I was boning up on those. I was at Hyde's Quarry, up in MD, 2 weeks ago, and the guy running the place told us that another diver got out the day before with a VTX that was apparently leaking and said that he had been to 200' (in a quarry with a bottom of 60'ish (?) feet).

 

[doctormike]

https://www.shearwater.com

But then again, I don't know what your needs are for a dive computer.

Whatever. I still say https://www.shearwater.com

Unless you absolutely, positively need wireless air integration.

 

[Texas Boy]

I have owned the VTX. It is a beautiful computer and worked flawlessly. I sold mine after about 2 months of owning it. You can not see the display in bright sunlight - like when you are doing a dive plan on the surface. The battery life is very short. It will last a couple of days of diving, but to be safe, you should charge it every other day. Kind of a hassle.

 

[scubadada]

I have owned the VTX. It is a beautiful computer and worked flawlessly. I sold mine after about 2 months of owning it. You can not see the display in bright sunlight - like when you are doing a dive plan on the surface. The battery life is very short. It will last a couple of days of diving, but to be safe, you should charge it every other day. Kind of a hassle.

Visibility issue is a major problem. Charging every day is not a big deal, I do that with my camera batteries

 

[Ghosty]

I don't recall reading about significant issues with failures - other than possibly because of a dead battery. But, that's just "what I recall"... And it has been a while since I was boning up on those. I was at Hyde's Quarry, up in MD, 2 weeks ago, and the guy running the place told us that another diver got out the day before with a VTX that was apparently leaking and said that he had been to 200' (in a quarry with a bottom of 60'ish (?) feet).

Info on recall for the leaky batch: News - VTX Quality Alert
This hasn't effected any of the Aeris A300's, just the VTX's in the serial# range listed.

- very hard-to-impossible to read it in bright sunlight. Even in shallowish water when there is a clear, bright sun overhead.
- very poor battery life.

I have owned the VTX. It is a beautiful computer and worked flawlessly. I sold mine after about 2 months of owning it. You can not see the display in bright sunlight - like when you are doing a dive plan on the surface.

I was told by tech-support this is common problem when you have the computer straight perpendicular to the vertical sunlight, especially topside on a bright day, similar to with your cellphone. Supposedly remedied by tilting the watch. What % brightness are you using, if not 100%? I'm curious about this too since I have one on order and haven't tried one out in water yet. Will definitely report back on what I find.

As for battery life, they admit it's an issue, but can do little about it and still keep that nice color OLED screen at full bright, especially with the always-on backlight, and all the software features, including AI. I don't know how it compares to other color screens. I'll report back what I get out of one battery on my February trip.

 

[stuartv]

Info on recall for the leaky batch: News - VTX Quality Alert
This hasn't effected any of the Aeris A300's, just the VTX's in the serial# range listed.



I was told by tech-support this is common problem when you have the computer straight perpendicular to the vertical sunlight, especially topside on a bright day, similar to with your cellphone. Supposedly remedied by tilting the watch. What % brightness are you using, if not 100%? I'm curious about this too since I have one on order and haven't tried one out in water yet. Will definitely report back on what I find.

As for battery life, they admit it's an issue, but can do little about it and still keep that nice color OLED screen at full bright, and all the software features, including AI. I don't know how it compares to other color screens. I'll report back what I get out of one battery on my February trip.

Have you considered the SeaBear H3? I haven't held an H3 in my hands yet (mine is supposed to arrive tomorrow), but from everything I've read about it and the VTX it sounds like the H3 is a better computer. And the H3 has AI, they just haven't released the transmitters yet.

Also, from what I've seen, the pricing on an H3 is no higher than a VTX.

I think the battery on the H3 is supposed to have pretty decent battery life. I infer that it's significantly better than the VTX. That alone would probably sway me to it, even if they were the same in all other aspects.

 

[Ghosty]

To be honest, I was originally looking in the $400 range, AI-capable but obviously no transmitter incl. at that price point. I was serious between the Oceanic Atom 3.1 and the Suunto D4i Novo. But then a sweet deal came up on a near-new Aeris A300 CS with transmitter for ~$500, so I jumped on it. New VTX setups w/ xmit go for over $800, couldn't resist.

Another note on the battery, I'm curious if it has a backlight timer, always on, or user settable? I'll check the manual...