Puck vs. Dive Computer

[Erik N]

I agree strongly with tbone, I bought the petrel first and the only thing I would trade it for is a petrel 2. Bought the dg03 for a backup gauge for tec, and left in dive for rec, I upgraded to the Lynx for the oled display, as I dive cut tables primary in tec and primarily dark environments. I would have gotten the petrel 2 and just dove one in tec and the other gauge, but I decided the air integration was nice for recreational. Can't go wrong with the petrel

 

[gopbroek]

Ok, I'll bite! Oceanic Veo 2 wrist mount

Why?

Dual algorithm, which means very customizable conservatism.
Puck because puck has bigger display than watch. Like bigger numbers!
Only need 2 gasses anyway.
Doesn't have unnecessary AI.
Can be used for freediving also, a necessity. A deal breaker if it doesn't have freedive mode.
If I need a more advanced computer in the future, I'll just buy a more advanced one whenever I need it.

OK I'll bite. I had the VEO 2.0 (e-bay, no warranty) and liked it until it went bat **** on me last spring and I sent it into Oceanic, they sent me back a VEO 3.0 for a nominal fixed repair cost and I really like it and continue to dive it. The week before last a DM friend in Cozumel asked to find him a replacement DC as his had gone TU. I found an A300 which is the same basic unit with a less cluttered display layout, dirt cheap and as you can tell from earlier posts, the closeout price verses features really impresses me.

The big question not answered in the previous posts is how and where does the OP plan to dive? Warm, clear water recreational diving (no planned DECO) in the Caribbean, a basic DSAT puck would be fine. Deep square profiles off the Carolinas which regularly require DECO and I would probably want the Petrel II. Currently I believe that those are the two options, a PPS PUCK for rec dives that if required can handle basic planned minor DECO or a Shearwater, if the planned diving was normally to be 'advanced rec with regular DECO or full fledged Tech. IMHO I would match the computer to the expected diving.

 

[Centrals]

I had just added an Oceanic Veo 180 to back up my relatively ancient Aladain Pro Nitrox for recreational diving.
As for technical diving I have been using TWO bottom timers + slate(pre-planned) for well over 15yrs. My first Uwatec BT died 4 yrs ago and I had misplaced another one so the gauge mode of the Veo 180 comes very handy.
So anyone who is thinking tec dive in the future should invest on a computer with gauge mode in the beginning. So Zoop is OUT.

 

[dmaziuk]

The big question not answered in the previous posts is how and where does the OP plan to dive?

Well that's the thing, isn't it? He asked at what price you stop looking at seiko/pelagic units and start looking at the fancy ones.

The truth is, colour screens are nice, especially OLED's contrast ratio, but on a sunny Caribbean reef they can be less visible than segment LCD. Think cellphone in bright sunlight. Petrel is bigger than my wrist -- in every dimension -- and if I dive in speedos it'd provide just the right amount of trim weight, too. If only I could mount it on the cumband.

For warm water rec diving H3 would be about the only "not puck" I'd be looking at if I cared to drop a grand on a DC -- and even then at that price I'd expect at least AI so I can ditch the console. Now if you're wearing 20 different gas bottles and 40 lbs of lead all over your dry suit, petrel-sized brick probably fits you just right -- but then you probably planned every step of your dive using tables and your DC choice is not "at what price you start looking at petrel".

 

[tbone1004]

h3 has AI, will be officially released in a few weeks at DEMA, but all existing units will be compatible with the new transmitters. If you're buying for really bright reef diving and what not, the only one I'd look at is the Geo 2.0 if you want a nicer computer at watch form factor.

 

[dmaziuk]

If you're buying for really bright reef diving and what not, the only one I'd look at is the Geo 2.0 if you want a nicer computer at watch form factor.

I'd need reading glasses with that.

 

[muzzon]

What price would you (realistically) pay for something like a Zoop if it was full color? Just out of curiosity.

I'm assuming a color LED display would cost something like $100 more, but I'm really not sure.

 

[tbone1004]

I wouldn't. The zoop is a useless computer. single gas, no gauge mode, etc etc. The single gas without gauge mode means the computer becomes a paperweight if you advance into any sort of decompression, and the single gas period means diving nitrox can be annoying if you have to switch the gas mix between dives.

You also couldn't make it in color because of the battery requirements, so you have to redesign and by that point you're in watch style where you can make it smaller, so now you're at Seabear H3. They could make that computer for probably $600 retail and that'd be OK.

The DG03 at $250 is what the recreational guys need to target. AI, user changeable battery, gauge mode, multi gas, basic design, etc.

 

[dmaziuk]

I'm assuming a color LED display would cost something like $100 more, but I'm really not sure.

Fixed-segment displays are just that: fixed. Like 88:88, all you need to do is tell it what 4 digits to show. With a LED or back-lit LCDs you get individually-addressable pixels. You have to start from making your own fonts from the pixels, tell it where on the screen to render them, figure out where's the empty space for the next digit, how many pixels to leave in between, and so on and so forth. It requires way more programming and support scaffolding, that's where the cost is.

Unless you take a full-fledged smartphone CPU with operating system that already provides most of those things and comes with a smartphone-level price tag, battery life, and all that.